City Council - Regular Meeting

you Hmm. you you Thank you for watching.

I'm going to leave early. Mayor, you can go ahead.

Madam Clerk, please start the meeting. Yes, Mayor. Meeting is started.

I hereby call the Santa Ana City Council meeting to order. This meeting is taking place with in-person attendance and by teleconference via Zoom. The public may access the meeting via the Santa Ana YouTube channel or the City's website. Please bear with us as the technology may disrupt the flow of the meeting. Madam Clerk, please conduct the roll call. Councilmember Becerra?

Here.

Councilmember Hernandez? Here. Councilmember Lopez? Here. Councilmember Phan? Here. Councilmember Vasquez?

Present.

Mayor Pro Tem Penalosa?

Present.

Mayor Meskwa? Present. Five members present. That is a quorum.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Are there any additions or deletions to the closed session agenda? There are none. Do any council members need to announce their abstentions? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers for closed session?

We do not have any in-person speakers or speakers via Zoom, but noting for the record that we received one e-comment related to closed session item number two, conference with legal counsel existing litigation, that was distributed to the city council and posted online for public review.

Great, thank you. We'll now recess this portion of the meeting to closed session. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm sorry. you do Thank you for watching. Thank you. I'm sorry. you Thank you. Thank you for watching. Thank you. you you Thank you. do do you Thank you. Thank you. do do Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I love how everybody's so good and quick to get ready. All right. Madam Clerk, please start the meeting. We're good? Yes, Mayor. Thank you.

I hereby reconvene the Santa Ana City Council meeting to order. This meeting is taking place with in-person attendance and by teleconference via Zoom. The public may access the meeting via the Santa Ana YouTube channel or the city's website. Please bear with us as the technology may disrupt the flow of the meeting. This is a meeting to conduct the business of the city. There's an opportunity to call for a recess or break or even to clear the meeting room if a meeting becomes too disruptive to properly conduct business. Warnings will be provided prior to any action being taken. We appreciate your cooperation. For everyone's safety, per the fire marshal, please do not stand or place objects in the aisles, in front of the dais, along the back wall of the council chambers, or in front of any entrances or exits. During city council presentations, guests of individuals being recognized are invited to come to the front to take photos. For roll call, Council Member Becerra.

Here.

Council Member Hernandez.

Present.

Council Member Lopez. Present. Council Member Phan? Here. Council Member Vasquez?

Present.

Mayor Pro Tem Penalosa?

Present.

Mayor Mezcua? Present. Six members present. That is a quorum.

Thank you. Before we proceed to the Pledge of Allegiance, please make an announcement, Madam Clerk.

For members of the public on Zoom or teleconference to request to speak during public comments on agenda or non-agenda items within the city's jurisdiction, you must dial star nine from your phone or click the button labeled raise hand from Zoom now to be in the speaker queue once public comments commence. This does not apply to public hearing item number 23 or the housing authority agenda for which comments will be heard separately. Please hold comments on those items until specifically called upon. Thank you.

Thank you. For the Pledge of Allegiance, can I have a student from Santiago come up? Just walk up, one of you. Walk up, please. There you go, beautiful. All right, let's do the Pledge of Allegiance, please. Sweetie, can you tell us your name?

Julia Mesquita.

And what grade are you in?

Fifth.

All right. Go ahead. It's all yours.

Place your right hand over your heart. Ready, begin. 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 so much.

Pastor Dirty, can you come up, please, and lead us into the invocation, please?

Pastor Dirty, everybody.

Thank you.

Good evening. I know a lot of times I come up and have a different way of making our words of inspiration, but this evening I have Howard Thurman's Meditations of the Heart, and it goes like this. To overcome evil. I seek the strength to overcome evil. I seek the strength to overcome the tendency to evil in my own heart. I recognize the tendency to do the unkind thing when the mood of retaliation or revenge rise high in my spirit. I recognize the tendency to make of others a means to my own end. I recognize the tendency to yield to fear and cowardice when fearlessness and care seems to fit easily into the pattern of my security. I see the strength to overcome the tendency to evil in my own heart. I seek the strength to overcome the evil that is present all about me. I recognize the evil in much of the organized life about me. I recognize the evil in the will to power as found in groups, institutions, and individuals. I recognize the terrible havoc of hate and bitterness which makes for fear and panic in common life. I seek the strength to overcome the evil that is present all about me. I seek strength to overcome evil. I must not be overcome by evil. I seek purification of my own heart, the purging of my own motives. I seek the strength to withstand the logic of bitterness, the terrible divisiveness of hate, the demonic triumph of the conquest of others. What I seek for myself... I desire with all my heart for my friends and my foe. I seek the strength to overcome evil. Thank you. Amen.

Thank you, Pastor Dyerly. Madam City Clerk, are there any additions or deletions to the City Council agenda?

Yes, Mayor and City Council. Staff is removing the following items from the agenda. Consent calendar item number 16, the revised MOU for the Police Officers Association. Consent calendar item number 18, resolution amending the classification and compensation plan for unrepresented executive management. And also canceling public hearing item number 23 regarding proposed water and sewer rates adjustments. No public testimony will be heard on this item during... The time is scheduled for the public hearing. No action will be taken and a notice of cancellation will be posted. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

So the first presentation we're going to do tonight is mine. So if we can have Santiago Elementary come on up and join me. Let's give a big round of applause.

Thank you. You might have to make two more of these, too.

If you're tall, just go back down the front. And I'll hold my head. If you're short, go in the front. If you're smaller, go in the front.

If you're taller, go in the front.

If you're shorter, go in the front.

If you're taller, go in the front. If you're taller, go in the front.

If you're shorter, go in the front. If you're taller, go in the front.

Don't they look great behind us? Let's give them a round of applause. I see Dr. Perez back there. You got to come up. You can't stay in the back. Come on up. Let's give Dr. Perez, the superintendent from Santa Unified, a round of applause. We want her to come up because she's going to continue funding this program. That's the only way she can come up here. Come on up, Dr. Perez. By you coming up, you're committing to this. Do you all see her coming up? She's committing to funding your program. OK. That's the only way she can come up. Okay. All right, let's get started. All right, good evening, everybody. Today we are honored to recognize the Santiago TK8 Drama Program for its outstanding performance, achievements, and contributions to the arts community. For the past 10 years, let me say that again, 10 years, I was on the school board, Sarah, I think when we did this the first time, right? Yeah, so I'm honored to be part of this. For the past 10 years, Santiago TK-8 has brought Disney musicals in schools' productions to life. giving approximately 60 students each year the opportunity to perform in a full-scale musical and experience the magic of live theater and let me tell you if you haven't gone to see a play you gotta go because they're absolutely amazing amazing Yeah, they're phenomenal. That's why you're going to keep funding them. Over the past decade, the program has grown into a vibrant theater culture within the community where students, families, parents, and staff come together to celebrate creativity and the arts. This would not be possible without staff, our parents, our community. So thank you. How many of you are parents out there? Stand up if you're parents. Stand up, stand up. Let's give you a round of applause. Yes, parents. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Each production includes four performances in the school theater, consistently selling out, so get your tickets early, and welcoming over 1,200 audience members each year from both the school and the greater Santa Ana community. And when you go, make sure you take cash, because they sell nachos and candy and soda. And you bid on paintings that you're going to want to bid on, okay? I got outbid on one. Dad took me to 140 bucks and I lost, so. Okay, students work with authentic theatrical elements, including imported masks from Spain and large-scale puppets from Louisiana. That's just an example. Giving them hands-on experience with professional level theater. Even during COVID-19, San Diego TKA continued producing Disney musicals entirely over Zoom. And if you haven't seen it, you should go back and look at it. It's absolutely wonderful. Ensuring students stay connected, collaborated, and performed despite school closures. Through these productions, students develop confidence, creativity, teamwork, and leadership. The program's mission is simple but powerful. To provide every student a place to belong and shine through the arts. we know that when kids are involved in the arts they do better in school isn't that right they do better and that's what we all want right so on behalf of the city of santa ana and as the mayor and as a previous school board member we congratulate the san diego tk drama program we want to thank the students the staff the families our parents our grandparents our ninas our theos whoever you may be for their dedication to fostering the arts in our community. And I especially want to thank Sarah, thank you very much, Sarah Weiner, Rick Santana, thank you very much, Monica Creel, come up forward, step forward as I mention your name, please. Sarah, Rick, Monica, Jennifer, and Eric. So let's give them a big round of applause. So, who wants to speak? Somebody's got to speak. You go right ahead.

Thank you, Mayor Mezcua. We are honored to be here tonight to celebrate our ten years of Disney musicals in schools. When this program started for us, Mayor Mezcua came to our first show and we used to do our show with cardboard sets and T-shirts. But over the years, we've had such an outpouring of love from our community to support the arts. And so all the parents, neighbors, relatives, school board members, superintendents, everyone who comes out to support the shows, has really helped us fund future shows and kept it going. And we've built more than just the students here, but we've really built a community of people who support the arts at our schools, and that really makes a difference to us. So thank you to everyone who has supported the arts at Santiago over the last 10 years.

Oh, we've done them all, but there's only 18 musicals.

So we've done Lion King, Aladdin, Jungle Book, Cinderella, Frozen, 101 Dalmatians. Our middle schoolers have done Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast right now. We've done a lot of summer musicals, Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Moana. So it has been 10 years of nonstop musicals.

Isn't that great? All right, come on.

What do your students want to say? How they feel about being involved in the arts over the past few years.

Come on.

Who's been in Disney musicals for three years or more? Julia and Lily, why don't you guys come up? Well, first off, Julia would like to present you with something, Mayor Mezcla. This is the painting that Mayor Mezcla bought to support the arts at Santiago. And it was painted by one of our students for her.

This was painted by one of our students at Santiago. And yes, I got outbid by a parent. He was buying it for his wife, and we went back and forth until 9.30 p.m. Five dollars here, five dollars there, and finally the student said, I'll paint you another one, Mayor. I said, all right, I'll buy it. So isn't it beautiful? Isn't it beautiful? So thank you so very much. And just to be clear, Mr. City Manager, for the record, I bought it. All right. And you want to say something, sweetie?

So I've been going to Santiago since I was in TK, and I started doing Disney music schools when I was in third grade. And then before that, I would do the normal class plays, and I would still enjoy it so much. And being a part of it is just so meaningful and just really makes my heart, like, fill with joy and making new friends and, like... just learning everything about it is really amazing. My first year was Aladdin, and I was Ensemble, and then the next year we did Finding Nemo, and I was Dory, and then this year we did Alice in Wonderland, and I was Alice.

and I'm a drama student and doing drama just like, it helped build my confidence and I just love it because I make new friends and it just like, I love doing it. I started in third grade I also did the school plays, and I did Aladdin, I was ensemble, and then I did Alice in Wonderland, and I was the white rabbit, and I also did the summer shows, Peter Pan, I was twin two, and Wizard of Oz, I was an ensemble, and I just loved drama a lot.

I just wanted to quickly say that I came into this team as a parent. I mean, I have a degree in dance, but it really just takes an interested person who really wants to further the arts and get kids involved. As a parent, as an interested person, member of the community, just get involved. If you're interested, you love it, you wanna work with kids, just find a way to get in there.

All right, they're amazing, all of them, thank you so much. And thank you guys for coming tonight, thank you so much. All right, I don't know, Dr. Perez, you wanna say something, or no? Whatever you want, Dr. Perez, the floor is yours. Two minutes, you got two minutes, don't give her the mic. Don't knock me, I'm sorry, I'm gonna knock you.

Sorry. So I just wanna give a lot of gratitude to our parents. I know that means you're dropping off, picking up, doing all the things to make sure that our students have the opportunity to do this. And so thank you so much, and to our team. I just look forward to being able to see the productions and our principal. I know that this requires you to move all kinds of things around to make sure that it happens. So just super grateful. I'm gonna say what I said last time. Keep watching SAUSD. There are some phenomenal things happening in our district. And I hope that we are able to be part of some of the city's events so that we can put our kids on display.

So I know I heard in there a commitment for money. Did you hear that? I did. Parents, did you hear that? Because I heard that. All right. So you want to come up? Who wants to come up? So on behalf of the city of Santa Ana and the mayor, this is a certificate of recognition awarding to Santiago TK Drama Program for your 10 years of Disney musicals. And thank you so much for all that you do for our kids. for the community, teaching our babies, because you're not just teaching them about arts and drama and how to be at a playwright. Their grades are affected, their mental health. I mean, to do this during COVID was such a blessing for our community. And so it helps in so many areas of their life. And so thank you all very much. Really appreciate it. And all of you guys are amazing, right? Let's give them a round of applause. Thank you.

Go ahead. Yes, yes, I got the picture.

Let's give a round of applause for our wonderful principal.

Everybody smile. One, two, three.

Look at the camera.

Ready? One, two, three.

One, two, three. A couple more.

All right, you guys. Sarah. Yeah. Santiago.

all right we're gonna wait as they leave council member lopez is next All right, Councilman Becerra, you're up. We're gonna try to get through the students first so that they can go home and do their homework. Homework and study and all that good stuff. Councilman Becerra, Segerstrom High School girls, come on up.

I gotta correct the mayor, they're not just the Sagerstrom girls, they're the Sagerstrom CIF championship girls soccer team. Come on up.

Come on up ladies, come on up.

Pretend it's a field, don't be shy, come on up.

Hey, guys.

This is just a trade.

She's going to be in the middle.

She's got the hardware. Go on in, everybody. Go on in.

That's the hardware. All I got is a certificate. She's got that.

Oh, yeah.

All right, everybody. So tonight, we are gonna recognize the Sagerstrom High School girls soccer team and their extraordinary and historic accomplishments this season. This talented group of student athletes made history by becoming the first girls soccer team in Santa Ana Unified School District's history to win a CIF championship. And I love the fact they're in my ward. Now, this team finished the season with an outstanding 16-3-6 overall record, demonstrating consistency, determination, and teamwork throughout the year. They also, not shockingly, went undefeated in league play, earning the title of Orange Coast League Champions, a testament to their dominance during the regular season. Their season culminated in a remarkable 4-0 victory over Ocean View High School to win the CIF Southern Section Division VI Championship, marking a milestone not only for Segerstrom High School, but for the entire Santa Ana Unified School District. The team then went on to continue their impressive run beyond the CIF Southern Section, advancing to the regional semifinals of the CIF State Championship, further showcasing the strength and talent of their program. The achievements this season reflect the dedication of the players, the leadership of their coaches, and the unwavering support of their families, teachers, and the entire Sagerstrom High School community. So congratulations again to the Sagerstrom High School Jaguars and their girls soccer team for this historic season. Your hard work and perseverance and teamwork have made your school and our entire Santa Ana community incredibly proud. So please join me once again in celebrating our Sagerstrom High School girls soccer team on winning the CIF championship. So who would like to come up and say a couple words? Captain?

All right.

Okay. Hello, everyone. My name is Danielle Dominguez. I'm a senior here at Segerstrom High School. I'm one of the captains here on varsity, and I'm also the ASB president here at Segerstrom. So a couple of words. I just want to say that it's a huge blessing to have this opportunity, and I just want to thank God first always, and I just want to thank... all these girls for all their dedication, all their hard work, all our coaches, our staff who support here, Mr. Bennett too, Mr. Canzone, our athletic director. A big round of applause for them for all the work that they do for our school and just for us to be recognized like this. And also to our coaches, Coach Diego, who's not here with us right now, but he's in Belgium. And also Coach Junior, Coach Wendy, and our main coach too, Mr. Cassana. Honestly, without him as a coach, I don't think we'd be in this place at all. And I just want to congratulate us again. And also, I just want to take a huge thank you to all our parents, our number one supporters here. And I just wanna thank everyone for all the support they've shown, everyone throughout the district for being at our games, anyone who was there at our games, just all the support system we have. I thank you all and I appreciate all this work that you've done for us and just the dedication you've shown for us and for us to show you that we are CIF champions here and we're representing Santa Ana and I'm just really proud of all the team that we have here and all our coaches and I just wanna thank you all for this opportunity. And one more thing, We are asking for any donations for our CIF rings, too. So we would gladly appreciate any donations for our team. Please talk to our coaches or our staff as well. But thank you so much, everyone, and I appreciate your time. And once again, thank you, everyone.

One, two, three.

Can I do one more, please? One. Thank you. One, two, three. Thank you.

One more. Good one. Squeeze in one more time, please. Council.

Thank you so much.

Congratulations. Do you guys have a 501 ? All right, thank you, Council Member Becerra. Next up is Council Member Vasquez, Valley High School Women's Volleyball Team. Come on up, ladies. Valley High School Women's Volleyball Team, in honor of Women's History Month.

Thank you, thank you.

You don't know that, Jacqueline? Where's Ms. Gil? Where's Ms. Gil? Ms. Gil, a minute? A minute? All right. Let's go, Valley! As we continue to celebrate Women's History Month... We honor young athletes who are making history right here in our own community. Tonight, we proudly recognize the Valley High School Women's Volleyball Team for their remarkable achievements. This team captured Orange Coast League Championship in 2025, adding to their previous titles in 2022 and 2023. THESE VICTORIES REPRESENT THREE OF THE ONLY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE PROGRAM'S HISTORY, MARKING A SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE FOR THE SCHOOL. WE ALSO WANT TO GIVE SPECIAL RECOGNITION TO SOFIA GUZMAN, TO JACKIE GILL, SHE'S IN MY SECOND PERIOD, DANIELA SOMOZA, WHO WERE PART OF TWO CHAMPIONSHIP TEAMS IN 23 AND 25. THEIR LEADERSHIP, DEDICATION, AND COMMITMENT EXEMPLIFIED THE STRENGTH and power of women in sports and their experience has been key in guiding the team to continued success.

Can we please stop talking? Excuse me, Councilman Vasquez. We need to be quiet, please, so we can have this presentation. Thank you so much. Thank you. I apologize.

This year, the team also advanced to the quarterfinals of the CIF Playas, showcasing their competitiveness, resilience, and teamwork on the field. During Women's History Month, we celebrate these young athletes for setting records and inspiring future generations of girls at Valley High School and throughout the Santa Ana community. To close, I'd like to invite Team Captain Sofia Guzman to the podium.

Can you say a few words? Can you go Sofia?

Introduce yourself.

I'm Alyssa Monge. My position in volleyball is setter. Unfortunately, our captains are not here and the rest of the team. But we're really proud of me and my girls, the whole team. During preseason, our chemistry was not there. We were trying to figure things out. But when league started, that's when we started picking things up, like we started learning each other. And that's kind of like how we came together, basically. And I'm really proud how we made it to round three. I would like to thank our coaches for being there. Unfortunately, they're not here, too. Also, our EDs are not here, too. But so glad for Coach Arroyo for coming. He's our JV coach. He just came from the Frosh. He's a boys coach, boys volleyball. Thank you. That's all. Thank you. Thank you.

Okay, next presentation is by Council Member Lopez, declaring May 2026 Murder Missing Indigenous Women Month. Please come on up. Is Councilmember Lopez here? Oh, okay. Thank you very much. We can't have public comments like that, thank you. We're probably going to have to do two rows. If you want to make two rows, please. Come on in. Come on in.

Hello. Hi everybody. Thank you so much for being patient. It really is such an honor to be able to recognize an incredible organization. If you don't know, they are located here in the city of Santa Ana. They've been doing work for a very long time. And in 2021, they opened their doors to the community. And so today, Indigenous Women Rising of Orange County is going to be accepting this proclamation, proclaiming the month to come of May as Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Month. So before I begin, I also want to acknowledge the indigenous people who are the original stewards of the land we gather today and recognize their resilience, their culture, and the contributions that native communities have made past and present. Several indigenous cultures dwelled in the area we call Santa Ana today, including the Tongva and Ahatchamen, tribes before the Spanish colonization began in the late 1700s. These major groups of indigenous people in Orange County were thought to originate from the Shoshone. And so I really just want to take a personal moment to say how much I admire their strength, their resilience. We can never forget that indigenous people have faced just awful discrimination, awful harassment, awful treatment that is systemic, and they were intentionally, systematically excluded from so many opportunities. And so as the daughter of parents who have survived war, I really relate to that belief of strength and that belief of never giving up and always fighting, not just for oneself and their safety, but for their entire communities. And so across the United States and North America, indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit relatives have faced disproportionately high rates of violence, disappearance, and homicide. For decades, many of these cases have been overlooked, have been ignored, have been underreported, and left unsolved. Behind every statistic is a family waiting for answers and a community grieving the loss of a loved one. The movement to address this crisis has been led by indigenous families, advocates, and organizations who have worked tirelessly to raise awareness and call for meaningful change. Organizations such as Indigenous Women Rising of Orange County. are doing the vital work needed to uplift Indigenous voices and bring attention to this issue. As an Indigenous-led organization, Indigenous Women Rising OC works to empower Native communities and support Indigenous self-determination, healing, and well-being. Through their powerful ongoing work to raise awareness about missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people, and for their advocacy and support of California's Feather Alert Program, their leadership and their dedication to help bring visibility to issues that impact all of our communities, in particular indigenous communities, is incredibly important because as I said earlier, these issues have been ignored for far too long. Through their advocacy, education, and community engagement, they are helping to advance awareness, accountability, and justice. It is my honor to recognize their commitment and the important role that they play in uplifting indigenous voices and protecting indigenous lives. I would also like to invite members of the community to join folks that you see behind me after this council recognition to a reception immediately following at the Indigenous Women Rising office located right across City Hall. Raising awareness about the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people is an essential step forward to prevent violence and ensure that these cases receive the attention that they deserve. Awareness also encourages stronger collaboration between tribal governments, local, state, and federal authorities. Declaring May is not just symbolic, it is really a commitment to listen to indigenous voices, to support community organizations that have been doing this work in our community for many, many years, and to ensure that indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people are safe, valued, and protected. I encourage residents, community organizations, educators and local leaders to observe this month through education, remembrance ceremonies and advocacy. Together we can honor those we have lost, stand with families still seeking answers and work towards a future where Indigenous women and girls can live safely and with dignity. With that, I am proud to present the month of May and proclaim the month of May as Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women Month. And to accept this proclamation, we will also be hearing from Indigenous women rising OC. Thank you.

Good evening everyone. My name is Maggie Acosta. I'm Yaqui Apache born and raised here in Santa Ana Orange County My originals come from Arizona Phoenix, Arizona We are mountain people and We started this organization, Lupe and I and others that you'll hear from, right in the middle of the pandemic, right at the beginning of the pandemic. So downtown here was a ghost town. I'm not sure how we survived through that, but we did by providing a safe space, a sacred space. for our women and men because men become missing victims too. They're also victims of violence. We provide a safe space where they can come and sit down and be heard and be understood. We provide counseling. We provide legal support. Oh, my God, I can't even talk right now. We provide support for trauma. Sometimes this is generational trauma that's been handed down through the generations of abuse and just non-recognition. So we have this office downtown where we provide those services. We've been very successful, even through the pandemic, like I said. And we've served... multiple people, multiple families, individuals, young women, young men, two-spirited, and even non-indigenous. We do not turn anybody away. We raise our own funds. We do a lot of fundraising. We table at various events throughout the county and beyond. We've gone all over the place. We go to all the pow wows and we try to keep our traditions and our ways alive in our community with our children. It's very important to teach our traditions to our children so that they don't lose identity and my personal journey was very difficult because I didn't have my identity so I understand perfectly how that impacts an individual and the trauma that comes with that so with that I would like to bring someone else up to speak thank you very much

Sorry if I get emotional. I didn't think I would, but I have. Hello, I wish you all well this evening. My name is, oh, wow. My name is Erin Espinosa. And I am Kumeyaay here from the San Diego area. However, like she mentioned, I was born and raised here in Whittier. Didn't know that I was Native American and probably until I was, I don't know, about 17, 18 years old. It's something that sometimes our grandmothers aren't speaking of. Even though they may be enrolled members. But it was something that I never heard. It's something that I had to learn. And so if it wasn't for organizations like this, I wouldn't have found my identity. I wouldn't have found something that I never knew was missing. But with that, what I would like to, I have this photo right here. And it was a dear friend of mine. She is a dear friend of mine. Her name is Jamie King. And if we can all just together say her name, I would like for all of us on the count of three, if we could all just say Jamie King. One, two, three. Jamie King. I'm here on behalf of Indigenous Women Rising, Lupe invited us, but also for United American Indian Involvement. My beloved friend, Jamie King, I have the honor and privilege to call her my friend, my sister, my coworker, who will forever be missed and never forgotten. She is also a daughter. She is a mother, a grandmother who loved everyone and a true testament to wanting to help her community. She did some great work in Santa Ana and throughout LA County as well. She had the biggest smile and loved hugs. Today we are here in remembrance of our dear Jamie and all those that we have lost and those who we have not found. I just thank you for this space. Again, we come with always good intentions and safe spaces. And that's the work that we do throughout Indian country. And I'm just so very thankful for giving Indigenous Women Rising the opportunity to be here today. And again, thank you. Good evening.

Hi, my name's Lila and I'm just here to say I'm very grateful for the Feather Alert. Our family became victims and our daughter was found, thank you.

Good evening, my name is Janine James and I'm the vice chairwoman for the One Annual Band of Mission Indians. And today on our tribal land, we're here to acknowledge a wonderful organization in Indigenous Women Rising and with the work that they do and the power that they give the community, it is an honor to be a part of this. So thank you for this and I appreciate everything they do. I'd also like to say that the One Annual Band of Mission Indians 84B fully support Jesse Lopez and hope that everything works out well for everybody. Thank you very much.

Good evening, I'm Officer Perez, and as an officer with the California Highway Patrol, I've seen firsthand how every second counts when a member of our indigenous community goes missing. Our feather alert system, much like our Amber Alert system, which I'm sure you're all familiar with when your phone blasts off with an alert in the middle of doing something, and it just startles you, right? Feather Alert System, much like it, is a powerful tool that brings a new set of eyes and ears through the millions of drivers traveling throughout California. So it's a vital program in my department's commitment to keeping Native people, Native women safe, and the people of California safe. Thank you to Councilwoman Lopez for bringing awareness to this, and thank you to the Indigenous Women's Rising group for all the wonderful work you do. So a round of applause for them.

Thank you, everybody. Are we ready for a group picture?

Thank you.

Perfect.

All right.

Right here at the camera, please. One, two, three.

All right, thank you, everybody, for coming for the presentations. At this time, we're gonna go to staff presentation. Mr. City Manager, can we please have the presentation from Public Works, please?

Yes, thank you, Mayor. Acting Director of Public Works, Mr. Rodolfo Rosas will make the presentation for us.

Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, City Council Members. Item number five on the agenda is a status update on the priority projects we have in the city.

I'm sorry, quick question, Mr. City Manager. This is regarding the rate hikes. We took it off the agenda. Do you still need to do this presentation? Is this just the rate hikes? Okay, I apologize, I want to make sure it's not just regarding the rate hike, so I missed two meetings, I just want to make sure we took that item off the agenda. Yes, this is our- All right, go ahead, Mr. Rosas, I apologize.

Public projects.

Got it. Thank you. Not raising rates for water, thank you.

No.

Thank you. Okay, here we go. There are currently 42 projects in construction representing a total investment of $185 million in the community. The projects listed here have been identified as priority projects, and I will be providing a status update for each. Here's just a brief map illustrating all the projects, all these priority projects throughout the city. As you can see, the priority projects are being constructed in all sectors of the city. We'll start with a priority project that is already completed. El Salvador Park improvements included new restroom facilities and baseball field upgrades. The restroom was completed in May of last year and the field improvements were completed in January of this year with the assistance of the local carpenters union. Next, we have the Centennial Park Improvements Project, which is an expansion of the Centennial Park to include new trails, picnic areas, parking lot, restrooms, and the city's first dog park amenity. The project will be completed this month, and the ribbon cutting is scheduled for April 4th. We have a brief aerial video that was taken about a month ago showing the progress on the dog park fields. New sod has already been installed and crews are working on finishing touches. Next, we have the new Salvador Quintana Park at Bristol and Tolliver. This new park is the third in a series of so-called sponge parks. as there are major stormwater capture and reuse elements included. In fact, the majority of the funding for this park comes from state grants related to stormwater. In addition to the varied stormwater elements, this project includes a new play equipment and adult fitness equipment, shade structures, pedestrian pathways and lighting, a new basketball court as well. Project is on schedule to be completed next month. Next we have Santa Anita Park. The project involved a complete teardown and reconstruction of the park, including a new synthetic sports field and bleacher seating, a new basketball court, a playground, expanded parking lot, pool renovations, and of course the construction of two new buildings to serve as the reservations office for Parks and Rec and a community space and the PAL Center. Here's another video to highlight, whoops. There we go. Apologies, that was supposed to be an aerial video showing the improvements at the park and it was really great. I'll move on to the next one. A project we started this fiscal year is the police training facility. The project included installing a new classroom building, a new simulation house building, and renovation of the existing restrooms and office space. As seen here, you see the new classroom buildings, the simulation house, and the top left picture is the restrooms and office space. Work is substantially complete. The site is in use, but additional work continues to provide additional utility connections to the simulation building and general site cleanup. We also have a number of street improvements in construction. One of the larger projects is the standard and McFadden bikeway and street improvement projects. The project was divided into four major phases to ensure the contractor completed segments of the project before moving on to the next segment. Currently, three of the four phases are substantially complete and work has begun on the final phase, which is McFadden from Bristol to Grand. The city has made a historical investment in its public library system, including the construction of new library facilities and the renovation of the existing libraries. The most prominent project is the renovation of the main library and includes new electrical and mechanical and communication systems, repairs to the roof and exterior walls, site improvements including parking, lighting, and landscaping, and a complete remodel of the interior space to allow more engaging public spaces, including a large community room, STEM learning areas, and a new history room. Work is ongoing on both exterior and interior elements that is on schedule for substantial completion in July. We have also broken ground on the Portola Park Splash Pad project. Project includes a new splash pad with water features and shade structures, renovating the restroom at Portola Park and adding onto that building to house the splash pad equipment. Work is currently being performed on the restroom structure and grading the site for the future splash pad.

Madam Mayor, before Rudy moves on, that's in Ward 3, not Ward 6. I just want to make sure that's corrected.

Thank you, Council.

Which is exciting for Ward 3. Apologies. But I just wanted to point that out. Thank you.

There's more coming. Don't worry. We'll have them in all the boards. Go ahead.

This fiscal year, the City Council included funds to construct street improvements in the MacArthur Place business area. Public Works has completed plans, received bids for the improvements, and is preparing to bring a contract for Council's consideration next month. If approved, the project is on schedule to be completed in September of this year. The Memorial Park Aquatic Center represents the largest investment in our parks and aquatic facilities. The project includes demolition of the existing pool and buildings, which contained asbestos, complex grading, soil dewatering, remediation and strengthening, building of a competition pool and recreation pool, constructing a new state-of-the-art aquatic building, and concrete bleacher seeding. We do have a video here. The project presented a number of challenges early on but is now rapidly advancing. The work effort is extensive. This video taken in January shows work simultaneously occurring on the building and pool structures. Today work continues on the roof, electrical and pool plumbing systems. The pool structural elements are complete and both the north and south buildings are structurally complete as well. Next we have Bristol Street. Bristol Street is two construction projects happening at the same time. One in the north from Civic Center to Washington and another in the south from Warner to St. Andrew. Project includes underground and overhead utilities, expanding the roadway to three lanes in each direction with protected bike lanes, center medians, parkway landscaping, sound walls, water lines, storm drain, extensive street improvements. This video was taken last month and shows the the crews currently working on installing the underground utility structures on the South Bristol segment of the project. We also show the recently completed North Bristol project. Northbound lanes are complete and open, and the southbound, which is shown on the left of the video, will be working on pole removals and finishing the southbound lanes this summer. Next, we have the Cypress Center Firehouse Restoration Project. This project includes the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the historic Santa Ana Fire Station No. 4 for use as a new PAL Center. The contractor has completed demolition and is currently working on interior plumbing and framing modifications. We are on track to complete this project by year's end. And finally, we have the Warner Corridor Widening Project. Similar to Bristol, this widening project is planned to be delivered in phases. The first phase is under construction, but due to performance issues, the city terminated the relationship with the contractor. Since then, the city has made progress on completing elements of the project and continues to do so. Roadway improvements to allow for additional traffic lanes are scheduled to be completed by May, and landscape installation is scheduled to commence next month. Construction bids on the final phase of the project have been received and are being evaluated. Delivering these projects is truly a team effort and would not be possible without the support from the City Manager's Office, Police Department, Library, Parks and Rec, and all of the other city departments here. Thank you. That concludes the presentation, and thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. Any Council Members who have questions or comments, please raise your mic if you'd like to speak. Council Member Becerra, please.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and thank you, Rudy, for that presentation and update. It's good for the community to see some of the progress we're making, and thank you, Mr. City Manager. As we've talked about many times, there's a lot of these projects that, you know, they were, in theory, they weren't really happening, and so I want to thank you and your team for jump-starting these and making them happen, and I know Rudy hasn't been on the job in his particular position too long. And so this is a testament to the work that you've been able to accomplish in your time. So between our city manager and our director of public works, I want to thank both of you guys for all the work in making these things happen. So thank you.

Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, madam. I just want to also say thank you for the presentation. and for ensuring that work is moving forward. These very important projects are getting completed. For residents in Ward 5, I WANT TO SPECIFICALLY THANK THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE FOR PRIORITIZING EL SALVADOR PARK. THAT WAS A PROJECT THAT WE HAD FUNDED IN 2021 BUT WE HAD FAILED TO GET THE PROJECT FULLY EXECUTED AND IT WAS THANKS TO YOUR OFFICE PRIORITIZING THIS PARK. EL SALVADOR'S RESTROOMS WERE THERE SINCE 1960. THEY WERE ONE OF THE OLDER FACILITIES AND YOU HELPED REPLACE THOSE. be on the record in telling you thank you on behalf of the thousands of residents and the students and families who use El Salvador Park. Thank you very much. We are also very much thankful for all of my colleagues here at the Santa Ana City Council who voted in favor of investing in our public library. We invested over $23.9 million in renovating the Santa Ana Public Library, so I just want to remind residents in Washington Square and Willard and across the city that our library will be opening up this year. July 2026 is the date that we are targeting. We're looking forward to serving families across the city. And then lastly, construction is looking close to complete on Bristol between Civic Center and 17th Street. All of that construction is looking really nice. Residents are very happy with the way that they've been treated throughout the process. So I just want to also be on the record for saying thank you guys, City of Santa Ana, for doing your due diligence to mediate any of the residents' concerns. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Council Member Vasquez, please.

Thank you, I want to thank staff and the city manager for the work that we're doing in the ward two and looking into McFadden Corridor with the light post and getting that fixed, but especially for renovating Cypress Fire Station for the future PAL Center and also for Salvador Quintanilla Park and the opening of all the libraries. I'm excited to see these. libraries reopen and be of service to our youth and our community, but it's happening really fast, so I really appreciate all the work that we're getting across this year, thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem, pedal also please.

Thank you Mayor Meskwa and thank you city staff for this long awaited update on these various projects that we have in the pipeline and under construction. I just had a question as far as to the utility poles on Bristol Street along Civic Center down to Washington. and the utility poles on Warner Avenue. When can we expect that process to begin in the removal of the utility poles on Bristol and Warner and what kind of, I know I saw some 2027 construction deadlines on here on Warner, which is a little frustrating, but I'm happy to see a date, but I just want to know when that utility pole process will start removal, because I guess a lot of the frustration from a lot of the residents in this area is they know that these projects have had delays, some out of our control, but they want to know why and what that timeline looks like to anticipate the removal of those poles.

Mayor Patent, thank you for the question. First, we share in the frustration in the time it's been taking to coordinate with the utilities to have them essentially get to work quickly and underground their utilities. The segment on Bristol between Civic Center and Washington is charter communications that they need to underground their utilities so the poles can be removed. We are actively working with them. We've been working with them for years on this project. They anticipate removing the poles by June, i.e. this summer of 26 for that segment of Bristol. For Warner, it's the same charter communications as well that we're waiting by June. The electrical, all the other utilities are done. That's why the poles, if you've seen them, have been chopped down. They're shorter. We expect Charter to be out of the way by the end of this year so we can fully complete the project.

Thank you for that, Rudy. Now is this just strictly Charter Communications or is there any other utility at play here that needs to do this work?

So originally there's many utilities, Edison, Charter, AT&T, Verizon, you name them. Painstakingly working through each to do their portion and Charter is the final company.

Okay. Is this something that we could potentially as a city work that we can do in-house and then just bill the respective companies for that work through our in-house contractors or even in-house staff?

Traditionally, that is not something the utility companies would allow. However, right now we are exploring all options to expedite this project.

Perfect. Thank you, Rudy. And those questions are questions that have come up at various neighborhood meetings, whether it's Delhi and Warner and Memorial Park and just different areas. So I'm not just pulling them out of the air. It's questions that we've both heard about these specific projects. Even remember a couple months ago when I walked Warner, down with you to see the construction status, but I'm happy to see movement and I'm hopeful that this gets completed soon, whatever we need to do as a city or elected officials to expedite the these utility companies to do this work and would be, I mean, more than I can ask for. I mean, let us know if there's anything that we can do, but I would hope that we are, it's clear that we are moving, we are seeing progress, so I'm excited, but thank you. Thank you for your work in making sure that these things happen, because it's been, like I said, long overdue and years past due, so thank you Rudy. Thank you city staff for this.

Okay, thank you. So I don't see any other comments. I'll just close with this. Mr. City Manager, so I was first elected in, I think my first meeting was December 7th of 2022. It was an interesting meeting. There was a lot of projects on the table my first year, my second year, and then you and your staff came along and now you have taken along with all your staff, Rudy and everybody else, Sylvia, Min, I can name everybody that you're working with, with your leadership. These are projects that you took off the shelf that we have been asking for the splash pads before I was elected. I mean, I know Mayor Pro Tem talked about it when I first was elected, whether it's utility poles, whether it's the parks, all of this, the dog park, when I got elected, I heard about the dog park that was, you know, I think five, six years in the making and no funding for it, just for an example. So I really appreciate that. I think we don't say that enough. We always, you know, we hear some of the complaining about, you know, all the things that are happening that may be negative. But I hope the community is really paying attention to all of these projects that are being completed with the exception of Mayor Pro Tem's question about Warner, that's in 2027. These should all be done in 2026. And so this is gonna be an amazing year for us because there's so many projects that we're gonna have. When I've been off for five weeks and you said, you and Deputy City Manager said, keep your Saturdays clear because we're going to have ribbon cuttings every Saturday. So I'm really excited and I hope the community is excited too because we're going to be opening up things left and right. New pal centers and new parks and splash pads and, you know. Bristol, Whiting, Warner, I mean, I'm very excited what's happening. So thank you very much for all this work to all of you. I really appreciate it, thank you so much. And I can't wait to hear from the community. And there'll be hiccups, we know that. We're not sitting here saying everything's perfect. There will be hiccups, but thank you for everything. So sitting up here now, it's my fourth year, it's good to see that we're just not getting the same oh of yeah, we'll get to you, yeah, we'll get to you. We're hearing, oh, it's in the works and it'll be completed this summer. So thank you very much, I appreciate it. Thank you, Rudy, very much. Okay, next item. Madam City Attorney, do you have anything to report out of closed session, please?

Yes, thank you, Mayor, members of the City Council, members of our public. We do have one item to report out from our closed session this evening. By unanimous vote of seven to zero, the Mayor and Council Members approved a settlement in the Frank Rocha case in the amount of $169,482 for a final and universal settlement. That's all the reportable action I have.

Thank you, Madam City Attorney. This is the time of the meeting for the City Council to receive comments from the public on agenda and non-agenda items. Madam City Clerk, please explain the public comment procedure and call the first speakers, please.

Thank you, Mayor. Pursuant to resolution number 2025-004, speakers are requested to address the City Council directly and to refrain from profane language, racial epitaphs, and libelous or slanderous statements that disturb the decorum of the meeting. Pursuant to the Brown Act, the City Council may not enter into discussions at this time. Speakers will have three minutes for their comments. Before calling speakers, I'll report the summary of emails provided as of today by 2 p.m. We received a total of 29 e-comments, 28 on non-agenda topics, and one related to item number 23, the canceled public hearing. Those were distributed to the city council and made a part of the record on the city's website. We'll now hear from members of the public that are physically present in the Council Chamber, followed by those on Zoom or the teleconference call, to provide comments on agenda or non-agenda items, with the exception of the Housing Authority. Please state your name and the ward or neighborhood that you reside in for the record. I call your name. Please line up in the center aisle behind the podium. Manuel Avila. Erica Armenta. Jocelyn Pacheco.

Is this my time to speak? Okay, God bless you. Does this go on Channel Spectrum 3 News? Will it actually go on the news? Oh, okay, this little speech is about how we actually need to band together to address the concerns and dangers found within the concept of infinite money. It's a fascinating heaven concept called infinite money, possibly 600 quadrillion dollars, but just know we don't get to receive any of that award, that reward, the $22 million for every single soul, plus the extinguishment of global... disembodiments from our type of legislative control, it would actually unify all of our hands-bodied toward one type of controlled legislation where we actually be able to shut down the black market. So the black market, legislative control, the money, and then actually very short working days, two hours a day we would have to work. There's not much that we could think about in terms of stopping us. I think we have to think more about protecting it safely because there are things we can see. The things we can see is that resources are not a problem. Even in terms of the future heavenly Jesus and Jehovah, possibly giving us... maybe miraculous, similar to being manna-esque, and re-emulant of Yahweh's manna through the wilderness, or resources could just become available, and teleportively on... can channel our family into heavenly bliss. That's resources. And then we have work motivation. And work motivation, we're all going to be a culture of red, successful. We're going to be psychologically intelligent and maybe athletic or spiritual into a higher enlightenment. And I think we're going to be success-oriented, where we like striving into the success. And look at this massive... unsuccessful state that is created when we don't work and when we let this work motivation fall low. It's actually where we see the $22 million from the $600 quadrillion split evenly. Medical problems and time, right? I don't know how much, because we're gonna get free food and free freaking deliveries of cars and free houses. Everything's gonna be free. So that $22 million might last a very long time. More than what we would expect because everything is free. So when you think of everything like how the inflation is no longer a thing because we have debit cards from the government, federal e-coin, and we also have legislative controls. So that's how it's inflation. Inflation is only what they say is wrong when they say, we can never print infinite money, or we can never print quadrillions, we can never print trillions, hundreds of trillions of dollars. If we tried to print 300 trillion dollars, they would call us crazy, they would say that's one earth. But it is possible. We need to have infinite. Manuel, your time is up. I'm going to have to plan it out first, or else it's dangerous and irresponsible.

Your time is up, sir. Thank you. Erica Armentha, Jocelyn Pacheco, Matthew Compton.

Jocelyn Pacheco, Matthew Compton, David Pulido.

Good evening, my name is Jocelyn Pacheco and I'm with CSOOC's Police Accountability Committee. We are here yet again to demand justice for the far too many lives taken by your officers. On December 1st, 2024, Noel Rodriguez was unarmed and experiencing a mental health crisis when officers Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra shot him nearly 30 times. Body camera footage shows they opened fire less than 30 seconds after arriving with most of those bullets striking Noel in the back, including three as he was already falling to the ground. The full footage also proves that officers' statements do not match reality. Casillas claimed he fired 14 to 15 rounds when in reality he emptied all 18 rounds and still reloaded. Ibarra claimed he fired about seven rounds when he actually fired 11, so either they don't know how to count or they willingly provided false statements to justify deadly force. Casillas also said it looked like Noel was loading a gun, but that is not what the footage shows. What it does show is Noah standing still, holding what we now know as a toy rifle against his chest and not waving or pointing a shotgun at officers like Ibarra claimed. Again, the footage does not support this. The officers also failed at the most basic level of communication. They gave only three commands, all in English. Drop the gun or you're going to be shot. Noah only spoke Spanish. Dispatch identified him as Hispanic. The officers identified him as Hispanic. And in a city where the majority of people are Hispanic, they made no effort to communicate in a language he could understand. They gave him no real opportunity to comply, no chance to ask for help, and took no steps to deescalate. After shooting him, they failed him again, and instead of providing immediate medical care, they waited. They called for more officers. For over 10 minutes, Noed lay without aid. When officers finally approached, they shot him again with a 40-millimeter launcher. handcuffed him, and only then called for medical personnel. That was more than 13 minutes after he had already been shot 29 times, but it did not stop there. Just one month later, on January 1st, 2025, Officer Luis Garcia shot and killed Henry Gonzalez Jr., a man his own mother said was suicidal and in crisis, yet there was no attempt to deescalate. Casillas was also involved in the beating of a 15-year-old Mario Diaz, who was seen surrendering with his hands up and ended up hospitalized with broken ribs and a punctured lung and a fractured eye socket. Officer Ibarra participated in the arrest of Freddie D'Angelo Washington, who later died after being restrained, pinned, and deprived of breath while in custody. Despite all of this, both officers remain on duty. One is investigating crimes against persons while being investigated himself. Meanwhile, the Santa Ana Police Officers Association, whom you, Valerie, have taken money from, has attacked grieving families and community members, calling them anti-public safety for demanding transparency. So it's no wonder why you refuse to hold them accountable. Casillas and Ibarra are a threat to this community, and unless you all take steps to hold officers accountable when they commit crimes, any one of us here tonight can be next. Just another statistic on the long, long list of black and brown people victimized by SAPD, and you all need to do better. We demand justice for Noel Rodriguez, Henry Gonzalez Jr.

Your time is up, ma'am. Your time is up. Her mic has been muted. Thank you very much. Ma'am, your time is up.

Ma'am.

Your time is up. Thank you. Thank you.

Your time is up. Next three speakers. Matthew Compton, David Pulido, and Abe Hugh.

I'm sorry, hold on one second. We've been through this over and over. If we can't be respectful and let people speak, then we're gonna have to take a break. So please just let people speak. It's three minutes, please. You can boo me all you want. So thank you very much. Three minutes, thank you.

Yeah, she was like 17 seconds over. You could have let her finish. I mean, you sit here and say like, oh, you need to let people speak and then you don't let people speak, but whatever. All right. I feel like I don't have to introduce myself. I've been here plenty of times. You all know me. So I'm here today to once again demand justice for Noe Rodriguez. It has been well over a year and the two officers who murdered Noe remain on the force. Despite Luis and Isaac lying to fellow officers about how many bullets they each fired and about how Noe was acting. In the full body cam footage, officers Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra lied multiple times. Casillas said he fired approximately 14 to 15 bullets when he actually fired all 18. Ibarra said he fired seven bullets when it was actually 11. Casillas said it looked like Noe was loading a gun, but that is not what we see in any of the footage. Instead, we only see Noe standing motionless against the wall of Casa Linda Furniture Store, holding the toy rifle to his chest. Ibarra said that Noé was waving around a shotgun and pointing it in their direction. Again, the body cam footage contradicts both of these false claims. On February 18th, members of CSO, including Noé's two young daughters and Erika Armenta, were confronted by Isaac Ibarra outside of the police department while recording videos. Shame! He could have left the building many different ways, but chose to try and intimidate the family and our members. When he was called out for the shameless tactic, Ibarra assaulted members of our organization and called for several police officers to help him. Ibarra once again lied to fellow officers saying we assaulted him in an attempt to get us arrested when in reality we never touched him. Instead, Ibarra elbowed myself and another member in the stomach and then he proceeded to shoulder check me to try and get a reaction out of me. Ibarra also did a fake punch towards another member. When the officers arrived, Isaac tried to get the same CSO member to fight him, getting in his face and taunting him to try and fight. Meanwhile, none of the other officers present tried to calm down Ibarra or get him out of our member's face. Instead, the officers surrounded us, including the family of Noe. Isaac is highly mentally unstable and should not be allowed on the force, let alone carry lethal weapons. Again, myself, along with the family of Noe Rodriguez, demand that both Isaac Ibarra and Luis Casillas are fired from the force. One more thing, Becerra. You had a meeting with the Coach Royale mobile home people, their tenants, and their management company is evicting them without cause and threatening to call ICE on them. And all you had to say was, oh, there's lines we don't cross. Well, you're a disgusting human being for that response, and you should be ashamed of yourself.

That is what you're saying. Yeah, that is what you're saying.

David Pulido, Abe Kueh, Brian Villacorta.

All right, I would like to begin by thanking Councilmember Jonathan Hernandez for helping us to establish a mural of Noel Rodriguez here in downtown Santa Ana. That's right, that's right. That mural stands less than a block away from where he was killed by Santa Ana police. It stands as a monument to the dignity of Noe Rodriguez, and it symbolizes the ongoing struggle for justice for all Chicanos killed by police. Now, my name is David Pulido, and I'm a member of CSO Orange County. We are here to demand justice for Noe Rodriguez. Yes, we demand that killer cops Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra be fired.

That's right.

Luis Casillas killed two people within one month. No Way on December 1st, 2024, and Henry Gonzalez Jr. on January 1st, 2025. Last June, Casillas was one of many officers who beat 15-year-old Mario Diaz after he had already surrendered to police, according to his family. For all his crimes, SAPD has not fired Luis Casillas. Instead, they moved him from patrol to the Crimes Against Persons Division. Shame. Isaac Ibarra also killed Noe Rodriguez. The next month, he was one of six officers who brutally arrested unarmed Freddie Washington. And this February, as my comrade mentioned, while holding a press conference with Noe's family, Isaac Ibarra approached us. It was a cruel and shocking act of disrespect. When we confronted Ibarra and started filming him, he lunged at us and pushed us multiple times and lied and said we assaulted him. There's multiple testimony to contradict that and at least three videos. Isaac Ibarra is a dangerous man and should be fired immediately. Police-backed politicians like Phil Becerra, right over here, they like to cry about the right to due process when it comes to police. But where was that right for Noé? Your police robbed that right from Noé in under 30 seconds. Where was that right for Freddie Washington? Police robbed that right from Freddie when they let him die alone in a jail cell. When people talk about due process for police, I think about Alejandro Campos Rios, an unarmed 50-year-old Chicano who was killed by Fullerton police in 2024. The DA's office just released its report claiming that officers were not guilty of criminal misconduct. In the past 15 reports, they say officers were not guilty of criminal misconduct. In the last 25 reports by the California Department of Justice, no police were found guilty. We cannot wait for the criminal injustice system to exonerate these killer cops, to whitewash their crimes. We demand that Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra be fired before they kill again. Before they kill again. The blood is on the hands of our own police chief, Robert Rodriguez. The blood will be on your hands, city manager Alvaro Nunez, if you do nothing. The blood will be on the hands of any council member who stands in the way of accountability and justice. Never let anyone forget it. That will be your legacy. We will be here. We're not going away. We will be here every time. Justice for Noel Rodriguez. Justice for Henry Gonzalez Jr. David, your time is up.

Justice for Freddie Washington.

Justice! Justice for Mario Diaz. This will be your legacy, Valerie. We'll never let anyone forget it. You too, David. You too, Phil. That's right. We'll be back. Thank you.

Your time is up. Next speaker, please.

You know, the elections are coming up. I'm really excited to see how much money you guys got from the POA again. Good afternoon, city council and staff. My name is Abe. I'm a resident of Ward 3, and I'm a proud member of CSO Orange County. We're here over one year and three months since the murder of Noe Rodriguez to continue demanding justice for him. The officers who shot Noe while he was unarmed and having a mental health crisis, Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra, are still on the force, and we demand that they be fired immediately from Santa Ana PD. This goes to you, Chief Robert Rodriguez and City Manager Alvaro Nunez, and to the rest of you on the city council. They need to be fired. Fire these killer cops. Now, Noe's murder was not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern of violence involving Senate and a PD. Officers like Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra are symptoms of this problem. We lack accountability and transparency of the police department and the city. Luis Casillas shot and killed Henry Gonzalez Jr. just one month after Noe on January 1st, 2025. But residents of Santa Ana were never told about that. We were never told that there's a killer cop patrolling our streets. And now Casillas has been moved to crimes against persons. That means he's investigating other critical incidents. This is not accountability. Shame! Isaac Ibarra took part in the brutal arrest of Freddie Washington on January 15th, 2025. Freddie was on the phone with his lawyer when he was beaten, pinned down, and put into a full body restraint by multiple officers, including Isaac Ibarra. Shame! Freddie died in police custody at the jail, but no residents, again, of Santa Ana heard about this case. We only heard about it through a very biased critical incident video released by the police department. We need an independent investigation to his death because moving Isaac Ibarra to North Area Command is not accountability. And there's a lot more cases that these officers have both been involved in. When we go out and do outreach and talk to people, to residents of Santa Ana and all of your wards, some of them have had experiences with these officers. Some of them know Casillas and Ibarra, and they say, that's the guy. That's the guy who beat me. That's the guy who intimidated me. And there's a lot more that we really need to talk about here. But I only have three minutes, so... We need real transparency and real political power in the hands of the community to hold the police accountable when they commit crimes. This includes protecting the powers of the Police Oversight Commission to conduct independent investigations. We should be increasing the Commission's budget to increase the number of investigations and hold accessible community meetings. Because again, when we talk to residents all around the city, the vast majority don't know that the Police Oversight Commission exists, and they are so afraid of retaliation from Santa Ana PD that they don't want to submit any complaints about police misconduct and police violence. This fear is the embodiment of the relationship between Santa Ana PD and working class communities all around Santa Ana. And this fear is justified because officers like Casillas and Ibarra have denied people with mental health illnesses and people experiencing other social issues their right to due process. Justice for Noe Rodriguez, justice for Henry Gonzalez Jr., justice for Brittany Washington, and justice for Brittany Lopez. Dave, your time is up.

Brian Villacorta, Jer, Steph. Brian. Brian. Okay, Steph and then Grace Arzova.

Greetings, bless you. So my name is Jair and I believe it was Reverend Durley came up to do the prayer, right? One thing that he said that I think is very thematic for tonight and just for a lot of the chaos that's happening in the world today. He said, I seek the strength to overcome evil. And right now, I would like for you guys to just, when you hear them, I know that there's a lot of history of arguments or disagreements, but I want you to trust that the people that have come to speak to you today, yes, they're angry, we're angry. but I want you to see us as people who are combating evil, not as people who are against you or your values, but please see us as people who are combating evil, whether that's in the form of a killer cop, whether that's in the form of a real estate corporation that's out of state and trying to displace people from their homes. Please see us in that way. Don't see us as counter to you. Just see us as co-combatants that are combating evil. And we're asking for your help. The people are asking for your help, for accountability, whether it's to that cop, whether it's from the police department, or whether it's from this real estate agency. My first initiative here was to voice my support for the land, the homeowners of the Coach Royal Park mobile homes. They've come here multiple times to speak to you and really plead to you to do something, step in. What I've observed, you may observe it differently, but I see them come and they get breadcrumbs. Not even. You may see it otherwise, but that's just what I observe. And I'm here today to ask on behalf of them an investigation to be started on this real estate company that has been harassing, intimidating. Those are two words that come, remember the killer cop, same thing, harassing, intimidating, vulnerable people, people who don't have the power of money. They have the voice, but they're being silenced. That's the key thing. They're being silenced. So I'm here to ask those things for y'all to go visit them. Just go visit. Take like half an hour, 40 minutes. Come visit them just to see what they're talking about. See what kind of intimidation that they're going through. So that's one thing, after this comment section is done, I'm gonna ask y'all to please individually voice what you can do. If it's, oh, I can't do this, what can you do? That's what we're asking, thank you.

Next speaker is Steph, followed by Grace Arzova and Dale Helvig.

Okay, I'm Steph with CSO, and we are here once again demanding justice for Noe Rodriguez. As much as some members of this council might like us to stop talking about what happened to Noe, what happened to Henry Gonzalez Jr., Mario Diaz, Freddie Washington, and many, many more young Chicano and black men in this city, we will not stop. Some members of the council have an interest in sweeping SAPD's crimes under the rug, though they like to pretend that campaign donations amount to nothing. The American public knows better than that, and Santaneros know better than that. I am here to let you know that we will not rest until this council hears the desperate cries of the people who are brutalized by SAPD and the members of their families that are left to pick up the pieces. We will not rest until the police are held accountable, just like they claim to hold Santa Ana residents accountable. Police are not above the law, so we ask that this council reflect this. Murder is not a victimless crime just because it is carried out by police. These community members will be remembered. They are grieved and the community is left hurting. We demand that Isaac Ibarra and Luis Casillas are taken off the force so they can no longer harm community members. On top of his many crimes, Officer Isaac Ibarra has tried to intimidate not only community members seeking justice, but also the grieving family members of the man who he killed. Noe Rodriguez's young daughters and his wife were intimidated and harassed by Isaac Ibarra. This behavior is despicable. Shame. I wonder if this council has any shame for how violent officers like this are representing them. We demand that killer cops Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra are fired and held accountable for their crimes. Thank you.

Hello, my name's Grace Arzola. My nephew was killed in Anaheim on December 6th, and I'm here to advocate for all the family members that have lost a loved one. And Valerie and Phil, body language means everything, and I really encourage you guys to go back and look at your body language and the way you guys treat us when we come up here. You guys were more upset over a charter communication not fixing their light poles than people losing their lives. As someone that has lost someone, that my Christmas will never be the same, you guys have to give us at least a little bit of dignity and respect when we come up here to talk to you guys. We come talk to you guys with our heart in our hands. We have pain. Victor's Lopez incident really affected our family because that was less than a month, I believe, from when my nephew died. It is not okay to sit up here and ignore your community members that want social justice. You guys have to do better. Valerie, you're like this. Come on. Be respectful. You hold the leadership position. Act like a leader, because you're not acting like one. You really are not. And when he texts you and tells you to check your phone, and people are giving public comments, the least you guys could do is pretend to listen to us. Because it takes a lot of courage to come up here and speak truth to power. I also want to lead with you guys, as a Christian, as a person that believes we have to be the voice for those that don't have the voice. My nephew doesn't have that voice. Noel doesn't have that voice. Victor Lopez doesn't have the voice. And what do they have in common? Someone that has legal authority to kill them, killed them. Within 30 seconds, my family was torn apart. Within 30 seconds, Noel's family was torn apart. I love those parks. I would have had love that Noel would have been able to take his two young girls there. But he won't be able to do that because Santa Ana police took care of that. You guys have to understand, those that are entrusted with a lot of power, a lot is expected. That is for you guys, and that's also for the officers that are supposed to serve and protect our community. And that means all community members. When someone's suffering from mental health, condition you don't go over there and assassinate them you get them crisis resources you wait you don't approach someone with guns out but my time's out but given i mentioned i am a christian and i believe that god sees everything and knows what's in our heart and what we're feeling um and i do want to say trust in the lord with all your heart and lean on into your own understanding and all your ways submit to him and he will make your path straight I want you guys to at least, if you guys don't want to hear me go home, if you guys believe in a higher power, ask God for guidance because you guys are really missing the point of serving the public. You guys have to go back to that. Serving the people that elected you guys in these leadership positions.

The next three speakers. The next three speakers are Dale Helvig, Rain Mendoza, Diana Toreros.

Not Kelly Green, but this is the best I could do today. I'd also like to thank Public Works. I was walking through the park, Santiago Park, on Saturday. There's probably like 75 people there, most of them kids playing in the park. The improvements that they did there are great, and I think you'll see it once they get done with all these other parks, you're going to see those get activated just as well. It's great to see the investment we're putting into parks. What I'm here to talk about tonight, though, is the special event policy. And a neighbor came to me back in September saying that they thought the policy was being misused or violated, whatever you want to call it. And they asked me to take a look at it because they know I like doing research on certain things, and so I did. I spent the next five months looking at things and looking at the policy. I put in a public records request for the information on all the contributions all the council members made. And I submitted that to you guys back in November, asking for comments to see if it was right or not. And if I would have gotten an answer back then, this issue would have been over with by then. But it wasn't until the final public records request that I put in in February, I got a response back in March of this year, and it clearly showed that there was no violation, that the contributions made were correct by Mrs. Lopez, Miss Lopez, and there was a flyer there that said the activity was being held in Santa Ana. If anybody in the city would have bothered to get in touch with me during that time, this issue could have been over with and we wouldn't have wasted a lot of city resources, a lot of my time and everything else. but to have to go through two or three council meetings and present the issue, to have multiple residents submit information on it, to have public records requests not being complete. So anyway, what I'd like to suggest, and I sent the letter to you guys, and I hope you guys do take a look at it because I think all this could have been avoided if you'd done a couple things. The record that was first provided me, if it had included that it was a 501 on the form, because it's already provided for on the donation request form, but the spreadsheet that you provided me was lacking, or if the event location was included. So I'm hoping that you guys can take a look at this policy and take a look at the letter, because I'm running out of time, and see if you can make these suggestions and have a discussion on it at a future council meeting. Thank you.

Rain Mendoza, Diana Toreros, Carla Baragon.

Hi, I'm Rain. I'm with the Immigration Committee with CSO Orange County. And we're here to amplify the demands of the coach royal tenants that have been coming here. I also come speaking from the perspective of someone who grew up in a mobile home park. People who are in mobile home parks are very vulnerable. They're working class immigrants, mostly undocumented immigrants, a lot of Chicanos, Mexicans, Central Americans. And these demographics are particularly vulnerable under the Trump administration, right? However, in this case, they don't have to be as vulnerable if this council would step up and do something and help them, provide them with some tangible assistance, some help. This council, you know, I don't know, I hear, I see you, Valerie, you have like a video pinned on your Instagram about how you care about this and this and that, but have you gone to go talk to them or try to offer any help? So yeah, so if this council claims to be so supportive and pro-immigrant and et cetera, et cetera, well then why don't you go help them? You know, they have demands, they have real demands. The Coach Royal tenants who are here as well, they're sitting in the back. They've been bullied. They've been intimidated. They've been stolen from, disrespected, and they're being threatened with ice. So there's definitely something that y'all can do. This council needs to stand with the brave Coach Royal tenants and not say, this is a line I won't cross when being met with and spoken with. I know you know who I'm talking about. Yeah. Also, I also wanted to speak on the incident. I'm sure you've all seen the video of Officer Isaac Ibarra and his unhinged behavior. I want to say that all of you should be really, really worried about how your officers are acting, and they're being filmed. So they're trying to lie about it, and we have the film. It's all on camera. So I wonder what they lie about when they're not on camera. You should be really worried. Okay, so it's one thing, right, if a fucking page on Instagram ran by your little friend Andres wants to post AI videos and whatever. It's a whole other thing when the official Santa Ana POA Instagram wants to upload this video with lies, with this narrative. They're trying to lie. It's on video. They're acting like unhinged lunatics, and you should all be worried about the officers who are representing you guys, who work under you guys, or whatever. Sorry, heat exhaustion, but I came anyway because I really wanted to give my comment. That was it. So, yeah, so we want to uplift the demands of the Coach Royal tenants. They're back there. They're also going to keep coming back. So, yeah, so we hope that you guys meet with them.

Hi, I'm Diana. I'm a resident of the Pacific Park neighborhood, and I'm a member of CSOC's Immigration Committee. I'm here to support the residents of the Cotorell Mobile Home Park. The things management is doing to the residents are wrong. They're harassing residents and threatening to call ICE on them. Families are losing their homes, and this is supposed to be a sanctuary city. How can we allow an out-of-state corporation to come in and treat Santa Ana residents this way? Is it really a sanctuary city if residents live in fear and ICE is used as a weapon against them by large corporations? Again, there has to be something that you all can do. At the very least, give them the time of day and go meet with them, listen to their concerns, and offer something concrete. CSO supports the strong women organizers of Coach Royale in their demands for an investigation into this issue. All of the members of the council have stated in one way or another that they support the immigrant community in our city, and this is the perfect opportunity to do something concrete to support those residents. I also support the demands for justice for Noe Rodriguez. Isaac Ibarra and Luis Casillas need to be fired to protect the community. As one of the Coach Royale organizers told me, SAPD is quick to pull a gun on a young Chicano who isn't hurting anyone, but when the residents of Coach Royale are being consistently harassed and intimidated by management, there is nobody there to protect them. So you guys need to do something. You need to stop just listening to the people who are lining your pockets and your campaigns, the SAPOA, and actually do something for your residents.

The next three speakers, Carla Baragon, Victor Mendez, Melody Remington.

Good evening council members, mayor. I'm happy you're back. I wanted to first and foremost let you guys know that in the book of Nehemiah it does say that we should be courageous. We shouldn't be scared and it takes a lot of courage for me to stand up and back up thousands of people that they're under your guys' responsibility. I don't have the time. I don't have the energy. It causes a lot of distress on me to stand up and fight back against this out-of-state corporation that is monstrous, that threats me daily to silence, to not come to a council meeting and fight for others. And I believe that this is gruesome and it needs to stop already. One thing that I did hear in my community, loud and clear, was that we're all demanding justice. We just want to be treated as humans. We're tired. It's not okay to live in retaliation, to live in fear from anybody. It's disgusting, it's inhumane, and it needs to stop at every level. I'm here to address the ongoing situation that is not a private dispute as their attorneys are watching right now and want to claim and just throw under the rug. No, this is a public safety housing crisis and it needs to be addressed as that. The city has legal and moral duties to intervene whenever systemic abuse endangers residents, even if the structures themselves are not physically hazardous. It's worse when we're being the people that are attacked. We're losing our lives. We're losing our well-being, and this needs to stop. This corporation has sued our city, claiming protection under federal law, yet its actions directly conflict with the purpose of 42.USC5401, the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standard Act. The law was enacted to protect homeowners, preserve affordability, and expand ownership opportunities when corporations destroy affordability or force homeowners to lose their homes in equity. They undermine the very protections Congress intended to safeguard. Residents cannot be forced to move their homes arbitrarily or have buyers rejected simply because the corporation dislikes or doesn't profit from every single sale. No one should be faced with retaliation for exercising lawful rights, yet residents are being intimidated, harassed, threatened, and placed in harm's way under your supervision. Living in fear while their legal protections are ignored, even threatened with eyes in our sanctuary city needs to stop. I respectfully but firmly urge the mayor and every single one of you council members to treat this as a public safety emergency. Every delay, every day that goes by puts our residents, vulnerable residents and minor children at risk. This inaction today, your inaction becomes complicit to this monstrous behavior. Families are being threatened with the loss of their home and equity. This council cannot ignore. Carly, your time is up. Nor claim ignorance. Thank you.

Before we begin, this needs to be wiped. There's some type of thing on here. Mr. City Attorney, can we get somebody to clean that for us, please? I'm sorry. Do we have somebody who can clean that out? My apologies.

No, that's okay. Thank you for letting us know.

Yeah, please give me a second here. Okay, I have some comments about one thing, but I want to kind of address some of the things that have been said today. At 67, I'm going to say what needs to be said, no matter where it goes. And I hope you're listening, guys, because every time I come here, either they're gone or your heads are buried. And that's just rude. I listen to you. Okay, so maybe the city needs to adopt a policy about standards of conduct for our property managers. I understand some of the passion around these property managers. I myself was threatened with eviction with a five-page letter from an attorney because I was trying to get decent standard of living for my residence. It was huge. I didn't like it. They tried to threaten me subtly. They wanted to kill my First Amendment rights. We prevailed. I'm here today. Now they're still coming at me with little ticky tack stuff, but it is what it is. So maybe a standard of conduct for our property managers might be something to do for every part of development agreement. What do we want of these guys? What do we expect? And how your property manager should govern themselves. I think that would be a good starting point. On the other side, police, I'm not here to comment on the situation with the individuals at issue. I have pretty good relations with the police, and I think they're pretty responsive. On First Street, they've done a great job of cleaning it up. We're starting to see a little bit of fragmentation going on. I saw some drugs. It's nothing to get too much in the lather about. But we've got to tighten it down. We've got to kind of keep it up. But people come up First Street, and I meet with them. They said, God, the place is so much cleaner. It's safer. I don't think Con-Am, my property manager, understands the work that's been done. But I think a lot of people do, and I think a lot of it's owed to the police, to Code, to a lot of people, to Valerie, myself, Jeff Katz, Desi, who worked pretty damn hard for two years to make that happen. And we do owe a lot to the police in that respect. I continue to have good relationships with them. Maybe it's not always perfect, but it's a relationship, and no relationship is ever perfect, and you just got to work it, and that's just life. Now, on a more critical note, I'm really lost as to the status of the East First Grade Project. You know, we need this project more than ever. We have vacant properties. That's untapped revenue. I read about this $30 million shortfall and somehow it weaved into Alvaro's compensation, whatever. I don't care. We need the revenue. Get this project up and running, please. We have e-bikes that are coming on play. We don't want to see our children splattered. We don't want to see my disabled senior citizens hurt. Please. Staff has done a good job. I think it's ready to roll. It needs your leadership. You need to give the okay. It won't happen otherwise. So please lead. Get this project running. Fill your proponent of infrastructure. There should be something you can do. Victor, your time is up. All right. Thank you very much. Have a nice meeting. Good luck.

Melody Remington. Melody? Melody? Mayor and City Council, that concludes the public speakers that are present. We'll now go to the Zoom speaker. When unmuted, please announce your name and the ward or neighborhood that you reside in for the record. Mark, please unmute and make your comment.

Can I make my comment now?

Yes, go ahead, please. You have three minutes.

yeah yeah uh what i want to talk about mark pacific park community advisory team uh catch some of the issues but i'd uh want to make about three things about downtown some of this place i go to like santos pizzeria on broadway third is an excellent outfit uh but i i told them i come talk about they got this red red marker park uh red zone recant park and i talked to take out most of the deliveries it'd be nice to see they just come make that spot for them for delivery and pickup because it is red there and you might have some police officers don't really know what's going on with the place what's going on for business but maybe if the where does the parking control infrastructure go down take a look at that with those guys that santos pizzeria get that red out of there so people can legally park their pickup food and also think also one more thing uh i'll share your mark could you please hold on one moment please hello hi yes could you speak a little louder Yeah, and I know you maybe heard about this gentleman named Boomer Vicente. We operate on different perspectives of the political world, but I do something I want to agree with, that the pride should be brought back to downtown Santa Ana. I worked at an event a few years ago with security, and I saw how really successful it was, how safe it was. It was really a good event. I think the city council or the city manager, to push back that for Santa Ana again, because I think it really put us on the map, especially what's happening downtown. And the last thing... I hate to say it, but you guys need to get out there on Saturday night and have code enforcement because we should be focusing on all the brick and mortar in downtown. I see all these taco trucks coming out outside the area, operating illegally according to the rules. I think the big push now, especially with the trolley finally coming online, that we need to focus on our brick and mortar places downtown and start getting code enforcement on Saturday and Sunday out there because it's the Wild West out there, folks. You need to come out there and our sole focus should be the downtown. town area and all that. And that's about it right now. Like I said, man, Code Enforcer needs to work on the weekends. It's not a paid speculation. It has to be done. We need to start making the rules for everybody, people working in St. Ann and support our brick and mortars. When I see taco trucks in front of restaurants downtown, that's not going to work because those restaurants open on very, very margins. We should be the focus of the areas. So like I said, if some of you council members don't remember downtown artist village, if you're afraid to go out there and talk to me, I'll definitely help you out there. One more thing. Having certain council members out there raising hell on those newly acquired tracks is a bad idea. I'm not going to mention the name, but I got a real-time clear image about raising hell out there, causing problems out there. So I suggest to your council, folks, I need to stand out at first. Thank you, folks.

Mayor and City Council, that concludes the public speakers.

Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. Madam City Attorney, can you address the mobile home park issue for us?

Please, do you have any comments regarding that? Thank you, Mayor, Council Members, and members of our public. We anticipated that we might get some public comments tonight, and we just wanted to take a moment to let the community know what the city has been doing with respect to the complaints about the mobile home park issue. I'd first of all like to state that we will address this from a legal perspective. And we understand, fully understand the anxiety and the fear that the residents and the owners of actual coaches at the Coach Royal Mobile Home Park are facing. I want the council to know and the community to know that we all stand ready to enforce our city laws and we are already doing so. As of this afternoon, one of our senior assistant city attorneys assigned to the rent division spent her entire morning with the rent division of our staff trying to get a very high level view of the documents that were submitted. Currently there are 17 petitions, 16 were recently submitted and one is scheduled for a hearing. Our Rent Stabilization Division reported that all of the petitions have been accepted, even those that were just recently submitted. They are in the process of scheduling a hearing at the end of April, and it will be a consolidated hearing in front of one hearing officer. We have been very committed to enforcing the city's ordinance, but I need to really let the community know that the city's ordinance was designed to address very specific situations. And some of the complaints that we've seen are unique. They're not related solely to the city ordinance. And in that case, we want the community to know that in 2024, the Division of Codes and Standards of the California Department of Housing and Community Development published an informational bulletin. And this bulletin is designed to assist complainants and provides an additional avenue to resolve mobile home residency law disputes by connecting the mobile home owners residing in each of these parks with legal resources. I want to say that again. The state law... has a program which mandates, it's been mandated by the state legislature to connect each of these complainants with legal resources. And participation in this program does not delay any civil actions that are ongoing to enforce the law. So the California Department of Housing and Community Development, it's HCD, administers this program by contracting with nonprofit legal service providers. So HCD currently has ongoing contracts, and they refer all of the complaints of these violations to the contracted legal service provider to assist and to resolve all of the complaints. HCD states that it will continue to intake all complaints and refer any alleged violations within its jurisdiction to the appropriate program or division of codes and standards. And those that are not within HCD's jurisdiction will also be referred to the appropriate enforcement agency. Any and all alleged violations of the mobile home residency law will be sent to a contracted legal service provider. So we want to make sure that the people who have come forward are aware of this additional avenue. So rest assured that the city is enforcing its own rules and laws, but this is an additional avenue, and we are encouraging the residents to reach out to HCD. There is an email address available at mhassistance.org. at hcd.ca.gov or telephone number, which is 800-952-8356. The state law and the state program at this point are best designed to address many of the complaints that have been raised and those that can be addressed by the city's ordinance are being addressed and we've committed a substantial amount of legal resources within the department. I also understand that staff within CDA and the rental division is also working on this. So I do not want the community to walk away with the understanding that we're not working Substantial hours have been put into the petitions, and we just have to let that go through the process. Again, this is a process that was not just adopted by the city council, it was approved by the voters. So we are committed to enforcing it.

Thank you, Madam City Attorney. I appreciate it. I think most of the mobile home residents left. Mr. City Manager, can you put that on the website or send an email out to the community members from the mobile home park? I'm sure it's late for them and they had to leave, but we want them to understand that we are doing what we can. And I know you and I spoke today. Assemblyman Valencia will be meeting with them as well. And then Katie from his office in Sacramento is also setting up an appointment with HCD in Sacramento. So I was on the call with them today. So could we put that on the website or send out an email, please?

We'll put the information on the website.

Thank you, Madam City Attorney. Appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Okay, at this time, we're going to go to the consent calendar items. Numbers 6 through 22 are before us. Councilmembers, thank you very much. Councilmembers, please announce any items that you'll be abstaining from due to a conflict.

I'll make a motion to move the items.

Hold on, I'm sorry, I wasn't done reading, I'm sorry.

Due to a conflict and if there are any requests to pull an item from the consent calendar for further discussion, do I have, Council Member Fan, any items? Nothing.

Council Member Becerra? I'll make a motion to move the items. I'll go ahead and pull items 11 and 14.

Thank you. Council Member Hernandez?

Make a motion to move the items, madam.

Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Vasquez?

I second that motion, nothing to pull.

Thank you. Council Member Lopez? Yeah, I'd like to pull item eight. Eight? Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem?

Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to record a no on eight, but it was pulled.

Great. Thank you. There's a motion on the floor by Councilman Hernandez and a second by Councilmember Vazquez for the remaining items. So, prepare to vote, please.

Motion by Councilmember Hernandez, seconded by Councilmember Vazquez, to approve consent calendar items six through 22, with the exceptions of items eight, 11, and 14, which have been pulled for separate discussion and consideration, and items 16 and 18, which were removed by staff. And the electronic vote is open. Could you voice your vote, please?

Yes.

Council Member Phan? Can you all vote, please?

Everybody voted? Madam Clerk? Oh, you can do a roll call, Madam Clerk, if you need to. Okay.

Vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries. Mayor Mesquita, the first item pulled is item eight by Council Member Lopez. Thank you. Go ahead.

Thank you. I wanted to pull the item city manager because I would love to see this item perhaps maybe if my colleagues indulge me come back and maybe or the council have just a special session on the item because I would like for the community to see what our budget looks like actually. If we don't take the measures that this council and many staff have been working on for many, many years. And I can certainly attest to that, all the conversations that have happened. But because I think it's such an important item, I think it's so important for our community to see what a budget would look like without these dollars in it. because right now it almost feels like it's very far away and our constituents you know in past budget sessions when I've gone to neighborhood meetings I've asked my residents our residents what are you willing to give up in the budget and I think that that is really what needs to be presented, right? If the city is prepared to lose $30 million, then what is not going to be included in the budget? Because I think it's imperative, and not just that dollar amount, right, so much more, but what are the programs, what are the current staffing levels, what is it that you are willing to walk away from in terms of improving your quality of life? And I think that that's a really important and responsible conversation that we should have with more time, frankly. And I would love to see this be the only thing that comes back so that we can have a full discussion. I would love to see staff bring back a budget that doesn't include these dollars because I want the voters to be fully prepared for what this is going to look like. And so that's the ask of my colleagues is to give staff the time to come back, maybe next meeting. It could be we can have not a full consent calendar and to come back and I would love to see what the budget looks like without these dollars in it. So thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments? Council Member Becerra.

So I just want to make sure I understand what I'm hearing. So is the request for staff to put together a budget and then have us deliberate on it in public? That's a question.

Are you done with your comments or should I respond afterwards?

I asked a question. That's it.

Okay. I can respond after. Thank you.

Go ahead. I think he's asking a question. I'm sorry. I think he just wants a, what kind of budget do you want? I think he's done. I think I'm done. He's done.

Yeah, I'm asking staff to come back and present a model budget without these dollars, right? Because the budget that we're gonna discuss this June is not going to be that. And so I do think that it is imperative for our residents to see what that looks like. Because people can make jokes all they want about this, but you're talking about people's jobs and their livelihoods. And no one should be laughing about people potentially losing their ability to provide for their families.

Mr. City Manager, I've been off five weeks and I've been on Zoom for one meeting and I missed one meeting. I just want to be clear, I was watching at home. I didn't see anybody laughing about people losing jobs. I want the community to understand that. I've watched the council online when I was at home and I don't know what, if somebody's laughing, I... I didn't see it up here, and maybe they're doing it privately, I don't know, but I believe every council member up here would not be laughing about people losing their jobs. So can you, in detail, just quickly explain what this item is? And I don't have a problem with a special meeting to talk about what this item is. is what we're asking, what is the start, I mean, why are we doing this, right? But as far as providing a budget without 30 million, because it's not just 30 million, actually, the second bucket is 65 million, so really we're looking at 95 million. So I don't have a problem with special meeting, I just want to know, so you provide us, and correct me, Councilman Lopez, if I'm saying this wrong, So you would, she's asking to provide as a budget with an example of missing 30 million, and then you would provide, that's kind of, I wouldn't even want the 30 million, I'd want the full 90 million. Because if we're gonna be, we're gonna show the community what it's like, first cut is 30, second is 65. So this item, can you explain what this item is in detail, please?

So today our objective was to prepare an initial outcome of the polling survey. And it actually allows us to prepare public information materials so we can propose a ballot measure and then conduct a tracking survey. So the ask is for the city council to approve our ability to seek and prepare what a ballot measure would look like and start tracking that information. So it is true that we are planning to do it three years in advance of the sunset. I think for us that's always a good opportunity to speak to the voters. So that's what we're asking today, is provide an update, allow us to start providing material to the public, and establish a ballot measure. We still have to come back. for approval to actually put it on the ballot. So this is just preliminary information, but we do want to highlight some of the outcomes that the professional poster that we hired to test this idea for us would provide.

So thank you, so what I heard you saying is this is just the start, right? So as we move along, we will have meetings where this will be the only item to discuss. And then tonight, Cat will give a presentation, a brief presentation of what you're asking, what the poll showed, correct?

Correct.

Okay, so this is just the start.

Correct, now if the city council agrees, we probably can set up a study session in public to see the impact and to allow, to provide that level of information of what that becomes.

Yeah, a study session, that would be great. Yes, Council Member Fan?

Thank you. Are we doing a presentation on this?

Yes, she's waiting to do it, and Cat is. We can.

Okay, I would love to see a presentation before we continue on discussing what our next steps will be. Correct. Thank you. Cat, go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor and City Council. Thank you.

And for the record, that's Assistant City Manager Kat Downs with the presentation for us.

I'm sorry, I apologize. Kat Downs, Assistant City Manager. Thank you. Thanks. So tonight we are presenting the results of the scientific poll that was conducted in December. When City of Council approved staff recommendation for scientific polling services back in November, the report indicated that if results are positive, we would return to City Council with a recommendation. So our recommendation tonight is to move forward with preparation only. Public information materials, a potential ballot measure, and a tracking survey. If City Council approves tonight's recommendation, we expect to return to City Council in June for you to consider placing the measure on the ballot to eliminate the sunset on the local sales tax. Your agenda item includes the full 41-page report from True North Research. True North solicited participation in a scientific survey using email, phone, and text in three languages. They completed 623 surveys of likely voters in December. The results have a margin of error plus or minus 3.9% and a 95% confidence level. The survey included warm-up questions, a potential ballot measure, and arguments both for and against. The response to an open-ended question, if the city could change one thing to make it a better place, what would it be? The results indicated likely voters are primarily interested in public safety and public works. The initial ballot test indicated 64% support for the measure to eliminate the local sales tax sunset. After arguments for and against were presented, the results were 63% support. A general revenue ballot measure requires a simple majority to pass. The full details of methodology, survey questions, and results are attached to the staff report. A few facts. There is no tax rate increase with the potential ballot measure. It only eliminates the sunset on the local sales tax. Looking outside of Santa Ana, we find that Anaheim has its resort and $240 million of annual general fund revenue from hotel tax. Irvine's property values that generate property tax are 318% higher than Santa Ana. Ten of the 15 most populated cities in California have a local sales tax add-on. Westminster, Los Alamitos, and Seal Beach all have the same rate as Santa Ana. One-third of OC cities have a local sales tax, and eight of the 11 cities have no sunset. The Santa Ana tax rate is less than the base LA County rate. Two-thirds of cities in L.A. County have an add-on with total sales tax rates ranging from 10.5% to 11.25%. This is how many cities up and down the state are funding services demanded by the public. For anyone who believes the City has mismanaged our local tax, I urge them to take a look at the City's website. First, we have a Citizens Oversight Committee who speak directly with the independent auditors and receive presentations from our consultants. The Committee has candid discussion, asks questions, and gets answers. Every year, we have an audit by independent CPAs, a detailed spending plan organized by service addressing homelessness, fixing streets, maintaining effective 911 response, maintaining parks, retaining firefighters, providing youth services, and other general service improvements to the community, and a detailed final report with actual dollars spent. There is no other revenue source at the city with such detailed public information readily available with just a few clicks. Your agenda item also includes 48 pages of success stories answering the question, how has the city used the money to improve the local quality of life? This is a high-level snapshot of those successes, improving public safety with dedicated homeless outreach and quality-of-life teams, eliminating illegal gaming and cannabis establishments, more police officers for faster investigations and gang suppression, more traffic calming and pavement maintenance, more street lights, alley improvements, and bus shelter maintenance, We have cleaner and safer parks throughout the city, graffiti abatement done fast through the My Santa Ana app on your phone, many youth programs, and arts and culture funding, universal legal defense, more city events, and faster counter service. If the local sales tax is allowed to decrease on April 1, 2029, many of these service improvements will be unaffordable. The proposed ballot measure would protect your local revenue and these vital programs. Tonight, we are asking you to approve preparation of a potential ballot measure to let the voters decide. I'd also like to add the budget exercise of, you know, modeling what our budget might look like without the Measure X. So our budget includes many, many programs and services, and some of them are supported by some people, and some of them are supported by other people. Everybody has their favorites. For staff to bring back an item that lists out these are the things that would go away if we allow Measure X to sunset, I guarantee you that there will be somebody in the room that night or that day, whatever it is, that will disagree with what staff has to say. And so if Council directs us to bring back such an exercise, I would recommend that we bring back a menu of items that could comprise the $30 million decrease. And with that, my presentation is done, and we're happy to answer questions. Thank you. Questions?

I don't have any more questions. I don't know if this is possible at all. Anything currently being funded by the current sales tax, could that be removed? That way it's not, I think that would be the easiest path forward, right?

Absolutely. We can bring back that very detailed spending plan for you to look at that as a menu of items to decrease in the future.

Thank you, that would be ideal, and I would also just like to share, ideally, you know, we would have no presentations, this would be the only thing that we discuss. Thank you.

Thank you very much. So I have a question. You have a question. So I'm looking at what's here, what was presented from the agenda. So the City of Santa Ana Measure X Successes, right? Yes. And so it's a hundred and, what, how many pages is it here? It's about 48 pages. 48 pages. Okay. So in an overview, so if you look at each section, you have a city clerk's office, right? So you share with us what you use the Measure X money for in the city clerk's office, okay? So response time, capacity for compliance monitoring, expanded outreach, engagement, notary services, just a few examples, right? Okay. And then you go to community development. Carnegie Navigation Center, Measure X provides important funding from homeless services, staff funding. And then you go to the work center, and I'm just gonna give you a few. Downtown Santa Ana Art Sponsorship, artist grant funding. Then you go to community development, you have... THE GREEN MADISON PARK NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION. THEN YOU GO TO FINANCE. PAYROLL TECHNICIAN. MEASURE X HAS ALSO ASSISTED WITH UTILITY TAX. HUMAN RESOURCES. FOR RECRUITMENT TO DO OUR MONTHLY HIRING EVENTS. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY. To continue supporting maintaining new and existing information technology systems, measure X money. Library, measure X money. Finding and building, measure X money. Let me go on. Lovely pictures, by the way. Police department, measure X money. call for service responses, 115,200 calls, parks and rec and community services, Santa Ana Zoo, landscaping, maintenance, the list goes on and on, right? Public works, our cold cleanups, street lights, sidewalk, roadway, trimming of trees, and I'm just giving an example, and Kat, thank you very much for a very thorough report here, I'm sure it's from you and Alex, so thank you very much, I appreciate it. So again, I don't have a problem with having a special session just for Measure X discussion, but you're exactly right when you say that Some of us up here will want festivals and parties, and some will want quality of life. Yes, I know. Some of us will want street lights. Some will want sidewalk repairs. The community, some people will want PAL centers. Some people want art grants, right? So there's so many things that we use Measure X money for. So if the council, I'm sure they did, they read this report very thoroughly, they would see that if we lose, first 30 million and then 65 million, that we're gonna be like bare bones here. And so I'm really glad, Mr. City Manager, that you're doing this three years in advance because I don't wanna be like other cities where whoever's sitting up here is saying, oh gosh, now we're looking at bankruptcy or how do we fix this the year of, right? So we're planning ahead, which is really good and very strategically planned. So thank you for that. So Kat, when you say you're gonna bring something back, you and the city manager and the staff, How are you gonna bring that back to say, okay, so we lose measure, and I wanna give an example because I want the community to hear it. So use Parks and Rec, for example. Okay, so Measure X funding. What do we do with the zoo?

Well, we added a veterinarian. We have more maintenance, more youth programs there. We were able to participate in the funding for some of the exhibits. It touches every single department and so many programs. The only way that we could really bring this back for an exercise is to truly bring back the full detailed spending plan of Measure X so that, you know, city council, quite frankly, can debate the merits of each program and decide what it is that they would like us to start doing. looking at cutting, because it would be my recommendation that if the city council does not decide to move forward with a ballot measure, that we would begin that process of whittling down the programs almost like a ramp, if you will, over the next three years rather than just waiting until last minute and then doing a very abrupt stoppage of services. Because what that allows us to do is undoubtedly some of these services are tied to staffing. And through attrition, we have retirements. We have people leaving for other opportunities or a different life somewhere else or whatever that may be. And so the longer runway ramp that we have, cutting some of these programs. then we can do it without issuing layoffs, perhaps, because we can strategically say, okay, we had a couple people retire this year, so maybe we can reallocate resources around that. So we can come up with a lot of different ideas to make it more palatable for our employee group, but the loss of services, I don't know that that will be palatable for our community.

Thank you, Councillor Becerra. Thank you, Madam Mayor. So when you guys present the budget to us every single year, you guys also indicate, kind of what you guys presented tonight, what Measure X does for us, right?

Yes, we do. There is a detailed spending plan in your adopted budget document. I think it's pages 72 and 73.

So and so my concern earlier when I heard this idea of having this whole standalone separate meeting, first of all we do a budget every year. It's very detailed and that budget without any ask from the council, you guys already break out the Measure X stuff. To show us what the world would look like in the bleakest terms without Measure X, I think that is something that should be presented. Does it need a standalone meeting? I don't know because we typically have done standalone meetings for the budget which, and I've said this a million times, the most important thing that this council does is adopting a budget. The most important thing, single, there's not even a close second, that's number one, because that funds all the services and indicates the priorities and hopefully reflects the community's priorities. Having said that, I think that's something that as we start to get close to our budget, and given the timing of a potential ballot measure being approved by the council. I don't want to see stuff. You guys are doing a great job. Rudy did a great job today presenting all these things that are happening. To keep giving you guys things just so that we feel good about telling you to do things rather than allowing you guys to be efficient and produce things so that you guys can continue to do the good work that you're doing. My ask would be that you guys present something that shows us the bleak world of no Measure X in it, but as a part of the budget presentation, because I think you guys are already going to have that there to a certain extent, but maybe it's showing it rather than, let's just say, a flesh wound, but showing the cuts all the way to the bone and then some. So hopefully that could be part of that exercise so we don't have to have duplicative meetings because right now, when we have those budget meetings in the community, they're very not so well attended. And my hope would be having something here at the council that involves the budget and what we're talking about with Measure X will hopefully bring people out for, again, what is the most important thing that this council does?

And my recommendation tonight is just to simply prepare the materials. The longer period that we have to prepare the materials and get them right, the better we'll be able to interact with the community.

Perfect. I definitely will support what you're asking. Thank you.

And that's what you're asking for tonight? That's all we're asking for tonight.

Can you say that again, please?

That's all we're asking for tonight. What are you asking for? Which is to prepare materials. Okay. Thank you. Council Member Friend?

Yes, thank you. Hi. Thank you so much for the presentation and the poll. I have a question for Madam City Attorney. I understand when you're talking, well, let me, sorry, let me get back. Assistant City Manager Downs, when you're talking about preparing materials, are you talking about just the resolutions? Are you talking about the informational materials for staff? You're talking about all of it. The whole package.

That would be informational materials for the public, and the city council as well as a proposed ballot measure. So the actual language of no more than I think it's 75 words that the city council would be asked to consider in June if you approve us to move forward with tonight's step just to prepare the materials.

Okay, so Madam City Attorney, my question to you is, as I understand it, when there is a ballot measure that has been approved by the City Council to be placed on the ballot, the City Council and staff may not advocate for the passage of such ballot measure, is that correct?

Yes, once the City Council adopts a resolution that formally places the measure on the ballot, then the City cannot spend public resources to advocate for or against a ballot measure.

Right, but before there is a ballot measure placed on the ballot by the city council, it is perfectly okay for staff or city council to talk about why our previous Measure X and that sales tax is a good thing for the city, correct?

Yes, if there was no ballot measure, we would be more comfortable if there were activities that look like advocacy because you might be promoting to the public one perspective or another. But once that ballot measure is placed on the ballot, we're very conservative and we ask that you not take any actions, not even get close to that line, making it look like you're advocating the position.

Thank you, and so I guess my comment, I understand, Council Member Lopez, where you're coming from, because it's not like the Measure X Committee has a huge attendance rate, or the community meetings, I remember going to a comm link meeting talking about Measure X back in the day. I do think a presentation at a city council meeting rather than a special meeting is preferred for me because we have more attendance. And if we're gonna talk about what this budget might look like when Measure X does not exist in this alternative universe, I think sharing that with the public at a meeting that is well attended, like our regular meetings, It behooves us, and I think people should know those benefits. I think waiting until the budget season, which is in April, May, June, is quite late when we're trying to get this potentially placed on the ballot, or at least a vote to determine whether it's on the ballot. Not advocating for something, but because there is more opportunity and leeway to talk about how great it would be to ensure that this that pays for youth events, public safety, public works, and other benefits to the community before it's placed on the ballot, I think this is a great opportunity to do that. So that would be my preference for us to have that. I think talking about what it looks like with the budget, when the budget does not have that permanent sales tax. would be great, and maybe that might be a presentation, the way that we did with Public Works, might be a conversation about what our current Measure X committee is. I'll leave that to you.

So to be a little bit more candid, there's no way that city staff could present a budget in the next month or two months that doesn't include this discussion. Right? So I think, so rather than get lost in the details of how, you know, make sure it's going to impact us, while we're looking for support, so allow us to prepare this, in the end we're going to come back in June and you get to vote it up or vote it down so we can give the choice to the voters. But the ideas we're talking about, as far as the council members, we can be inclusive. Because for us, the budget that, we said it last year, right? We said this year's gonna be one of our best years to accomplish this goal. We're being preemptive. You said it yourself, Mayor. two years against the conventional wisdom of Measure X Sunset. We're literally three years before that. Conventional wisdom, people start working a year, 18 months, and people get awards for that. We're not there. So we're trying to be inclusive of all the requests so that when you hear our budget in April, I started doing our early direction, you're gonna see here's what our budget is for the next fiscal year, and here's the possible impacts as we prepare for the sunset of Measure X. It's gonna have to be part of the discussion. So it's not advocating, as the city attorney says, we have to be very careful how we present that so you don't see the advocacy, but you're gonna start seeing us thinking of how a sunset of a cell site's gonna impact at the first phase. So if you allow us, we can be inclusive of everybody's ideas and actually have that level of presentation.

I guess I'm trying to express that it would not be considered advocacy by talking about all the wonderful things that Measure X currently pays for and what this extension or removal of the sunset and how that would benefit the city if it's not a ballot measure item. So that's why I'm saying having a presentation with all the great things.

Thank you.

this item would bring us at a council meeting with lots of attendance would benefit the city and our message, thanks.

Thank you. And Council Member Pfenn, thank you, and thank you for all the comments up here, the council members. I just, you know, this is great because we are plotting ahead three years. We're not waiting for the month before again. And this item, Assistant City Manager Downs, is really just to prepare, as you said, It's not going anywhere. It's not being mailed out. And it's up to the voters. At the end of the day, it is up to the voters. And all of us up here are voters. And some of you that live in the city are voters. So we can have this discussion before it gets on the ballot or if it even gets on the ballot. And then, really, it's the voters' decision. And that's what's really exciting for me personally. It's up to the voters if they want to... keep the services that we have and you know if they if they're listening and looking at what we're talking about here you're talking about ability to afford increasing fire contract faster investigations added street lights again bus shelter maintenance cleaner safer parks vietnamese outreach translation business expo the defense fund for immigration assistance there's so many things and as councilmember fan as we're as we're moving on with the budget and having this discussion, Mr. City Manager, you're gonna be putting this in there. This is what Measure X is paying for. This is what happens, possibly you can put a little. It's what happens if it doesn't continue because three years is a blink of an eye. Blink of a dot, so I just, and again, I'm not saying, you know, vote yes, vote no, because it's not even on the ballot yet. So, Mr. City Manager?

And just one quick thing. So, literally, Metric transcends all departments, right, and impacts, like the ACM down said, it transcends multiple, all the departments in the city, and impacts employees, impacting employees, impact services. It's just that simple.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager, Council Member Vasquez. I was gonna call you Mayor Pro Tem. Thank you. Council Member Vasquez.

Thank you so much, and you know, I've been asking for communications to say this is what Measure X gets us, and I want like every day, or at least twice or three times a week, Measure X pays for this. Quality of life team, more parks, the outdoor library, whatever we get. I wanna see it all the time. This should have been done earlier. for the last three years, and three years is a blink of an eye. Me and the mayor have been here for three years. Three years later, here we are. And I do appreciate what Councilmember Lopez is bringing to the table. What does it look like without it? And that kind of report, we also need to have that conversation of what's bare in bones and the things we're not gonna have. The things that we do have and do that bring safety to our community is we have the police, we have quality of life team, but we also have libraries that keeps kids safe. We also have the parks with the basketball court. We have all kinds of centers and events and programmings that brings community together that creates community that keeps us safe. You know, we just had a man who came down and said, you know, it's great that we have programming at the park. Now it's being used. Well, the programming keeps us safe. And those things have been Measure X. And I want to see the reports that Councilmember Lopez is asking for, but I also want to move the item. I'm called to move the item.

I'll second it. Are there any, Councilmember Sarah? You moved to approve it, correct? And I'll second, thank you.

Just real quick. we're talking about what Measure X will do and what it won't do and all the things it does. If Measure X goes to the ballot, we're asking voters to continue to give money to the city for services. But what we don't hear enough about is what we're doing to grow revenue. Now, if our only way of growing revenue is taxing people, That's not a sustainable model, right? So if we're gonna talk about bringing back something for a presentation that you should educate the community, the council about, I would say what are we doing on the economic development front? What are we doing to grow our revenue? What are the things that staff has ideas to bring to the council to consider where we can grow our revenue without always having to ask the voters to fund where we have our shortfalls? You know, 2018, we saw the council back then put little to no effort, and they just went right straight to the voters' pockets. I opposed Measure X. I'm proud that I did because I looked at it at the time as something that that council was lazy, and wasn't willing to do the necessary work with staff, and they had some great staff at the time, but they weren't willing to do that work to at least try to mitigate and not have to dig so deep into residents' pockets. So I would ask if we're going to have anything brought back to us, I mean, you guys are going to bring back what Measure X looks like and doesn't look like in the budget, but I would like to have something on economic development, on what you're going to do and what The plan is to grow revenues. We already know that part of the plan to keep city services flowing is reaching into the voters' pockets. But let's try another approach. Let's see what else we can do to grow revenue. So I would like to see what our efforts are on that front. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Vasquez, and then we're going to vote, please.

Those comments, Councilmember Bezzetta, I have called to have an economic development department and grow it and make sure it's fully staffed. If we don't have enough, if we don't have it fully staffed, then hire the third and fourth person. I've called for an economic development committee from us. And if we have departments working, then we don't need the committee, but I'm great with it. But we want to see those ideas come forward. We want to make sure that we're taking, as much as we're talking about taxes, I want to talk about economic development and help those corridors that we've talked about so much, including Harbor, which is the most unused corridor in the whole city, and the development of that. I love, you know me and Harbor, to help out with that. that area.

I know it sounded wrong.

I know it sounded wrong, but it needs a lot of help.

What are you doing down harbor, Council Member Vasquez? What are you doing down harbor?

You can stop now. I go to El Comedor since I was five. I've been to El Comedor in the cozy corner. He's done with his comments now.

Okay, because he's turning red. We're done. Thank you. Okay, so let's vote, please. The voting's on your screen. Council Member Vasquez, motion that I second it.

Let's prepare to vote, please. motion by council member Vasquez seconded by mayor Meskwet to approve the recommended action for item number eight directing staff to prepare public information materials develop a November 2026 ballot measure for city council consideration and conduct a tracking survey I don't know council member found I was down harbor the other day it looked really bad yes okay my vote is yes I wasn't shopping like he is yes You need a roll call, Madam Clerk? No, Mayor, we have it now. The vote is five ayes, two nays. Nays by Councilmember Lopez and Mayor Pro Tem Penalosa. Motion carries. All right, thank you. And the next item that was pulled is item number 11 by Councilmember Becerra.

Thank you. So this item is the pre-authorization of purchase order contracts for various city vehicles. So as I was looking at the list and also thinking about conversations I've had with our Colt personnel, today there's only one in-custody transportation vehicle that's utilized by our PD. And that... vehicle is primarily used by the jail. So our folks out in the field, like Colt, don't have access to that vehicle, which makes it pretty difficult to do their job. So when you get calls for service and you're asking for Colt to come out and address concerns with certain folks in the community, IT WOULD BE A LOT MORE EFFICIENT FOR THEM IF THEY HAD ACCESS CONTINUOUSLY TO AN IN-CUSTODY TRANSPORTATION VEHICLE. IT WOULD ALSO HELP PROVIDE A DIGNIFIED MEANS TO TRANSPORT FOLKS WHETHER IT'S TO THE SHELTER, WHETHER IT'S TO OTHER SERVICES THAT THEY NEED. SO WHAT I'M ASKING FOR IN THIS ITEM IS TO APPROVE THE STAFF RECOMMENDED APPROPRIATION ADJUSTMENTS BUT In the list of pre-authorization or purchase orders for the various city vehicles, I would like to include an in-custody transportation vehicle for the Colt team. So that's my motion.

I second your motion.

Any other comments that's prepared to vote? Mr. City Manager, you clear?

We're good.

Thank you. Motion by Council Member Becerra, seconded by Council Member Hernandez to approve the five recommended actions for item number 11, amended to include an in-custody transportation vehicle for the Colt team on the list of pre-authorized purchase orders. Council Member Hernandez?

That's a yes.

Council Member Lopez?

Yes.

Thank you. Vote of seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries. And Mayor Miswa, the next item is item 14, also pulled by Council Member Becerra.

I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.

Item 14, pulled by Council Member Becerra. Great, thank you.

Mr. City Manager, does our staff have a presentation on this item? I would like for us to hear it.

Yes, Executive Director Scott has one.

Okay.

I'm sorry, can you hold on one second? Does the council need a presentation or are you good? No? You're the only one council member.

Okay, so the reason why I'm asking for the presentation. All right, fine. I appreciate the efficiency because sometimes that's not done up here. So I appreciate that. What I'd like to ask because of this item, I wanted everybody to hear, I wanted the community to hear about it. That was my intention. But because of the fact that This item is a great item, right? And I'm going to support this item all the way. And we're investing in this sort of surveillance equipment because why? Because we made some significant investments in our zoo and we want to make sure that we keep them safe. So what I would like to see, because... A concern down in my ward is the Alton Bike Trail between Bristol and Main Street. And I feel like because the zoo is a parks facility and the bike trails are parks facilities, what I would like to ask staff to do is, again, because this item was on our agenda, this is something that I'm going to be very much advocating for for the Alton Bike Trail in the upcoming budget. So what I would like to ask, I was hoping everybody would get a chance to see what staff was presenting, but I would like to see us, or I'd like to see staff prepare something for the upcoming budget that provides proactive live video monitoring of that Alton Bike Corridor because we've got so many children going and utilizing that trail. It stunk that we had to wait until kids were assaulted before we had fencing along a bike trail. to keep folks from the county flood control channel from assaulting our children. And so right now, I get numerous calls from constituents concerned about what's happening along that bike trail. And right now, I mean, God bless our PD for going through and doing the patrols that they do, but it's just not enough. We need proactive surveillance of that area, observation, because things are happening over there. It's not something that's very easily seen from the streets. And I'm open to other solutions, but at this point, I think the only thing that we really could utilize in that area is proactive live video monitoring. So I'll support this item. I like the direction we're going when it comes to protecting our parks assets, but I'd also like to see that continue and expand it over to the Alton Bike Trail. That's not part of the motion today. It's just approved staff recommendation, but I'd like to see staff come back with something for the Alton Bike Trail.

We can look into it, yes. Thank you, so I'll move the item. Make a motion to move the item.

It's too late, I did it.

I'll second your item.

Mr. Perry to vote.

Motion by Council Member Becerra, seconded by Council Member Hernandez to approve the recommended action for item number 14 in agreement with Amtec Total Security Inc. for the Santa Ana Zoo Video Surveillance Project. Council Member Hernandez?

Yes.

Vote is six ayes, no nays, with a temporary absence by Councilmember Fan. Motion carries.

Thank you, that's the end of the consent calendar at this time. The public hearing has been counseled. We're gonna go to item number 24 at this time. It's the Councilmember requested item. It was requested by Councilmember Lopez. Councilmember Lopez, the floor is yours.

Yes, so I submitted a request to the city manager's office, we had our consultation, and really this is important because there's not one day where I'm not driving to work, particularly in some of our big intersections where there's a pedestrian trying to cross, but they're having to move inward into the main intersection because Somebody's driving a massive truck. They're being inconsiderate. They're stopping in the middle of the crosswalk. It's also a visibility issue when people are trying to make a right-hand turn and they're looking to their left-hand side and there's trucks blocking their view. So we have some of these issues. these crosswalks placed back in some intersections already in the city. And all I'm asking is for this process to be implemented consistently citywide at all of our intersections. You know, we've heard that the overwhelming majority of our constituents don't own a car, which means that they are walking to get to school, they're walking to buy their groceries, they're walking to drop off their kids, they're walking to the bus station. They're moving around throughout the city just not by a vehicle. And particularly in the area of 17th and Grand, we have a couple schools there, and the many times I've seen cars just pass the red light and make a right turn when students are trying to cross, it's extremely dangerous. There's really not a week that doesn't go by in this city that there isn't a car accident where we're all being told about that. And so I do think that if we are going to be invested in our current plan to to reduce and eliminate fatalities by cars, then I do think that this is in the interest of our community. It protects our constituents and it ultimately creates a buffer between moving vehicles and people that are trying to get from one corner to the next and so forth. And so I would love to see this be implemented citywide and that is what I'm asking my colleagues to consider tonight. Thank you. Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'm supportive of the request, Councilmember. That'll conclude my comments. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other comments? Councilman Vasquez.

Thank you. I'm supportive of this request. We do have high pedestrian death rate. We need to do more safety for especially our children out there as they're walking to and from school. So I'll be in support of this. Thank you.

Mayor Pro Temp.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Council Member Lopez. Definitely supportive of just seeing an assessment of what this looks like throughout the city. I know it's 27 square miles, so it's a huge undertaking to really identify the core safety corridor issues, but definitely supportive of seeing something brought back by city staff. Thank you.

So Mr. City Manager, I'm going to support this item, but I have a couple questions for you. So, and I'd like it brought back if we could all agree to that in 90 days with the report, if not 60, but 90 preferably. I know you guys are in the middle of budget season. So we have the five corridors, and I don't know who's going to answer these questions in our city, right? Under the city's Vision Zero goals, is that correct? It was voted on before, I believe. Oh, no, in 2024, I think it was. April of 2024. So the five corridors, and correct me if I'm wrong, Rudy, I'm sorry, Director Rosas, Teston Avenue, Euclid First, Main Street in downtown Santa Ana, and Greenville, did I forget one?

That's correct.

Is that correct? So the request by Councilmember Lopez is great because we do have a high, TC, let me ask before I make that comment. D.C., can you, W. Chief, can you talk about the fatality rate in our city, or pedestrian versus vehicle? It's the highest on Euclid? Well, that's your award, Council Member Fann. Okay, go ahead. That's why we're fixing Euclid. Thank you, Director.

Go ahead, D.C. Good evening, Mayor. Just in terms of numbers alone, last year we had 34 fatalities for a total of 29 collisions. This year we have currently five fatal collisions that we've investigated.

So we had 34 in 2025 and five this one in 2026?

Yes ma'am.

Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you very much. Director Rosas, can you talk about

So the request by Council Member Lopez is welcome. The safety concerns are shared by Public Works and the work our Traffic Engineering Division does. The items to be implemented are already identified in our Vision Zero plan and in projects as we improve intersections are incorporating those types of elements in that. We would appreciate the 90 days to come back with a full report and what it would take in terms of addressing all intersections in this matter because it is a time and investment effort in terms of what it takes to re-stripe, re-slurry, re-setback traffic signal loops and all these things that are required to accommodate the more enhanced crosswalks. It's not just as simple as putting additional paint on the ground.

So you already know the plan because we have the city's Vision Zero.

Correct.

So we have not been doing it? We have not implemented it?

As we advance with new projects, we implement these crosswalk enhancements. We still have many intersections in the city that we just have not had improvements on yet.

So for example, when you're doing Warner and Main, you're making sure it's within the guidelines of the city's Vision Zero.

Correct.

When we're doing Main Street and downtown, you're also doing that?

Correct.

Okay, and so some of the areas that Council Member Lopez brought up, like Grand and 17th, is it being done there?

when a project comes through that area, whether it be just new pavement, whatever it happens.

That's when you complete it?

Correct.

Okay, so this ask, to come back in 90 days, you'll be able to show us where we are currently and where we're heading in, like a timeline for projects, is that correct?

Correct.

Okay. All right, any other comments? Council Member Becerra, don't leave.

Yes, thank you, Mayor. And I think all of us up here support stop lines at these intersections. I think my, I appreciate what you were saying right now because I looked at the Vision Zero plan and I looked, as the Mayor mentioned, the five corridors that were specifically called out to implement these stop lines. And I took a look at the locations, so Main Street, From 1st to 17th, you have one, two, three, four of the intersections that actually have the stop lines incorporated with the crosswalks. Tustin Avenue from 17th to Fairhaven, it's only at Santa Clara. Euclid from Hazard to McFadden, it's only at 5th. Greenville, my ward from MacArthur to Warner, you have not done any yet. And First Street from Fairview to Bristol, none have been done. So I guess it's good to understand citywide where you can do more. My understanding when all of us on the council voted for the Vision Zero plan back in 2024 was that this was going to be kind of the jumping off point. And right now it kind of seems like you're still looking at the water and you're not quite in the water just yet because as I just read off to you, you have quite a few intersections to improve in the five corridors that staff identified and this council approved. So I just, tonight it feels like I'm hearing a lot of duplicative requests and I just, again, I don't wanna slow down staff's ability to continue to do the good work that they're doing. If you're able to do it, that's great, but I feel like even if nothing else happened tonight, You already were given marching orders by this Council through the Vision Zero Plan to implement stop lines at least at these corridors. If there are other intersections, and I think in collaborating with our PD to understand where we're having more pedestrian versus vehicle fatalities or accidents? Yeah, absolutely. Let's zero in and try to incorporate measures that protect pedestrians. We have the largest transit ridership in all of Orange County, which means we have a lot of pedestrians. When I saw this request and then saw that Vision Zero and reread it from what we did in 2024, it seems a little duplicative. I appreciate the spirit and intent, but to have you go do another study, I feel like you're going to cheat us. You're just going to blow off the dust on the Vision Zero plan and say, ta-da, here's what you did. So I don't know about duplicating your efforts, but I appreciate the sentiment. And hopefully, at least with these corridors, you can get the stop lines done. put in. I know from what you just described, though, it's not just simply staff going out with paint or contractors going out with paint. We're talking about physically moving traffic signal loops in the road. And could you explain for us why that's important? Because why does the loop need to be moved because all you're doing is a crosswalk and then a line set back from the crosswalk? Why does that loop need to be physically dug out and moved?

Sure. Our modern traffic signal improvements include video detection and high tech devices that sense when a car pedestrian is there to signal for red light green to change. The majority of our traffic signals are not yet updated and rely on classic loop detector technology that are embedded in the ground. And when a vehicle goes over it, it triggers that red, yellow, green. Those loops are placed relative to where the existing stop bars are. So if we simply moved the white line and shifted it back five, 10 feet, vehicles would no longer be triggering the mechanism for this traffic signal to say red, yellow, green, activate. To fully improve the safety of the intersections, it requires a few more improvements than just paint.

because if not, I was gonna ask you to get your butt out to Greenville right now and finish from MacArthur to Warner, but it sounds like it's not that simple, so thank you.

So we can, at the very minimum, which I think is a good idea, we can do an assessment of where we are.

Can you speak into the mic, please?

At the very minimum, we can do an assessment, because two year after the Vision Zero was approved, it allows to evaluate, and as we start the budget, it also allows to prioritize those key components. We can also show we actually made improvements that were not part of Vision Zero and why we did those improvements. So we'll get that in 90 days.

So, Mr. City Manager, I believe we approved your construction crew, like 10 people?

Yeah.

Well, maybe they can.

And we're bringing them in and we're redoing stuff.

Maybe they can help. So we're looking forward to the budget because you'll share with everybody what we're doing throughout the entire city. So thank you, Council Member Lopez. Before, my last question is, DC, I believe our traffic division, just to assist with tickets or accidents or whatever it may be, take care of pedestrians. I mean, for speeding, we have, I know I was talking to some constituents, Warner and Main, I'm sorry, Okay, Main and Warner, some of the constituents are talking about like speeding, you know, cars speeding really fast. So did our traffic officers get laptops to assist them with all of this? I know it's kind of like an off question, but it's part of what the issue is about safety. We did today, they're in my list. Okay, great, when are they gonna get them?

They will have to be ordered, Madam Mayor. I don't know exactly when they will come in. I know they're anticipating that piece of technology coming to assist them. I would like to share something else that Chief Rodriguez recently implemented. So with the 2026 calendar year, we restructured our traffic division to be area-based, very similar to our directed patrol units where we have a north and a south, very similar to where we have our... area commanders that are also north and south now we have traffic based teams that are also oriented to the north and to the south we added additional staff to our traffic division in an effort to mitigate some of our traffic related collisions and stuff that we're having and we're also leveraging some of the OTS grant funding we get through the state to be more effective on our traffic front so those are some some changes that Chief Rodriguez has implemented and thus far it's been very well received we will have Our new motors are in motor school, I believe, as we speak. So once we get them all finished up with their training, kind of the on-ramp for that is significant. But once they get fully certified, they'll be out there in the streets.

Well, we used to have 15 motors. Is that correct or more?

The numbers have fluctuated throughout the years.

How many will we have now?

Right now, we are... I believe we're at 12.

Perfect.

But we have some other folks that do some of our collision investigations. They're also certified to ride the motors. However, they focus on investigating some of the fatal collisions and some of our hit and runs.

Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. So Councilman Becerra always has a request up here for his ward, you know, and I have the whole city. But, you know, he wants lights and people want lights up here. So on the north end of Santa Ana, let me just drop a request, we had asked for the street sign to be...

Paint it.

Glow in the dark.

Okay.

And we put some funky, I said funky, funky, F-U-N-K-Y, tape, and then it fell off, and then we painted it, and it's supposed to glow in the dark, because we have all these speeding cars down there, and it doesn't really glow in the dark. Again, we did kind of like a... half whatever job, and so Director Rosas, I'm looking forward to you looking at this plan, so that throughout the city, I may be a little piece of this, that we can look at areas that people race, and we can, I know Council Member Becerra talked about surveillance cameras, I'm not gonna ask for that yet, but that we can have traffic officers there at DC, And those areas where you've identified where cars are racing and placing people in danger. And I know it's a little off, but I want to make sure I state that publicly because we do have a need for motor officers. And we have a need for our officers to stop cars and give tickets for speeding. We're not racially profiling. We're giving tickets for speeding and racing. And with that, I'd like to make sure our stop signs glow in the dark, City Manager.

Yes, Mayor, but we'll do that. That's number one. But number two...

Can I get that promise? Is that a promise?

Yes.

By when?

I'll let you know tomorrow. Okay. You'll find out. But I don't wanna, how would I say, understate what DC Rowland and Andrade just said. The fact that we're adding additional traffic, and in a way that we have area commanders, right? So we're really gonna have folks that, traffic patrol officers that focus on the north side and the south side, kinda like how we're doing our general patrol, our direct patrol. I mean, I think, if I'm mistaken, four to six new officers doing motor training, correct?

We have four new motor officers in training currently as we speak.

That's wonderful. And so I don't want to at least... I want to be sure that we focus on those accomplishments because that's, again, small steps, but critical steps to expand what people are asking for.

No, that's really important because when we talk about public safety, our constituents are always asking for that, right? And when Council Member Vasquez is talking about sharing with the community what Measure X is paying for, that's probably... Am I correct or incorrect? Is Measure X dollars being used for some of that?

Right, some of it is that. But like the laptops today for the motorcycles, right? People just see that, okay, but it's for a specific focus and a specific purpose. And so when we talk about technology and when we're doing the efforts, you're literally seeing kind of that balance between technology and then the focus of patrol officers in the streets. And again, I just didn't want to go like somehow, oh, we're just going to do foot patrols and it's going to be north and south and no big deal. This is significant for us because this has been announced for a long time. This is us recognizing that we have traffic issues and it's balancing police enforcement. And again, with public works, some of those key traffic updates like painting the sign and the fluorescent.

That's great. Thank you. So comments, Council Member Lopez?

Yes, and I would like to bring us back to the question before us. So again, these are practical, low-cost improvements that can be implemented through striping and roadway markings without major infrastructure changes. We shouldn't have to wait for a major infrastructure project. whether we have the money or not, or whether we go for a grant or not, to implement these things that, as has been already said, exist in our vision, in our plan. And so the purpose here is to uplift the plan and remind folks that this is important to our office and that there has to be a sense of urgency here because people are dying. And so if we are going to talk about public safety, then this is it. This is how we feel that we can protect and give our constituents the best chance of walking around the city, of commuting in the city without possibly being exposed to being hit, run over by a car. And so one of the reasons why I did not put a 60 or 90 day request on this is because I recognize that immediate changes may happen, they may not happen, but ultimately staff I'M HOPING THAT THE COUNCIL GIVES STAFF DIRECTION TO EVALUATE WHERE WE CAN HAVE SETBACK LINES. I HAVE ALREADY PROPOSED, RIGHT, THEY SHOULD BE CITYWIDE. IT SHOULD BE A CONSISTENT PROCESS FOR ALL OF OUR INTERSECTIONS. I disagree that this is duplicative work, but it wouldn't be the first time that the council votes to direct staff to do something that would be duplicative. And so for those reasons, we really hope that we earn the support and that you don't need to bring back something in 30 days just to check off a box. We want it to be meaningful. We want it to be thoughtful. We want it to be intelligent, right, in the implementation. So thank you.

All right, any other comments? So I think you all do a great job, Go ahead. I'm sorry. I was going to close it out. Go ahead.

Thank you. Okay. No additional comments. Remember, these items are supposed to be a do you want to do it or not. And if you do, then you can have a 12-hour conversation about it at a different meeting.

We're going to have that. I just wanted to tell the staff thank you for all the work that you all do because this is covered in so many ways throughout the entire city. So thank you for everything. And Mr. City Manager, we look forward to hearing back from you and I think the majority of us up here are pleased with the work that we're doing, that you're all doing. So thank you very much. Okay, we're going to go on now. We're going to recess the City Council meeting and convene to the Housing Authority. We are recessing. Oh, I thought you said something. I hereby call the Housing Authority meeting, special meeting to order. Madam Secretary, please conduct a roll call.

Authority Member Becerra.

Here.

Authority Member Hernandez. Present. Authority Member Lopez.

Here.

Authority Member Phan. Here. Authority Member Vasquez.

Present.

Vice Chair Penaleza.

Present.

Chair Mesquite. Present. All seven members present.

Madam Secretary, do we have any speakers for items within the Housing Authority agenda? We do not. Does any authority member wish to make a motion and a second? I'll make a motion.

Second.

Thank you. Let's prepare to vote.

Motion by Mayor Emescua, or Chairperson Emescua, seconded by Authority Member Becerra to approve Consent Calendar Items 1 and 2.

I'm against, Madam City Clerk. It's not allowing me to vote on my tablet.

Okay, I can do it. Authority Member Becerra?

Yes.

Authority Member Hernandez?

Yes.

Authority Member Lopez? Yes. Authority Member Phan? Yes. Authority Member Vasquez?

Yes.

Vice Chair Penalosa? Yes. Chair Meskwa?

Yes.

Vote of seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries for the consent calendar.

So at this time we're going to go to public hearing and the consent calendar before the public hearing item number three. Madam Secretary, are there any speakers?

Just let me confirm if there's anybody, there's no in-person speakers and there were no e-comments related to this public hearing. But you will have to, let me confirm on Zoom first. And then I will need to ask you to open and close on the next section for the public hearing. If you're on Zoom and wish to speak on housing authority public hearing item number three, please raise your hand now. I'm not seeing any. However, we'll confirm that during the public hearing.

Okay, you ready?

We're going to close it? Open and close.

If you could officially open it. Yes, I'm officially opening it.

So with the public hearing open at 9.02, I will officially report that there are no in-person speakers, no Zoom speakers, and no emails related to public hearing item number three. Perfect. Do we need a presentation?

No.

If you could please close the public hearing.

And we're going to close the public hearing. Are there any questions or comments by authority members?

I'll make a motion to move the items, madam. Second.

Thank you. Motion by Authority Member Hernandez, seconded by Authority Member Becerra, to approve the recommended actions for the public hearing, which is to conduct the public hearing on the approval of the Housing Authority Annual Plan for Fiscal Year 2026-2027, and adopt a resolution of the Housing Authority of the City of Santa Ana, approving the submission of the Annual Plan for Fiscal Year 2026-2027. Authority Member Becerra?

Yes.

Authority Member Hernandez? Yes. Authority Member Lopez? Yes. Authority Member Phan? Yes. Authority Member Vasquez?

Yes.

Vice Chair Penalosa? Yes. Chair Meskwa? Yes. Vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries. Thank you.

The Housing Authority meeting is now adjourned. We're going to reconvene to the City Council meeting. Before we go to comments by the City Council, Madam City Attorney, I really want to thank you for the comments that you made. The last meeting I was here, but asking Council Members to stay for the entire comments by other Council Members and the Mayor because it's just a sign of respect and that we all have time for each other and we can hear each other out. Mr. City Manager, can we please hear your comments at this time?

Yes. Can you hear me?

Are we ready, is that what you said?

Yeah, we're ready. We're ready, go ahead. This March 19, April 9, Parks and Recreation will be hiring fairs. Again, this Thursday, March 19, and again, April 9, from 1 to 5.30 at Jerome Recreation Center, the city is hiring seasonal positions, such as lifeguard, pool managers, and positions in youth and teen programs at the Santa Ana Zoo. In addition, on March 20, The Santa Ana Work Center is going to have a tax preparation event hosted by the OC United Way IRS certified VITA volunteers will assist qualified residents with filing their taxes at no cost and maximizing available tax credits. Registration is open again this Friday, March 20th at the Santa Ana Work Center. March 27 and 29, the city is hosting the Sister Cities Santana and Saguaro Business Expo 2026, bringing more than 40 businesses from Saguaro, Michoacan, Mexico, to connect with local retailers, distributors, and businesses. Registration is open until Sunday, March 22nd, for business-to-business meetings and for the general public to attend. Again, this is our second business expo. Then April 3rd at the, where are we hosting at this one? Yes, at the city council's chamber. This is our second apprenticeship career fair where we have nine unions in Santa Ana College to connect residents with paid apprenticeships and long-term career opportunities in healthcare, construction, carpentry, engineering, labor, and building trades. Again, April 3rd, this apprenticeship career fair for us this is one of the critical ones because this was aspects where we actually open and connect with nine strong unions with good paying positions and we're making sure that our city residents have those opportunities and again one of our major accomplishments and we promise this the centennial parking improvements including the dock part will be april 4. THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE ENTIRE SAN ANA COMMUNITY TO JOIN US. MORE DETAILS WILL BE SHARED SOON AT THE CITY'S WEBSITE, SOCIAL MEDIA, AND OTHER COMMUNICATION CHANNELS. AND THEN AGAIN, ON APRIL 11, THE SAN ANA FUND RUN. LET ME SAY THAT AGAIN. ON APRIL 11, SAN ANA FUND RUN. THE SAN ANA FUND RUN RETURNS ON SATURDAY. with a 5K, 10K, and cash dash. Registration is open until April 5th. We already have 1,600 runners registered, over 1,000 for the 5K and 550 for the 10K. So we look forward to seeing the city council and the public. And that's all to conclude my comments.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. Council Member Vasquez, please.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to ask for a 1K for the fun run, please. I need to hook a brother up. Do you want it down Harbor?

My shins are hurting already. Do you want it down Harbor or down here?

We have the kid dash.

The 17th and 5th by Cozy Corner. I was taking notes of all the stuff going on with the union works, the union... a work that we're gonna have and then the parks and rec with jerome center i'm like i have to write all this down for my students so they can get jobs thank you for all that uh you know i had a a great time i was invited to pacific park neighborhood association meeting and hedinger park we had great talks out there i want to thank everybody for inviting uh us um i'm looking forward to the expo with sawayo and and picking up some uh you know the boots that they make the I bought a hat and I got a jacket coming from them that I ordered while I was there. So I'm looking, I'm excited to have them and seeing them all again. I want to invite people. We're having an open house at my school, but I'm presenting the work from my classroom. And we, every year, or now starting my second year, we're doing a Poderosa series. And last year, we had La Poderosa of Chepa from Logan Park. And we did a big painting. You guys saw Dorothy Mulkey. and we had a painting of Dorothy Mulkey, who fought at the Supreme Court, and we had a painting of her. We had Tracy Laughlin via Rise, and our own Jesse Lopez. We had a painting, and this year, We're also going to invite Alicia Rojas. We're having Lisa Solomon. Lisa Solomon is the director of the FACE program, and we're going to celebrate. I hope she loves it because it came out great. We're also having Vicky Sarmiento, who's a civil rights lawyer, and we're going to embrace and honor her life. We're also going to have dedication for Sandra de Anda for the Director of OC Rapid Response and all the work she's doing across Orange County but specifically here in Santa Ana. We're going to have it for Erica Robles from United Across Borders and the work she did through COVID and now this where she's feeding families, giving out presents, just backpacks and tennis shoes for kids. So she's been doing putting in a lot of work so we're having paintings for them. So I invite you on April 2nd at five o'clock, we'll be presenting to these four beautiful women who've done work and we call them Poderosas here in Santana. Thank you, have a good night.

Thank you very much. Council Member Phan, please.

Thank you, Mayor. So before I forget, happy St. Patrick's Day. I'm so glad lots of us are in the spirit. I want to show everyone my lettuce face. I'm very excited for it. Anyhow, I wanted to make sure that we celebrate the fact that the zoo turned It just turned 74 years old on March 8th when it opened in 1952, which is three years older than Disneyland. I bet you, Council Member, excuse me, Mayor Pro Tempagnolosa did know that. So we really look forward to celebrating the 75th anniversary next year on March 8th, 2027. Director Scott, I expect it to be very fun. And because it's St. Patrick's Day, we have to honor and celebrate Uncle Patrick, who is celebrating his 36th birthday. He is the elder spider monkey at our zoo. And he's an uncle to our eight baby spider monkeys in our new River's Edge spider monkey habitat. It's Theo Patrick. Please continue. So definitely go out to the new otter's habitat. Go check out our new spider monkeys and all the amazing, they have these like rope bridges and things like that so that the spider monkeys can, you know, really roam around and be safe. And it's a super fun thing for families to do. I intend to take my nephews out to see them. And I hope that everybody has a happy and safe St. Patrick's Day. Just watch out there. Don't drink and drive. Use Lyft, Uber, and all those other fun things. And there's a very special day happening in a couple days, but I will leave that to someone else to discuss. Have a good night, everyone.

Council Member Becerra?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So tonight we celebrated Sagerstrom's accomplishments with their girls' soccer team. And soccer, of course, is very synonymous with Santa Ana, and so why should it stop with just Sagerstrom? Santa Ana's own modern day went to Sacramento this weekend. Both the boys' and the girls' team brought home the state championships, both of them, both the boys' and the girls'. So, Mr. City Manager, I would like to recognize that accomplishment. We recognize the... Segerstrom girls, with lighting up the water tower, I'd like to see us do the same thing for modern day to celebrate their amazing accomplishments with their colors up on our iconic water tower. I'll be hosting my monthly community office hours on Saturday, April 4th at noon over at Adams Park on Raitt and Warner. Deputy Chief Andrade, since I don't get to ask this to Chief Rodriguez tonight, what is the current amount of funded vacant officer positions in RPD?

33.

And what was that amount last month?

I don't have that number.

Okay, hopefully next month it will be less than 33. So I wanna talk about real quick, there's some, the folks that came in from the mobile home park that are facing some really, really tough issues in regards to their situation. I want to clarify that I met with some of the residents there. I met with them here at City Hall because I don't think this is an issue when someone's dealing with their home and in a vulnerable position. I'm sorry. I don't think it's something where I'm going to bring cameras and try to document that I'm trying to show concern. Now, I wanted to have the meeting so that we can have a very frank discussion. I invited staff to join me as well so that we could talk about what are the potential options. I didn't sugarcoat it and try to say we can do something and then turn away and not do something. I want to thank staff for participating in the meeting. We were able to BE FRANK, BE HONEST ABOUT SOME OF THE OPTIONS. AND I APPRECIATE OUR CITY ATTORNEY TONIGHT REITERATING WHAT THE CITY IS DOING. I DON'T THINK THERE'S A LACK OF DESIRE ON THIS DIAS TO HELP OUR RESIDENTS STAY IN THEIR HOMES. BUT, UNFORTUNATELY, THERE ARE laws and rules that prevent us from taking certain actions. And so there is of course a desire for the city to take actions to help folks. And I think all of us signed up to be council members so that we could help our community. But we also have limitations on what we can and can't do. So I appreciate the opportunity to meet with those residents. I appreciate staff for being there and helping to clarify what we could and couldn't do. And I appreciate our city attorney tonight setting the record COMMUNITY TO ALL HERE THAT THE CITY IS DOING WHAT WE CAN BUT THERE ARE LIMITATIONS AND THE FACT THAT WE WENT ABOVE AND BEYOND TO BRING IN STATE RESOURCES SUCH AS HCD TO TRY TO HELP THAT SITUATION OVER THERE. IT'S NOT A GOOD SITUATION AND HOPEFULLY SOMETHING CAN BE DONE TO ADDRESS IT. AND AS COUNCIL MEMBER FAN ALREADY MENTIONED, TODAY IS ST. PATRICK'S DAY. I'd like to wish those who celebrate St. Patrick's arrival in Ireland as well as celebrate the heritage and culture of our Irish friends and neighbors a very happy St. Patrick's Day. So please celebrate responsibly. Good night, everybody.

Thank you. Councilman Hernandez, please.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I want to begin by thanking the members of the public for tuning in to today's council meeting. Our city staff are preparing today's agenda items. I want to also echo my colleagues in celebrating St. Patrick's Day. This is a day where you celebrate patron saint of Ireland. And the reason why that is significant for us in Santa Ana specifically is I got to talk about the connection to Mexico and my ancestors. During a time where Mexican people were subjugated and native and indigenous people were subjugated in Mexico, the St. Patrick's Battalion was a group of primary Irish immigrants. They fought alongside those who were fighting for freedom from 1846 to 1848. So today in Mexico, this is also a very big day in celebrating that solidarity. And so I think it's important that people are reminded of how closely connected those cultures are. And it's why so many people look forward to celebrating St. Patrick's Day. So I just want to uplift my love and support to the Irish community. I also want to highlight an Irish business owner in Santa Ana, and that is Chapter One. They have Irish roots. They're proud of that. Today's their 15th year anniversary. Congratulations, JJ. Your food is some of the best, not only in Santa Ana, but in the county. I want to close in honor of a Santa Ana resident named Jessica Coghill. Jessica was a Native American who was born and raised in the community and unfortunately passed away on Sunday. My condolences to her and her family. She leaves behind two children and I just pray that their family is together and they're strong right now. I know that that burying a loved one is not easy, and so my condolences to them. I also want to speak to the residents who are in the mobile homes who are affected by what is happening across the Suleiman Strip, I'm very thankful that the city of Santa Ana is working with residents. I want to implore residents for anybody who has not filled out a petition to fill that petition out. If they need assistance, please reach my office, reach the city manager's office. We will accommodate you and meet you halfway. I want to thank the city manager's office. You had staff meet with residents on Saturday. Thank you, Michael Garcia. Thank you to the staff that went out and met with them. Thank you to Lincoln Elementary for making themselves available on such a quick turnaround so that city staff can meet with residents on a Saturday, accommodating them. Many of these residents that are impacted still do work, so they have to take, you know, we have to take into account when are they accessible and if it's a Saturday, you know, As evidenced, the city of Santa Ana adapted and showed up. So thank you. That's very important. I also want to speak on comments made by residents about conduct that took place in front of the police department. Very concerning because our residents have a First Amendment right. They have a First Amendment right to use their voice in this chamber. They have a First Amendment right to use their voice in front of any public place in our city. And the family that was protesting an officer who was being investigated for not one but two different shootings. They were holding an action in front of our police department, and one of our officers who was involved in the shooting walked out. The family did not feel safe. I did see the video. I'm very disturbed, very concerned that if there was a protest happening for the very loss of life that one of the two officers would walk out and see that as something that wouldn't be problematic. But then to turn around and make a gesture that is indeed threatening, I am just very concerned about the conduct that was recorded on video. I hope that the city takes those concerns very seriously. I did send a message to the city manager and city attorney expressing my concerns about the conduct of our officers. I expect that our residents are going to be treated with respect, even when we disagree with them, when they use their First Amendment rights. And the same applies to our officers. I want them to feel respected. I want them to feel safe in the workplace. But at the end of the day, you know, when it comes to our residents' First Amendment rights, I'm always going to be on the side of protecting their free speech. Thank you. That'll conclude my comments.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Temp.

Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to give a quick little update on something that I geek out about with the transportation court agency and just mobility in the region. MANY OF OUR RESIDENTS KNOW I CURRENTLY SERVE AS THE VICE CHAIR OF THE TRANSPORTATION CORRIDOR AGENCY. I WANTED TO ANNOUNCE THAT JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO THE SIGNING OF THE MASTER AND OPERATING AGREEMENT BY PARTNER AGENCIES TO ADVANCE THE 241-91 EXPRESS CONNECTOR PROJECT WHICH IS HUGE FOR THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA REGION FINALLY TOOK PLACE. THIS NEW TOLD MEDIAN TO MEDIAN CONNECTOR WILL ESTABLISH A DIRECT LINK between the 241 toll roads and the 91 express lanes. So for everyone who's familiar with that bottleneck nightmare that happens every single day on the 241, that will now remove that from happening and make the commute for people that work in the Inland Empire and live here or vice versa a lot smoother. Congratulations to our partners in that, which is Caltrans, OCTA, Riverside County Transportation Commission, and the TCA. That is breaking ground later this year, with a project completion in about three years. With that, I also want to thank city management staff for bringing the Sahuayo Business Expo to ward six, which will now be happening. I know that the one in ward four wasn't as successful, but we're now moving it to Ward 6, to greener pastures, and hopefully it's a successful event. I'm kidding, Council Member Becerra, but I'm excited for that to come. On Sunday, March 29th, I'd like to invite the residents listening and families to Memorial Park. We're going to be hosting a small build your own Easter basket day for kids. I know we used to have the egg hunt event a couple years ago that we unfortunately had to do away with due to budget constraints, but I'm hoping that this event brings some nice smiles to kids in the city to build your own Easter basket. With that, I'd like to wish my father-in-law a happy birthday, who turns, I don't know how old he turns, actually, but it's, I know it's coming up on March 19th. You know, I think back to the life that he, he's a refugee from Vietnam, and the life that he's been able to build here in America is just something that I look to as an inspiration to me and my family, and And I'm thankful for everything that he does for me and my family and his grandkids. And with that, I don't know if city staff remembers, but on March 18th, 2025, we were having a city council meeting here. And my phone kept ringing because my wife's contractions were getting closer. And we were approving, awarding the contract for the dog park. improvements and I did not want to leave until I voted yes to awarding that contract. I was like there's no way that I waited eight years for this and now I'm not going to vote on this so my wife kept calling and later that night which was March 19th at like 2.30 in the morning she gave birth to her beautiful son Lucas Elias who turns one and I always said that I will highlight other milestones here at council meetings for the public record and and so happy birthday uh lucas we love you and uh thank you council member fan dia tai for bringing his his first uh smash cake uh to him she surprised us with that so thank you um and with that uh good night everyone

Thank you very much, and happy birthday to your baby boy. So I remember that vote, you wanted to vote and leave. It's sad that it took you eight years to get that vote here, but okay. So first of all, let me start off with the mobile home. Mr. City Manager, Madam City Attorney, staff, thank you very much for addressing this issue. I know Mr. City Manager and Deputy City Manager, we had that conversation a couple months ago when Congressman Correa called me on a Saturday night, about 10 p.m., and Sunday we spoke, and so it's been in the motion now for a couple months, And you guys have done phenomenal work, and I really want to thank you. And I believe, as I had stated earlier, Assemblyman Valencia's office has been in touch with them this week, today, actually. And I called them, and they'll be meeting, HCD will be meeting with them shortly with the mobile home park people and Assemblyman Valencia. So, you know, I just want to be clear. I have been off for five weeks. This is my first day with makeup on, out of my pajamas. Yeah, I had major knee surgery. And thank you to my husband for taking family leave and taking care of me. And so pretty big surgery, painful as heck. I'll never recommend it to anybody. But my phone was off as much as possible. My husband would take it away from me because he didn't want me to answer it. And so I didn't ignore anybody. And people come up here and make comments that we haven't done anything. We all have personal lives. I'm the mayor, but I'm also a wife, and I'm a mom, and I'm a grandma. And I had surgery. So for five weeks, I've been off. Literally, this is the first day that I put real clothes on. Sounds funny, but I've been in pajamas and sweats and being taken care of. And today, I saw my doctor, and he's like, okay, you can use your cane and walk around. Okay, great. So he's like, just don't hit anybody with it. Oh, I won't. Not yet. But... I just have to say, you know, when people come up and say, oh, Mayor, you know, your body language, nobody knows what we're all going through up here. Nobody knows what all of you are going through. Nobody walks in our shoes. I don't know and you don't know if somebody just had somebody pass in their life or you have a migraine or you have a freaking, I said freaking, freaking knee that's killing you for sitting here since 4 o'clock that I asked my husband to come pick me up because he has to drive me and help me out because I can't even, I'm not going to be able to get up very easy right now. And I'm not making excuses. And I sit up here, and I am very serious. And the way I sit or the way I move, that's just who I am. And, you know, I appreciate the public comments and everybody has a First Amendment right. But I've been sitting here now since December 7th of 2022, and it seems like 20 years. I don't want to sound like Miguel Pulido, but it seems like I've been sitting here a long time. And every meeting I come to, and I'm not asking you to feel sorry for me because it doesn't bother me, it comes up and it's mayor, mayor, mayor, mayor, mayor. Well, guess what? People are welcome to run for office and sit up here and get beat up every meeting about what you're doing wrong or what you say wrong or how you sit wrong or how you look wrong or, you know, we're human. I'm human just like everybody else. And I spent 30 years in the law enforcement world. I am an officer, I'm a retired officer. And you're never gonna hear me say defund the police. You will hear me say if he's a bad cop. D.C., do what you gotta do. You will hear me say if he's a bad director, do what you gotta do. If you're a bad lawyer, do what you gotta do. If you're a bad fireman, do what you gotta do. If you're a bad city manager, we will do what we have to do. But I do not sit back here and protect officers when they do something wrong. And Mr. City Manager can attest to that, because we've had many conversations about officers, good ones, and some that maybe are not so good. But it's not my job as the mayor to investigate them. That's the police department's job. And that's what Eternal Affairs does. And so I just want people to know that are watching at home that, yes, I spent 30 years in law enforcement, and I will always be there. I have family. I have family in law enforcement. I got family in state prison. I got family that are gang members. I have family that are drug addicts. I have family that are lawyers. And I'm not ashamed of where I come from. So when people come here and say, you have to understand how we feel. Yeah, you're right, I do. And I do understand. And I feel terrible when people get it. hurt or injured or when police officers have to use force or stop them in their tracks. But I also want you all to think about, for just one second, what do you think those officers feel like? What do you think that fireman feels like when he goes into a home and that family, somebody has burned to death? What do you think that officer feels like when he has to go home and tell his spouse, I had to stop somebody today, and they're not trying to use the word kill, correct, DC? They're used to use a different word. I had to stop somebody today, and they have to live with that for the rest of their life. So when we talk about the First Amendment rights, and it's always Officer Barra, and he was so whatever in public, and Mr. City Manager, investigate him. I asked my husband to watch that video and show it to me, and yeah, it was, I think, my first week that I was out of the hospital, and I felt really bad for him, and I called you, and I said, what the heck? What the heck? Because I think he behaved in a manner that I was like, wow, you know, It's a hard thing. He was walking to his car, what I saw. And I'm not gonna play Monday Night Quarterback. I wasn't there. And videos are 30 seconds of truth or lies, or whatever you see, right? Whatever you see in that video. And I would just say that we have a responsibility up here as a council to also take care of every employee, not just police officers, public works, parks, community, I always get it wrong, Mike, sorry, community development, finance, men's division, your staff, Sue, all the women in Gaston on the eighth floor, we have a responsibility to take care of all of our staff, men and women on the eighth floor. I say Gaston, Paul, sorry. You know you like me. So, I mean, we have a responsibility to take care of our staff, too. So when people say, you know, fire him and do this and do that, you know, I don't know Officer Barr's or any officer's real personal life. I don't know if they have wives, children, one wife or husband or children or grandchildren. But what I do know that as the mayor, I'm going to sit up here and I'm going to let them investigate their officers. and we do have a police oversight committee now, and I'm gonna let the city manager do his job, because that's what we hired him for. I'm not gonna sit up here and judge any officer and say, oh my God, and publicly say what he did or she did is wrong, and we need to do this and that and chicken fat. My job is to make sure that our city manager, the direction of the council, investigates and does what he is asked to do. So I feel bad for our officers at every meeting since I've been sitting here December 7th of 2022, People up here beat up our police department. They beat them up. Defund them, don't like them, this, that, chicken fat. Oh, you know, well, if you look at the survey, when people submit the survey for our budget, there's two things that they submit that are priority. What are they? Public safety? Quality of life. What does that mean? That means we don't want to get rid of our fire departments, even though they're paid for the county, because we are in the top three of our fire calls. Am I correct, DC? Top three. Top three for fire department. And we don't want to get rid of our police department, because when I call 911 and I always say it up here, I want somebody to come. And I've had to call 911 numerous times. And I know that our community at home wants them to come. They want them to stop the gang activity. We want to talk about safety in our city. And yes, our streets are important, our crosswalks are important. But let's talk about all the emails we get about kids with guns shooting each other. Let's talk about that, because we're not talking about that. Yeah, I've been off five weeks, so stand by, Mr. City Manager. Let's talk about that. Let's talk about how much fentanyl our officers on a traffic stop take out of a car. Fentanyl guns and money. That's a regular email that we get. Fentanyl guns and money. But when I call you earth people in the community, you don't see that. You do not see that. People in a small percentage come here from CSO, wherever they're from, and they beat up our people. Do you think that the 310,000 people that live in the city at home are saying, we'll get rid of our police department? No, they are not. Or get rid of our fire department? No, they are not. They're saying, can you hire more officers, please? Can you make sure you're funding our police department, our fire department so they come? That's what they're saying if you really sit down and talk to them. Even the grandma that lives in Navarrio, she'll say, she'll whisper to you, I want more police. Okay, you got it. I want them to come out and arrest my grandson because he's a gang member. Okay, you got it. Because I've had those conversations. So, you know, I sit up here, nobody knows, yes, five weeks that I've been through some really interesting times. So yeah, maybe I do look like I'm crabby today. I'm not, I'm actually happy to be here. But my facial expressions, and I'm sorry, this is how I was raised, people. You know, my boss used to say, Val, you walk like a cop, you talk like a cop, you look like a cop, and you're a tomboy. That's who I am. And I'm not, I can't change that. I'm a mom, I'm a grandma, and I'm like sitting up here like, okay, I feel bad for you. I really do. I feel terrible. But I'm not gonna... agree with them just to agree with them because I want them to like me or vote for me. I stand by what I believe in. And so I apologize if that offends people, but I just can't. So on to better things. D.C. and Mr. City Manager, our chief did a wonderful video that I saw about the 2025, the year 2025. And he talked about all the things that happened in 2025, all the successes. I would like that to be played here at the council meeting because I want the community to see it because I know a lot of people have not seen that video. And then DC, you talked about some changes that the chief has made in the department as far as like traffic and commanders and whatnot. Mr. City Manager, either I put it on the agenda or you just have the chief give a presentation about what changes he's made in the police department because I think it's really good for the council that we know what changes he has made as a new chief because then it helps us when we're talking up here about traffic or arrest or whatever it may be, stop signs, crosswalks, Whatever. He's done some changes with his team, and I think it's very important that we hear about that. And I'll end on these two things. On April 18th, I'm having coffee with the mayor. At the same time, I'm also having Festival de Niño with Mosaic at George Upton Park. And it's for our families with special needs children. So please join us. And if you want to come out, please do. It will be from 10 to 2 at George, 10 to 1. I see Cynthia, my new chief of staff going on. So 10 to 1 at George Upton Park. And it's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to have food and tables and things. So council members, usually it's, Penelosa and Becerra who joined me, because Councilman Fan always says she don't come, it's not her ward. Please feel free to join us. And then, Mr. City Manager, I want to thank your staff and the work center and deputies, all of you who put the apprenticeship career fair, this is our second time doing this. I'm glad that when I brought it to you with the laborers and the carpenters, you were like, yeah, let's do it. And now this is the second year with nine different unions, and I'm really happy that we're doing this again, and I hope we do it every year. As a matter of fact, they're bringing companies that are ready to hire today. They're ready to hire today. So please share with everybody that on April 3rd, here outside of the Council Chambers, we are having an apprenticeship fair, and they will be hiring people that day. So please bring your resume and your ID and everything that you need to get hired on a job. And then Swayo, I know you covered it, but you can't miss it. It's a great event for Swayo to be here for the whole weekend. We're here Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, correct? At Santa Ana Alks Lodge. Please join us, and there's a lot of beautiful things you can buy. I know Council Member Faustus talked about a jacket that he probably paid a lot of money for and boots. But I also last year bought a whole bunch of stuff that I should not have bought. I think Deputy State Manager, we bought like four purses or something. because they're in my closet that's my husband you know so um i use them but only here and there they're beautiful you don't want to use them because they're beautiful so please bring cash and go shopping at the soyo business expo the weekend of march 27th through the 29th it's going to be a great um event i look forward to seeing you all there ward six what in ward six okay well i have the whole city so sorry i beat y'all and our next council meeting is april 7th thank you

So, Thank you. Thank you. It's like, All perfect, thanks.

there's another one

I've been on that route for a long time.

I think they did it over the weekend or yesterday. They would have had to close it down. I'll do it at night. I'm gonna drive to that route. I'll let you know.