Planning Commission - Special Meeting

Hallelujah. Good evening everyone. I call to order the special meeting of the mayor and city council at 5:30 p.m. Welcome and welcome to those who are viewing remotely. Thank you so much for tuning in. Madam City Clerk, can you call Actually, before we call for the role,

um Mayor uh I mean, Council Member Figueroa, will you um do the pledge of allegiance for us? Please all rise. Please join me in the pledge of allegiance.

Ready? Begin. I pledge to the flag of the United States of America and to the for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Thank you, council member. Madam City Clerk, please call the role. Council member Sanchez, here. Council member Abara, present. Council member Figureroa here. Council member Sheret here. Mayor Promas has not arrived. Council member Flores present. Council member Ortiz, I am here.

And Mayor Tran here. Thank you.

At this time, public comments will be heard for this one item on the agenda. To address the city council, everyone must complete a speaker card and provide it to the city clerk. Only those speaker cards turned into the city clerk will be allowed to address the city council. No late cards will be accepted. Each person should state their name for the record before beginning their comments. As your name is called, please line up behind the podium. We have two podiums available for you. Please note your name will be called only once. If you do not respond when called, you may forfeit your opportunity to speak. We ask that you please observe proper decorum and do not speak out of turn or make comments from your seat. If you wish to address the mayor and city council, please be sure to submit a speaker slip. If you speak out of turn or disrupt the meeting, a warning may be given and or you'll be asked to leave the meeting pursuant to Government Code section 549 57.9 and Penal Code 403. Madam City Clerk,

Madame Mayor, uh if I may, I'd like to make some opening remarks just to set the stage of what what is proposed here tonight to discuss. I think it's important for the public and the and for you mayor and the council to understand what is before you. Can this wait until we after the public comment please? I prefer to do it now. It'll be very brief. You prefer but let's just wait till all the public comments and then you can when we start into the item then you can speak on that. Thank you. Thank you mayor because we have a lot of speakers tonight so let's just get to it. Okay. Thank you madam city the clerk.

Each speaker will have three minutes. Thank you. E. Negreti, John Johnny Kim, Ron Alvarado, Skip Kain, Gabriel Reyes, Maha Rizzy, Tim Prince, Jim Smith, Joe Solace, Hank Mitchell, Azie Dolan, Lissa Alvulis, Haley Haley B, Sarah Apostle, Diego Ordonz, Virginia Marquez, Kim Calvin, Ben Pratt, and Vincent Wyn.

If you hear your name, please come forward to the podium and you can start state your name and begin. Thank you.

Good evening, council as rounded and gritty. Thank you for your time and the opportunity to come and ask you to consider this change. The reason why I support it is because when the charter was changed, we saw that the duties of the mayor were changed completely. Now, long ago, our council member Ortiz, you were a big proponent on cutting this position. So, we all remember the reasons why. And when I started hearing that this is going to take away my right as a voter to vote for a mayor, I saw it differently because every one of you is elected by us, the people. we get to vote for you. Other cities surrounding Sanino have done the same changes and they're working effectively. So to say that it is taking away a right for us, it is not. And if you look at section 302 and 303, the duties of the mayor and the duties of the council, it has been and it continues to be a figurehead position and it is a costly figurehead position. So, I ask that you consider it because unlike the Assembly or the Senate, we don't get to vote for those bills that are passed by the Assembly and the Senate, but we do get to vote when it comes to anything that you put in the ballot. And I see this as this is being put on the ballot. Therefore, we will have a right to vote. Nothing's being taken away from us. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next speaker. State your name.

Yes. My name is Johnny Kim, long-term resident, business owner here in San Bernardino. Um, I will honorably disagree with the the comments made by the last speaker. I did not find out about this meeting until Friday afternoon. I go to the website, it's not on the website. I have no information about this. When I see that type of thing happening, it's like gamesmanship is going on. Something is going on that we're not meant to see. Now, in regards to, you know, mayor, council, uh, council manager type organ structures, we already have that. But having Mayor TR as our person that we can go to, I see Dr. Ortiz more often than I see my own council member.

I don't always agree with Dr. Ortiz. I I've never always h had a lot in line with you, but I respect everything and you putting your face out there. We would still have a ward-based election system. So, you're going to roundroin through a mayor and then decide who gets it. I have enough trouble fig seeing my own council person. I'm going to try and figure out who's the mayor of the month. I'm going to go speak to you at there at the end down there and you're going to know who I am and care. You

know the you the main comments and reasons for a council manager is to try and take politics out. Oh, you know what? You're never going to get politics out. But what I do love and respect is Mayor Tren. We have seen a lot of improvements because she's been able to work with the council. Things have been going well these last two years or so. Things have been improved. I've been seeing actions. I've been seeing people out there. I've been seeing things getting done. I feel like we have a future here in San Bernardino because we have somebody who can figure it figurehead or not serves as our leader serves as our focal point for where San Bernardino is going. So this roundroin of the month and and I'm really frustrated the fact that it came out Friday, five minutes before coming in here. I still do not see it show up on the events for the agendas or anything. Uh something fell smells fishy. You could have done this in a regular meeting. You could have brought up the topic and we could have moved on and then there would have been more public awareness. But this last minute stuff doesn't give us time to do our our own due diligence as ci citizens to make wellfounded arguments is just unacceptable in my point. I support Mayor Tran. I support keeping the office of the mayor and the rest we can decide on. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Ron Alvarado, candidate for the first word. I want to begin by speaking plainly about leadership. Leadership is not about preserving power. It is not about manipulating process and it's certainly not about spending public money to serve political interests rather than public need.

If I were in a position of leadership, I would not call special meetings to weaken democratic participation or consolidate authority. I would call special meetings to confront the challenges our residents live with every day. Homelessness, public safety, blight, deteriorating infrastructure, ICE. That is not why we are here today. This special meeting was not requested by the public. It was not driven by community crisis. It exists to advance an internal agenda, one that shifts power inward towards a small voting block that should concern every resident of this city. When voter participation is reduced, democracy is weakened. Our people off the streets. Council member Sanchez, this pattern reflects a broader disconnect between you and the people of the first ward. We saw this just last Saturday at La Plaza Park. The community did not experience meaningful engagement. They experienced distance. Many residents felt you did not understand them. You did not relate to them. And you definitely did not hear them. And now with proposed changes to the city charter, the same issue presents itself again. These reforms were not born out of community dialogue. They were not requested by residents. They are being repres presented to the community and not being developed with the community.

That's right. So the fundamental question must be asked, how can anyone claim to represent the first ward without first listening to the first ward? Let us be clear about what residents are not asking for. They are not calling for the elimination of the mayor. They are not calling for term limits. And they are not calling for the removal of the primary process. What they are asking for is that representation is responsive, pressing and grounded in everyday reality. They are asking for paved streets, functioning street lights, safe neighborhoods, real solutions to homelessness. Yet too much time and energy is being spent on political restructuring instead of community PROBLEM SOLVING. I AM running for the first word because I understand the everyday struggles our communities face not as abstract policy debates but as real conditions affecting family neighborhoods and livelihoods.

Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good afternoon, mayor, council, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tim Prince. I'm a lifelong resident of this city and a 35-y year attorney and a member of the charter review committee. What was that? Do you know what that is, Teddy? The charter review committee was set up by the city charter to review all proposals and the need for change in our city charter.

Any legitimate proposal goes to the charter review committee. Now, that's bad enough,

but a year and a half ago, one of your revolving door city managers in this unstable government shut down the charter review committee. And I've been here more than twice to ask you to reinstate the charter committee. We need a staff member assigned like all commissions of the city. You have volunteers that have been appointed by this council and this mayor to serve the public. Despite each time I came, you assured me you'd look into it, it's not been done. So that means the city council must think that there's no need to change the city charter. And if there is a need, you should have reactivated that committee. That is the legitimate channel for charter review. And if you had done that, the charter review committee with public input would have presented alternatives for this public. There are different ways to go with this city charter. Your proposal is unvetted. Your proposal is unaccountable. There are other options. We need to go back to more accountability as we had in our historic city charter. So, let's look at let's look at your proposal, Teddy. This is Teddy Sanchez's agenda. We already crossed out elected officials with the current charter. We no longer have an elected city clerk that we pay six figures to. We no longer have an elected city attorney that makes another six figures. I wanted to make a political statement at the outset. And now you want to cross off our mayor,

the center of this city. This is this is the people of every ward's accountable leader. If things aren't to our liking, we know who is to blame. We know who to hold accountable. I don't live in the first ward, so unfortunately I can't vote against you, Teddy. And I I think your agenda is illconceived, improper, and would reduce accountability in this city. Don't waste taxpayer money. You didn't even have a backup to tell us how much of our dollars this is going to cost. It's probably in the tens of thousands.

THAT'S NOT YOUR MONEY. THAT'S OUR MONEY. VOTE NO. THANK YOU. THANK YOU. Next speaker, please state your name.

Please, please watch your decorum because we have to allow the speaker to speak. Please.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Skip Kaine. I am a citizen of the city of San Bernardino. I have lived in San Bernardino now over 40 years. I speak as an individual private citizen this evening in reference to this special meeting agenda dated Monday, February 2nd, 2026. We are here in regard to the amendment to the city charter concerning San Bernardino's good government and term limits initiative. Resting within that initiative is item number two, eliminate primary elections. Primary elections is a staple of our United States democracy. Elimination of primary elections could impede and separate the citizens ability to vote. We are we are already here. We are here now at this state and we have been threatened by the fact that we may no longer have the ability to vote by the White House

to the city council. Let the people deliver their mayor. You don't have to do it for us. If the people voted to put each of you in a position as city council members in office and you personally think that you are the right person for the job, I do want to ask this question. As city council members, do you think that you are the right person for the job? If you do, raise your hand.

So

only one So, so if you do, what makes you think that the city, neighbors, friends, and neighborhoods are not going to be able to put the proper mayor in place? If we put you in place, why do you think the votes of the people would put the proper mayor in place? Why do you want to take that away from us? Why do you want to take that away from us in primary elections? What is the cost of doing this as well? Is that cost plus or minus $250,000 it would take to circulate the vote and get this good government and term limits initiative on the vote? Is that something that we need to do? So, I ask you to think about this is probably not the right way to do this. If you're going to take away the votes from the people, do not take away the votes from the people. Let the people put the mayor in office the same as they put you in office.

Thank you all. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

I'm glad I didn't have to follow up the other individual with the sign because that was a hard followup. But madame mayor, madame mayor, members of the council, staff, but most importantly the votes of San Bernardino. Uh, I come before you as an elected mayor for the city of Alvalonto. And I've been an elected mayor since 2018. And I've been an elected mayor since 2018, winning two successful terms and running for a third. And I stress to you the importance of having an elected mayor in that position. The reason why the reason why it's extremely important and you can tell by the will of the people why we need a consistent leadership is because it's the face of the city of the community of San Bernardino and where the and where the city is going moving forward. I see Madame Mayor everywhere. I see her at Skagg in downtown LA first Thursdays every month at her meetings. I see her at SBCTA. I see her at all our other committee meetings representing the city. I see her beating the streets of Sacramento alongside with Cal Cities or other ventures or other opportunities. I see her catching flights, going to DC for other events, representing the city of San Bernardino. That is something that is a serious responsibility and really hitting the pavement for the community of San Bernardino because it wasn't not even a decade ago that this city had to face some very serious challenges. Gratefully, they're behind and it's because of consistent leadership. A roundroin mayor causes so many more issues for staff and your city manager. Let's think of the biggest one in the room, the Brown Act. If you guys want to roundroin the position of mayor and staff forgets who's talking to who about specific problems, now we have Brown Act violations. The job for staff is already stressful enough to remember who they have talked to, who they haven't talked to, what they can do, and what they cannot do. That is the duty of a mayor. And you've been doing a phenomenal job. So much so,

so much so that I have a community workshop starting in 9 minutes in my community. But I choose to be here because when politics are trying to be played and power is trying to be stolen, those things need to be shut down immediately. And the people most importantly are saying that they don't want it. You have a lot of public comment that's going on. But the important part is this is when it comes to the representation of your community. You've done a phenomenal job. Continue to lead. continue to bring unity amongst your council because that's how you're going to be able to propel the city moving forward. And also make sure that your city manager, the person behind the scenes getting the stuff done, does not feel like it's a hostile work environment because that's the other person to make sure that the city moves forward, not a roundrobin power grab by people. If you want to be the mayor and Dr. Ortiz, thank you for raising your hand and being being strong about it. Campaign, raise the 100 grand. Get the vote to the people and earn that seat. Don't try to steal it.

Thank you.

Thank you, mayor. Next speaker, please state your name. Hi, my name is Vincent Wyn and I'm a business owner in the EV manufacturing sector and I've worked with community stakeholders and leaders in the in the Inland Empire and San Marino and for businesses like mine that are looking to invest and grow here. We took a chance. We took a chance in Sanino and a lot of it had to do with Mayor Tran because we saw what she was doing. She has boots on the ground doing the work that is not a lot of people even see and I support the effort to strengthen this city's economic future. However, I am concerned. I am deeply concerned about the signal sent when the mayor is no longer directly elected by his residents. For companies like mine, deciding where to locate transparent and voterdriven leadership truly does matter. That same accountability is important for residents as well. And I know this because it enforces trust, representation, and long-term confidence in the direction of the city. As a business owner, I need to have long-term confidence in this city. What is happening right now does not give me that long-term confidence and I am very interested in what is decided as it provides important insight into your priorities and your values and whether we are upholding the democratic principles that this city depends on. Let's make the right decision. This cannot happen. We're going to scare away business. We're to scare away job opportunities. We need to have the confidence and this mayor has given us

that confidence. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

My name is Stephanie Ligins and I am a resident of the fourth ward in the city of San Bernardino. Council members, I wouldn't trust you to pick anybody for me any day. There are very few people on that panel that I trust. Very few. And I would never trust you to pick even somebody who only has a vote a veto and uh tiebreaking vote. I don't trust you. When the current charter was written, the public demanded a mayor elected at large. Elected not by you, but by us. How dare you try to make a decision on my behalf? I couldn't vote all of for all of you. I could only vote for one. And the one I voted for won't help me. You better think twice. The charter passed by a super majority. We voted for it. Now, just a few years later, this council, and I know it's not all of you, but now this council wants to undo the vote of the people. How dare you? That was a stealth charter amendment. Now you're rushing onto a low turnout June ballot knowing that 15 people going to show up to vote. Hopefully, all these people show up. Amen.

And we vote our safe. This is not the first time you all try to sneak something across on us. It is getting tiring. Tiring. People come in that have businesses in this city say the city of San Bernardino is hopeless. And it's not because of the mayor cuz she doesn't get a vote. It's because of the city council.

City council. Let's be clear. The amendment affects the city employees. Right now, it takes five votes to fire the city manager, the city attorney, city clerk. And one of these votes belongs to the only elected official by the entire city, the mayor. Eliminate the atlarge mayor and you eliminate that safeguard. You're trying to control the seat. It's very obvious. You're trying to control the seat. If you all get to decide, then she has to do or he has to do what you say, not what we say. We're not voting for that ever. And if you pass this, we're going to vote you out.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Okay. Hello everyone. My name is Maha Risby. I am the district director for Senator Reyes and I'm reading a letter on her behalf. Honorable mayor and members of the city council, I am writing to share my perspective regarding agenda item number one. While I may support a form of the proposal to establish reasonable term limits for city council members because this can strengthen accountability, encourage civic participation, and maintain public trust in local government. And while I may support a form of changes in election structures that simplified the process to increase voter turnout, San Bino has a charter review committee established in 2017. This should be the first step in any proposed charter changes. On another note, please know that I am opposed the I'm opposed to the proposal to eliminate the directly elected mayor of the city of San Bernardino. San Bino is a large and growing city, home to more than 224,000 residents and is the 18th most populous city in California. Cities of this size and complexity benefit from strong visible leadership that is directly accountable to voters across the entire city. A full-time directly elected mayor provides a clear point of accountability and serves as a essential advocate for residents, businesses, and workers. As a regional hub of the Inland Empire, San Bino plays a critical role in economic development, transportation, housing, and workforce growth. Maintaining a directly elected mayor strengthens the city's ability to complete compete regionally for investments, infrastructure funding, and private public partnerships and ensures that the Inland Empire has a strong and consistent voice in state and regional decision-making. While alternative governance structures may function for smaller cities, San

Bernardino's size, regional significant and ongoing efforts towards economic revitalization makes it necessary to preserve our current model and that allows residents to directly choose their chief executive. Doing so supports voter choice in a stable forward looking forward-looking leadership. to note any fundamental charter charter changes as mentioned earlier of this scale that includes the elimination of primary elections and the removal of a directly elected mayor must be reviewed through the city's established charter review committee. This body was specifically tasked for conducting a periodic view of the city charter, studying potential amendments, suggesting improvements, and where appropriate proposing alternatives for public consideration. Utilizing this process ensures changes that it are evaluated transparently, thoughtfully, and with meaningful public input before being placed in front of the voters. For these reasons, I strongly urge the city council to reject any charter amendments that would eliminate the directly elected office of mayor and to refer any proposed charter changes of this magnitude to the committee.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening and God's blessings. Mayor Helen Tren, city council. Hi, I'm Pastor Regginal Young, the Sanino Pastors United. I've been with the Sam Pastors United for about 10 years, ever since the inland regional uh tragedy. And one thing I can say about the mayor's office, you were there for them. And the reason I say it like that, we normally start our meetings with a prayer. We didn't do that. But that's okay. I've been praying for you. I've been praying and you know I wish I could get type this type of turnout at our Bible study. You all are really in into this. As a matter of fact, I need to pass the offering tray. I really get a good offering. But I say that to say the people dictate what needs to have happen in our city. I'm not even going to go off my notes. I had for you Acts 2:1 where we need to be on one accord. I also had Ezekiel 37:1 where we need to speak to the dry bones. But I can't even talk about that because you all are not on one accord.

And see what really challenges me is that you all haven't did your research. You haven't did your research to determine if uh this needs to be reviewed. I'm not even sure if y'all even prayed together. Come on, somebody. Yeah.

And the reason I say that like that is because you all haven't taken the time to really look into this matter. So, we're in 2026 and we're declaring victory. Okay. Let me say that in the words of Pastor Marco Garcia at the Wayward Outreach Church. This is our year. So, Mayor Tram, we stand behind you. We cannot change in the middle of the stream. I did my research. I pulled the charter. It was dated November 8, 2016. And it does talk about this uh the review panel that we're not looking into. I looked at your budget. Your budget, I'm a 40-year accountant in the area. I'm celebrating that this year. Let me say that. But I did my research. Uh your budget over $246 million mandate the accountability that a mayor brings to the office of the city. Clap your hand and give God praise. As I conclude and I reached my conclusion, I got text from Dr. Reginal Woods. He said, "Are they serious?" I got another text from Joshua Beckley. He said, "Let me join you in prayer." Then finally, as I shared with you earlier, Pastor Marco Garcia, strong taxpayers, strong base. We represent over 40, 50 million people. We believe that we need a mayor in our office and I'm going to encourage you on tonight. If you based on the people who spoke on tonight, it's been 100% no and pro mayor. You're going to be in here for a long night if you continue to allow people to voice their opinion. So, I encourage you to uh call this short and pray about it. Thank you again and God's blessings. Next speaker, please state your name.

Is it okay? Good evening everyone. Um, I came here today um on behalf of myself and I am not old enough to vote yet, but I'm very excited for I will be able to next year. Well, actually soon this year. So, I'm very excited about that. I just want to share that cuz I'm very excited and passionate about this. I never thought I could even publicly publicly speak the way I do now. Um, thank you to experience and hello Mayor Chan. It's good to see you. Um, and I want to come here today um because I think I feel disrespected a little bit um towards myself. I think um a lot of people in this room probably feel resp um disrespected. If you want to raise your hand if you feel disrespected today just slightly. It's just a a little and excuse me, I am a little nervous. I've never spoken at this large amount of people. I've never seen a room this full before, by the way. So, it means something that if this room is this full, it means something that people care and people have an opinion. And I think it's important to listen to people and listen to me. And I think you are taking people's right away. What makes you think that you have a better opinion and a better voice than I than my own voice? What makes you think that your voice is better than mine? A lot of you will come to the classrooms and say, "Oh, be active. Be um be engaged. Your vote matters." And I'm I'm listening to this thing and I I I think that I truly believe that. But on this day, that doesn't seem so what's going on that doesn't really seem like that's going on. Where is my voice and why is it not being put? What? Not even my voice because I can't use it yet. But this is why I'm here today to use my voice for others that possibly can't or are too afraid to. And um I feel utterly disrespected and I know others do too.

So I hope you guys take that into account as to see how young I am in here to speak about this. This is truly something that is not okay and you're taking people's right away and that's not okay with me and that's not okay with everybody in this room. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. My name is Bishop Daniel Fraser. I've been a citizen of this community since 1961. I'm a property owner. I own two pieces of property. I built 20ome houses in in the city of San Bernardino with a corporation. I pastor a church. I serve on the San Pastors United on the executive team. When I got this notice just the other day, I was appalled. We're living in a day and age where it seemed like the people have been sabotaged, stripped of all their rights.

I used to serve on the city council here in San Bernardino. And what I see happening here is what I saw happening back in that day when Mayor Hulcom was the mayor. Those you remember that day going behind the scenes coming up with something real quick to slip past the citizens. Just like that young lady said, she spoke the sentiment of my hearts. The only reason this place is packed out here tonight, we don't want this. We don't want this. I voted for council members. I voted for a mayor. I want to maintain that same prerogative. I want to be able to trust that the council members will search their hearts and remember that you've been elected by the citizenry. see and maintain their concerns, address their concerns with honesty, integrity and without self-randisement, seeking for self gratification and self uh investments. We are here tonight to say this is our city, not yours. and we're going to keep it. We have not voted on terms, but I tell you what, if this go through, some of y'all terms is going to be over.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Turn on the mic. Thank you.

Uh, good evening everyone. Uh my name is Azie Dolan and though I have not lived in the city as long as many of the people in here, I have lived in the city my whole life. I recently turned 18 uh less than two months ago and I don't feel it's right that I the first thing I vote on is my right to vote for mayor. My family has grown up rooted in making change. My dad uh works at Inland Congregations United for Change. So, I've been surrounded uh with nonprofits, ICU, ICI, Pedge. Um I can't remember anymore, but there the list goes on. So, I don't think it's right that we the people have to vote for our right to vote for mayor. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. I'm sorry, mayor. Can I call additional names, please? Can I call some additional names? Yes. Arbor mayor, uh, city manager, and council people. My name is James Smith. I'm a lifetime resident of the city of San Bernardino. I moved here in 1944, and one of my highlights of my whole year here, whole years in San Bernardino, was when we became an all-America city.

Let's talk about that. Let's talk about positive things. Let's move toward make us a all-America city again. That's what we need to be talking about. Positive things about the city of San, not changing the structure. We have a uh charter review committee headed up by Tim Prince. he's more than welcome to uh to work with with all of you as far as coming up with a very good solution to improve the governance of the city of San Bernardino. I have ti tremendous confidence in him as I do with many of the current city council people. So I think what we need to do tonight is to definitely not move this forward. We don't need to go backwards. I think it's extremely important that we had more have more notice of this meeting. I think that's extremely important. I mean at Friday if you were in out of town you don't even know about the meeting. But look at the turnout.

How many people are actually in favor of this? Zero. And I 100% in back of that. And I hope that you in any discussion about this and put it on the back burner what they want to do. The four people council people want to make sure it's on the ballot before the June ballot. Well, these four of these individuals are up for reelection. At that time, we need to make a statement to replace them on the city council. That's what we need to do to move forward. And I would strongly encourage you to work for the individuals that are running for their seat. Uh my dear friend Virginia Marquez who was a city council person before very very competent individual will get some things done in that ward. That's the important thing that we need to emphasize to do positive things for the city of San Bernardino and work on improving the image of the city of Sano. So people want to come here. Thank you very much.

Thank you. best student. Can I call these? Madam City Cler, you want to call more names?

Yes. Uh Damon Alexander, Eric Marquez, Scott Olsen, Victor Suarez, Chazette Scott, Ray Bloom, Bizada M, Brenda Werta, Dick Solless, Stephen Wiggins, Ethan Flores, Andy Fuentes, Pastor Larry Lee, Tom Seeum, Ingred Luna, Diamond Dwarte, Demani Travis. Sorry, I have one more. And David Freriedman.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Hello, my name is Diego Ordonz. I am a senior at Pacific High School and I have come to share my voice. I think I could speak for most people with uh a simple question to summarize all this. What are we doing? Council members, the strongest strength we have is not in our differentiating sizes of muscles or how tall we are or how athletic we are. As a matter of fact, it's not any physical feature. It is our voice. And democracy is the embodiment of that strength. Democracy is the embodiment of our voice.

Democracy is not about what you can do. It's about what you should do. You can place this on a low turnout ballot. You can bypass the charter review committee. And you can rely on ambiguity instead of clarity. But in doing so would be injustice to yourself and to everyone in this room tonight. San Bernardino's people choose their mayor. They did not ask for you to choose it for them. Honor that choice. Slow this down and put it on the November ballot or don't put it forward at all because taking away the people's voice is never reform. It is injustice. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Joe Salis, fourth word. Real quick, um just a quick temperature check. Can anyone who is in favor of this either stand up or raise their hand? Okay. Can and we we we appreciate your bravery. Can anyone who is against this motion either raise their hand or please stand up.

Uh all right. All right, we need we need

All right, I need to remind you that we are having an election and 121 days, Miss Bar, Mr. Sanchez, and Mr. Sheret. So remember this second question. Second, this right now what's happening in America, I think the thing we don't need is less voting with with where we are in this country. Have you turned on the news lately and seen what's happening in other states in our community? Democracy is best exercised through voting and not through other means. Also, if and Mr. Shred, I know you you serve on the Republican Central Committee and serve some some great illustrious Republican leaders in our county. Um, which is fine. You know, I'm a Democrat. Doesn't matter. But if you if this is a good governance way to do things, then if you look at Fontana and Ontario and Riverside, all those communities have thriving economic agendas in their community and they have an a citywide elected mayor. Oh, I wonder if there's a coalition between this. Okay. Also, the hypocrisy of this what what this reeks is this. It smells like a dirty skunk that lives up where I live up in the hills. Charity never starts at home with people, does it? If you were so concerned about the cost of things, why don't you take half your salary because with salary and benefits, each one of you make about $51,000. Take it back down to 26,000. If you if I hear a thing about a cost come from your mouth, put your foot in it, please. Also, if we really cared about costs, why don't we eliminate two council seats and just have five council members? Because that's what Ontario and Fontana have. Okay? Why don't you Why don't you take care of yourself and just eliminate your office? I think you would probably get

some fans of this if you actually because you're talking about 12 years. Mr. Shet, you've been on the council for 16. So, I I find it I find it odd that the person who's coming up with this idea is the epitome of what they're proposing, right? It just doesn't sit well with me. And finally, this what does this do to improve public safety, pave our streets, and economic development attracting it to the city. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening, mayor and council. I am Jasmine Compost, a resident of San Bernardino. I speak today in complete and sole opposition to the proposal of the removal of an elected mayor. There is no doubt that we are facing horrific times, especially in this city. We've all seen it. families being separated, hard-working individuals being kidnapped, and even shot at for being for approaching an altercation lawfully. Although these are in fact federal powers and in theory it would be out of your jurisdiction to fully address. Instead of focusing on these violent issues and protecting your constituents, which by the way contribute to the city that you claim to be a public servant to,

the council finds it more important to impose an amendment that makes absolutely zero sense in the lens of building a better San Bernardino. I'd even go as far I'd even go as far as to argue it's corruption. Why impose on our rights and remove a resident elected mayor? It's quite literally the bare minimum of democracy. San Bernardino hosts predominantly marginalized communities who trust in their local government for protection and beneficial change. But this propo this proposal does nothing of the sort. I, as a San Frernardino Valley College student, spend most of my time either in class, engaging in extracurriculars, or contributing to my community. I truly see the beauty in this city. There is so much talent and hope and passion. Implementing an injudicious amendment such as this one will do this flourishing community absolutely no good. In a time where our rights are being stripped away from us and many people feel hopeless and unheard, we must protect our autonomy as a government of the people, by the people, for the people. So yes, it is completely unjust and I won't stand for it. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Number five.

Honorable mayor and council, I am Damon Alexander, former council member, seventh ward, and I would like to lend my voice to the symphony of voices of an opposing of this for the one simple reason a rotating mayor for a city of this size is not the case. 118 107 one largest city in the county 18 the 18th largest city in California and 107 theund largest seventh in the nation.

No no no no city has ever had a rotating mayor of this size for you ladies and gentlemen. When I was on the council, we tried this before and y'all know we have and it got shot down. Uh having a rotating mayor means the these council members and for myself were part-time. There is no way a part-time person can run the size of this city.

It is because the mayor's office is a generating office. What I'm trying to share with you is that like someone said before me, the mayor's office sits on regional councils. So do the my fellow council members. They sit on regional offices, but she she does it on a full-time basis. They garner grants. They garner projects, which you guys don't know. All this comes from out of that office. It cannot be done when someone has a full-time job, which most of them do, and that and they are beholden to their employer. How can you run a city when you're beholden to your opponent and make those regional meetings, make those meetings that represent the city? It is hard, if not impossible, because they have to work. They have families. They have appointments. They h they have all that in excess of being council members. It is a tough job. It's a tough job anyway, but it's even tougher if you think you're going to rotate it. We have problems and I don't like to hear I stay on the good side of hope. That was my saying. We have problems just naming our mayor pro Tim. Sometimes how we're going to do it naming a mayor. Ladies and gentlemen, we are 62 square miles, 23 23,000 people. We cannot hand that off to a part-time mayor rotating the different whims, the consistency of a of a mayor's office for staff's sake. It's for staff. The city is run by the staff. is not run by the council and the mayor's office. It's run by them and to have a constant Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening everyone. I'm Sarah Apostle, a Pacific High School student, and I'm here to speak out my voice and speak for those who can't tonight. Council members, you sit in those seats because San Marino voters put you there. And tonight you are being asked to vote against those same voters. When the current charter was written, it was clear that it would fail unless it preserved a mayor elected at large. The public demanded it. The charter was changed and it passed by a super majority. That's not ancient history. It is recent documented voter intent. Now, just a few years later, you are trying to undo that decision through a rush, low turnout June election. That is not reform. That is betrayal.

You are not correcting a mistake. You are taking away a right voters knowingly and repeatingly chose, the right to elect their own mayor. If this change was fair, you would put it on the November ballot. If it were honest, you would send it to the charter review committee. And if it were just, you were would ask the people directly, not outmaneuver them. Do not confuse the political convenience with public service. Your duty is to the voters, not to yourselves. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening, Cassie McDuff.

I'm not here to talk about what's the best way to elect a mayor. Um, but I think your constituents have spoken pretty clearly. And I I spent 30 years observing city councils and boards of supervisors, and it always surprised me when an elected body would go against the wishes of their constituents. So, I say, "You do that at your peril." And people have pointed out there's an election coming. My concern here is more process. Um, I'm concerned about the lack of passing this by your charter review commission. Your charter review commission's sole purpose is to review proposals um to take a deep dive on them, decide um what's the best um thing to recommend and that's all they do is recommend. The policy is still up to you. Um, second, I'm concerned about the bundling of three separate issues under one charter amendment. If you want to know whether your voters would prefer to directly elect a mayor, ask them. Put that issue before them. If you want to know whether they would prefer term limits, ask them separately. Do you want term limits? Um, if you want to know whether they want to eliminate the primary to save money, ask them. But by bundling them all together, my concern is that somebody is hoping that a popular issue like term limits will carry the other unpopular issues forward.

And you know, lastly, I think um as I said, I think you need to think very carefully about how you're doing this. Um, I see your you've you've managed to unite your community against this proposal. So, yeah. Uh, you know, think carefully before you um vote against their wishes. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, mayor and council. My name is Ben Pratt. I'm here tonight as a lifelong proud resident of San Frernardino. U as mentioned before, the city of Sanino ranks 18th largest of 482 cities in California. Additionally, we are the county seat in the largest county in the nation. Our needs are very different from smaller surrounding cities. It is imperative that we understand what the mayor's primary role is in our form of government. It is the mayor's duty to advocate for Sanino at every level of government, whether it be county, state, or federal, for the procurement of resources. I'm sure I don't have to tell anyone in this room that our city has a monumental task before us. Homelessness, poverty, crime, unemployment, the list goes on. These solutions require full-time advocacy from a full-time mayor who has been elected by the entire city. Having a rotating or appointed part-time mayor elected by only one ward deprivives the voters the voters of our right to choose who carries our collective message to Sacramento, DC, whatever. If the members of this council have deep conviction on this issue and truly believe it to be in the interest of good governance, I encourage you to consider the timing. This shouldn't be interjected into an election cycle in which it will suck the wind out of every other issue facing the voters. After the election, when guards are down, is the appropriate time for robust debate and public participation on this issue. Finally, the mayor's position, term limits, and elimination of the primary. They feel like three different issues, each worthy of their own debate and consideration. Thank you.

Thank you. I'm gonna pause real quick because I just got news that um for those who speak, can you step out because we the fire department's here. Um I think we're so crowded that now it's causing a safety uh concern. So if you are done speaking, just step out. I think there might be a TV out there that's showing the council meeting. We have had that. I don't know if that's the case. It's full out there, too. Wow. Whoa. I know,

but we don't want this meeting to stop like on it. We don't want this meeting to stop. We want this to continue. So, um if I do get more information that we need folks to kind of step out after you speak, just step out and just hear. Um we do want to continue. We want everyone to speak and so the council can make informed decisions. Okay. Oh, okay. All right. Well, we're we're going to continue now. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, mayor and council. My name is Kimberly Calvin. But first, I want to applaud every single person that's in this room. This is what democracy looks like. This is what's necessary in order to make sure that what we are asking beyond tonight gets done. If there's no accountability being held by you all, the people that are in this room, the citizens of San Bernardino, it's not going to get done. They they plan on you being reactionary. They plan on you showing up just for tonight and this one agenda item when they are passing thousands of items every year, every week, and every month. And you're not here to state what it is that you want. So there's no accountability. is very temporary to them. And how do I know this? Because as being a council member for four years, I heard it said all the time every time that you left. So what? 31 people showed up. So what? 15 people. So what? So what? Who do they think they are? The policy makers.

That's what was said about you. So it's important and it's critical that you remain in this building if you truly WANT CHANGE. WITH THAT BEING SAID, the decision to call another special meeting at taxpayers's expense rather than at their request is beyond me. The items listed for this special meeting, I'd like to state that I am not opposed to all three. But what I am definitely opposed to is the way in which you have again created an agenda that is not focused on the main areas of concern for 227,000 constituents in this city. This special meeting highlights the issues our city continues to face. Failed governance, inconsistency, and mayors and council members inability to govern themselves for the betterment of the people. Now, I'm not here to argue that our charter does not need to be fleshed out after we have had the opportunity to operate under a city manager, city council form of government. What I am here to say is that this charter does possess loopholes in which elected officials are able TO PUSH FORWARD THEIR OWN AGENDAS. We must continue to advance what is important to the people. YOU MUST LET them know that even though they are elected, there is still something called a recall. There is still something where you just simply do not possess the true faith of the people. We see you do it continuously time and time again. And I see that Mayor John Valdivia is in the audience. What I do not know what for. Nevertheless, nevertheless, you cannot also, Mayor Tran, choose to select a slate to run for the people. That is the same thing as taking their voice away because

you're endorsing people that they have not chose. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. I was not mentally prepared to hear that the back room is full, this room's full, and everyone's filling up the outside of the library. That was surprising. I was going to think to myself, "Wow, kind of a lot." Well, back to my script. My name is Eric Marquez and it is a pleasure to speak before all of you again today. I have come to speak on the only agenda item and first according to code 2017-243 it must go before the charter committee. Now that I have stated that why do you children waste my time? I expect this behavior from dumb and dumber over here, Fred and Ted. But for the rest of you on the dis compliant, complicit compliant complicit in this, you are letting your private experience make a spectacle of yourselves. It is unnecessary to remove the office of mayor with no long-term benefit for the city. As for the incumbents up for election in 26, if you vote yes, you have just given your

you have just given another example to justify a new candidate for your office. As for the council members not up for reelection in until 28, you may survive this, but all your opponents and constituents will point to this moment where you chose to take away the people's ability to vote for their mayor. 57 seconds. Also, I look forward to replacing Fred in the June election. Let's get him out of the primary with 51%. I would appreciate it. And that's it. Thank you, sir.

See you Tuesday. Wednesday. Sorry. Bye. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, Mayor and Common Council. Ricky Van Johnson. The action before us today titled the San Bernardino good government and term limits initiative proposes to impose term limits, eliminate primary elections, and eliminate the office of the directly elected mayor and replace it with a mayor selected from among the council. Because this proposal brings up a lot of questions and concerns, I believe that a change this significant, which would impact over 223,000 residents, needs more than a special meeting to digest. This proposal leads to to questions such as, are term limits good for municipal governments? What are the pros and cons of eliminating primary elections? Is it better to have a ceremonial mayor or a mayor with veto power? What will be the unintended consequences of approving this charter change? Finally, where could I go to get these questions and others answered? Well, I'm glad you asked. In article 10, section 101 of our city charter, it states, "The council shall establish a process to ensure the periodic review of this charter to identify potential amendments that enhance clarity, efficiency, and the principles of the council manager form of government. Now, let's dive deeper. A periodic review refers to the regular and systematic evaluation or assessment of a process, policy or performance over a set period of time. So the optimum

place to hear the public concerns regarding this initiative would be at a charter review committee meeting. I'm not saying that the charter changes being proposed today are good or bad. What I am saying is that the people who will be voting on these changes should be allowed a time and place to have their potential thoughts and questions answered. That's good governance. Because the citizens of San Bernardino have not been afforded an appropriate time and venue to have their thoughts and questions heard, the likelihood of this proposed initiative passing is very improbable and voting to place this on the June ballot could turned out to be a very expensive endeavor. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

My name is Scott Olsen. I'm a lifetime resident of Sanino. And for those of you high school kids out here talking about graduating and voting, I graduated in 1980. I'm old, but I've been around Sanino for a long time and I've seen a lot of things. And I'm going to tell you right now, this talk ranks as one of the worst I've seen. Now, there are some others like the original garbage that got us the charter we have now. But given my conservative values, and I am a conservative, a traditional conservative, a constitutionalist, I will tell you flat out that I would never support anybody who would put something on the ballot to take away the right to vote. That is the center of our country. You, the people, have the right established by the Constitution to vote for what you want as a government. When the government starts saying, "Trust me, I can make a better choice." Supporting them is not an option. If you want us, unless you want us to be Cuba and North Korea, because that's what it does. Now, San Bernardino is the armpit of this city. You vote for this, it passes. You think it can't get worse, it will. Now, that being said, the charter review committee has been established as the only appropriate way to put this through to the voters. It's where you start. I'm a little bit I was a little bit surprised to hear that the charter committee I thought it was gone for a year. I stand corrected, Tim. Thank you. It was gone for a year and a half. I'm beginning to wonder that if that wasn't intentional from some people because they don't really want to hear for you. You see this thing when you start talking about replacing the vote of the mayor, they did with his city attorney. They did it. Yes. And that and trust me, after hearing BBK, it's not an improvement. Um, you know, I, you know, Penman just cleaned Yuka's clock and

made a lot of money doing it. We need somebody like that as a city attorney. We had him. We lost him. I'm going to tell you right now, I'm going to ask a simple question. How many in this audience, take a look at these city council members. How many of you trust them to be mayor? Is anybody here going to actually stand up for any one of them?

Yeah, you just spoke about it. You see this getting rid of the mayor? They're not happy because they don't like the choices of mayor. I'm not happy with all the choices of the mayor. I've seen a lot of mayors do a lot of damage. Doesn't mean I'm going to change the right to vote for anything. I'm going to rally the people to vote. And trust me, I am rallying people to vote. I got a great slate of people who want to do right by this city for every office except the second ward and I live in the second ward. I'm not going to run. I'm not going to put myself into this mess. Okay? These council members are looking you in the eye and they're going to tell you flat out, you're too stupid to vote for your own mayor. They're better. And they're voting yes is an endorsement against you.

Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Uh, first I would like to say salute to everyone that showed up. Good stuff. Um, I would like to know who brought this forward and what other council members supported this to come forward. Those are the people that we need to hold accountable. Um, you guys can't even pick a good city manager. The last city manager that we had was a drunk. Uh what else? Uh we are wasting we are wasting time, money and resource for the on this meeting. Uh we have homeless problems. We have buildings burning down. Amazon is laying people off. Uh we still haven't heard anything about the carousel mall. Uh we have uh a ICE problem. We have uh too wait we are we have too much to focus on to worried about um the situation. But my personal opinion, I think John Valdivia or Theodore Sanchez is trying to run for mayor. That's just my personal opinion. Theodore knows that he lost his own people behind him. He still haven't even addressed ICE. And and you and you cho too, so you should be the main person up there saying something. Um and uh yeah, I just keep it short. Yeah, that's all.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. How's everybody doing tonight? Good. Good. Uh, let me introduce myself first. My name um is Dick Salas. I am a comedian. I'm a veteran of the United States Marine Corps.

Ra. I'm also a student at Sanino Valley College. I'm using Yeah, I'm using my GI benefits there. And you know, I want to educate myself. And uh I the reason I came up here, the reason I came here is because uh originally I just I have a friend who's running for city council and he invited me to, you know, come support him. And then when I saw what the council was trying to pull with the minutes and this meeting as a veteran, I was shocked. I really was because this is like a slap in the face to my service and to the service of all veterans. You see, I personally am not uh on either side. I don't gang bang. I'm not Democrat. I'm not Republican. I'm not conservative. I'm not liberal. I'm an American and I'm a comedian who named whose name is Dick. I'll let you guys run with that. But I I'm here because of the fact where honestly it's been a long time and I'm my job as a comic is to find the funny and stuff is to make fun of things like this. And don't get me wrong, I got jokes for all of you. But I only have a minute and 15 seconds. So what I'm what I want to focus on right now is this has been the first time since uh in the since the last administration these last two administrations and this council of choice in trying to steal the rights and votes of the people. It actually makes me ashamed of what myself and other vets have had to suffer for this country. And

the fact that you guys are willing to spit on the Constitution and on our vote. It's wild to me. So, as a as a resident of the IE and as a comedian and as a veteran and as a father and as a husband and as a person in general, um I just first off, I love that everybody's here. And secondly, uh I want you guys to remember all the faces and find out who was the one that who were the ones that pushed this that wanted this cuz I know a lot of you guys seem to hate people here and that's you're right. Uh I don't hate any of you at all. I don't know any of you. The ones I do know, I like you and the rest that I don't um from a guy named Dick. You could take my name and you know what to do. Peace out.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Uh, good afternoon, mayor and council. I am here today because it feels like once again this special meeting was called with the decision already made and I want to explain why so many many of us in the community feel that way. We've seen this happen before again and again. We show up, we speak, and we raise our concerns. And then the same group of uh council members, Sanchez, Sharen, Impara, and Canas vote the same way anyway. Nothing changes. It feels like public comment portion is just something to get through, not something that actually matters to them. That's not real public engagement. When the outcome seems obvious before the discussion is even over, this starts to feel like a performance, not a real conversation. And that's not how democracy is supposed to work. A special meeting where the outcome feels predetermined raises serious concerns about transparency and open government Brown Act violations. This item tonight was not asked by any person in this room. It wasn't an emergency, but it has real consequences for how much power is held by few people and how much say we really have. At some point, this stops feeling like leadership leadership and starts feeling like self-interest. So before you vote, I want to ask one simple question. Not for me, but for everyone watching. If the decision is already made, what's the point of public comment? Because when speaking up never changes anything, that's not representation. That's power protecting itself, protecting yourselves. You still have a choice tonight. You can do what people expect or you can show us that our voices actually matter. And please understand this, people are paying attention and people remember who listens and who does does not. There's also a pattern here that cannot be ignored. The same for council members who called us meeting

have special meetings before to rush decisions and shut people out. There was a rush Sunday meeting to push through a city manager appointment when key council members and the mayor could not attend. Also, those four council members are endorsed by the POA. They sit in close sessions on related matters and then come out and publicly attack the mayor and Dr. Ortiz. That doesn't look like accountability. It looks like power being used without restraint. Conflict of interest, abuse of power. And finally to Councilwoman Canas, like it or not, you serve at the pleasure of us, the people, not yourself. You definitely not you're definitely not the change. The people on this side of the room, they are the real positive change tonight. And to the public, three of the seats will be on the ballot and leaders who act against the community can be voted out or recalled. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Hello, my name is Betsa. I'm an organizer with the Warehouse Workers Resource Center. Eliminating primary elections and a directly elected mayor takes decision-m away from the public from the same residents who call this place their home and who this body is supposed to represent. San Bernardino residents should be able to choose their leaders directly, not have this leadership and future ones decide behind closed doors. Eliminating primary elections is problematic. Residents are already feeling disconnected from local governments as many of the issues our community has raised has been more of an inconvenience rather than viewed as important and essential. Removing elections adds less value to what the residents have to say about the upbringing of their of their community. Where many have resided here for generations after generation, still hoping it will become the thriving and green San Bernardino it once was. You all are focusing and prioritizing the wrong things. Instead of taking accountability, you are wasting more time and you are continuously letting down the constituents you represent. By now wanting to exclude residents from decision-m where you would be stripping the right to choose a candidate who they believe best represent their interest. As always, you all you all are embarrassing. Of course, we would find out about this meeting last minute because that's all you guys are a disappointing mess. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Thank you. Good evening. My name is Andy Fuentes. Some of you may know me here. Um um I hosted the No Kings protest and the ICE out of San Frernardino protest. I want to start off by saying this. I may not have a voice in the polls, but I sure as hell have a voice right now.

And what's happening in the city is wrong. Ice is sweeping people off the streets. Families are terrified. Parents are disappearing. Kids are scared to go to school. The fear is real and it's happening in San Frernardino. And in the middle of this, while people are living in fear, the council chose to hold a special meeting to talk about this instead of actual problems. That is embarrassing. That is shameful. And it is not leadership. You're talking about eliminating mayoral primaries. You're talking about the office. Sorry. Let's Let's stop pretending this is harmless reform. This is anti-democratic. This is a power grab. And the timing the timing is shady. Primaries exist so people get a real say. A directly elected mayor exists so one person can answer to the entire city, not just a small group behind closed doors. What you're proposing strips that away. And I want to be very clear because silence would look like an argument. The propo the proposal did not come out of nowhere. Some of the loudest voices are pushing it. But when people speak out or refuse to be quiet, that's what's the real problem. Sorry. And here, this wasn't a This is what doesn't sit right with me. I stood in this very building three months ago and was honored with citizen of the month. I was praised for caring about this city, for showing up and believing in civic engagement. But tonight, I'm standing here wondering what that recognition was even for. Because it doesn't feel like the city is honoring the values it claim to celebrate. You you can't praise young people for participating in democracy and then turn around and weaken democracy itself. You can't tell us our voices matter and then design a system that that makes those voices easier to ignore. It seems like my voice mattered when it was convenient when it made you guys look good. And let me be crystal clear. Any council member who votes yes on this, you just kiss that seat goodbye. People are watching. people remember and voters don't forget who they who they chose power o that you

guys chose power over democracy. I may not have a ballot yet but I have eyes. I have ears and I have a conscience and I know that this isn't right. San Bernardino doesn't need fewer elections. It does not need a mayor selected in a back room and it does not need and it does not need leaders who who sorry um don't respond to people who are fearing in our streets. People are watching, especially the young ones you guys seem to care about but don't really when it comes to voting up here. That doesn't teach us democracy. It you only care when it's convenient for you. Thank you. Thank you.

Next speaker, please state your name. Ma'am, please. Please. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. My name is Brenda Werta and I'm with the San Bernardino Airport Communities, a coalition of grassroots organizations and residents organizing for a healthy economic development in our region. I'm honestly not surprised about your lack of transparency and decision making process. This is a pattern with this board since the day you got elected. You're spending your time creating gaps and taking away the community's right to be part of what is supposed to be a democratic process. But of course, democracy is just an empty promise in a country that was built on genocide. There's so many things that this board should be focusing on. For example, the general plan that that is yet to be finished or the fact that you have yet to set a single word about the ICE rates that have been taking place in our streets. Last time that we came to talk about the ice rates and the horrific impact in our communities, Sanchez and Chered were laughing while Ibara was playing the victim. How shameful. You have no sympathy, no humility, and no skills to be in that role. Our communities are being kidnapped. And you don't care. How do how do you call yourselves a human being when you sit on that chair thinking that you're better better than the people that you're supposed to represent? You don't take our input for anything, not for the track routes or for any other project. You rush any kind of process that requires community engagement and do whatever the industry tells you to do as long as your pockets are full of money. What a shame. You are a disgrace to our communities and to this city. Not only are we voting you out, but you will be held

accountable for your poor choices because we are the ones that live with the impact of that. Our communities are the ones that die on the streets because of the lack of housing, because of the environmental pollution, and because ice is literally killing human bees on the street. How can you sleep at night? Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Ethan Ethan E. Flores running for first W city council. And wow, everyone, I love your voices today. It makes me It makes my heart warm seeing this because we're being stolen from our time, our money for this special election meeting. What is this? It enrages me. The fact that we are sitting here while they pretend to care because for them to say that we don't have the right to vote is calling us ignorant, dumb, and they want us to play their game. Yes, sir. Every time they vote on this, they are taking an attempt at you. They are calling you dumb. We have a room full of people, a room full of people outside, a room full of people THROUGH THE BUILDING. THAT IS DEMOCRACY that you are trying to take away. And you want us to play your games? Is that going to fix our streets that destroy our cars, hurt people? Is that going to fix the lights that make us scared? Is that going to lower the rent from outside developers that are plaguing our communities? Is that GOING TO GUARANTEE JOBS and decrease warehouses that are creating low economic relief? Is that going to stop the raids that are kidnapping people in masks? They are kidnapping our communities, hurting them, murdering them, and raping people in our communities, and we have yet to make the city a sanctuary city. I refuse to play the game of politics. I am running as a candidate. Not as a candidate, not for politics, but because we, all of us here, we have solidarity. We have the power. A candidate is not a man or woman that you put in to do your uh to vote for themselves. It is a voice for the community that you represent. Let's show up in those next election. Let's be at these council meetings. You are the community that has the power. Please vote. Please come together. Please canvas. Please make sure these people are held accountable.

Yes, sir. Because if they were had just as much power as the presidency has right now, they would be hurting our country just as much. And they're doing that to our community. San Bernardino has the power to thrive. Make public figures for the public again. Stop undermining our charter. Stop undermining the people. Let's show that we have power. We have a voice. And let's fight together, everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Quick pause. I am turning the mic over to assistant fire chief. I think we have some news.

Yeah, that's affirmative. Uh, good evening. So, I'm not going to make this political. I'm from the fire district. My name is Gary. I'm the assistant fire chief for the Sano County Fire District. Here's what I need simply. I need everybody standing to do one of two things. Either find a seat or go into the overflow that's out in the uh forier area. That is not an option. Unfortunately, if you're standing to speak, we understand that. But at the end of the day, we're over capacity and for and for the fire district purposes of of public safety. I need anybody that has either spoken and go outside into the forier, but I cannot have anybody blocking the entrances and the exits. And that is a no-go. I do not want to shut this meeting down. That is not why I'm here. I simply want to say if we can please do that, that would be great.

Is u chief, is there a TV out staff? Is there a TV out in the um lobby area? There is. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. There is. Okay. We don't want to shut this meeting down everyone. Let's let's um comply with our fire department so we can continue this important meeting and so council can make informed decisions tonight. Please. Thank you. Thank you, Chief. Um we will now continue public speakers. Please state your name. Thank you.

Hello. My name is Demani Travis. Uh, I'm not a resident of San Bernardino, but uh, I came here to state my opposition because when I first saw what was being proposed, I was actually very scared. Um, this is something that seems pretty terrible, right? The ability to just strip someone of their voting rights, taking away their ability to elect their their representatives, their mayor. Uh, and the reason that that was so scary, even though I am not a citizen of this city, it could spread, right? What's to say this stops here? was to say this even stops with mayor earlier a gentleman mentioned and again I'm not a citizen of this city so I didn't have a lot of the historical context when I first came here but listening to the to everybody speak I learned a great deal and I honestly feel even worse about this thing that's been proposed the person mentioned previously attorney and previously clerk had been something that people voted for but those were also taken away there is nothing to say that that won't just continue happening. Right? If this were to pass and then now you can't vote for your mayor, there's no reason to say that in the future you wouldn't be able to vote for other things. Even if it seems like it wouldn't be possible, all it takes is complacency. Just a bit of complacency and someone with a bit of greed and they will do it. They will take whatever they can. In addition, this just seems a bit ridiculous as I heard about this meeting yesterday night from a post on Instagram. I thought that was just because again I'm not a resident of the city so you know why would I know what's going on there but to to listen to everyone talk about how they had only heard about it what like two days before me is just absurd right taking someone's voting rights and then not telling them about it is just ridiculous. A lot of people mentioned putting this on the June ballot is also just not acceptable. We know that turnout at elections is very much linked to what is on those ballots just normally. So having it on a

primary when you know that you could just wait till November is a clear sign of just the amount of greed that this has. There's no reason to try to take mayor away from these people. And as someone mentioned earlier, the size of this city means that this would be this would set precedents, right? This would give other cities a reason to say like why do we let them vote for their mayor? We don't have to do that. Well, they they had all those people and they just slid it in and they just kind of got it through very easily. Why don't we just do the same thing? I think this is a very serious threat to voting rights just not just here but in every other city. So, I I'm very opposed to this. I really hope that you guys take what they're saying seriously if you want to keep a position. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hi, my name is Diamond Dearte. Happy Groundhog Day. Wait, people think that's silly, but yet we're here today. My grandparents left Mexico to chase the American dream. The right to freedom of speech and the right to vote. I'm a mother, so we have eyes in the back of our head to see sneaky things. And this is sneaky. I found out about this through social media, the power of the internet, or the power you want to control. Just to sit back and watch, but it's my American right to speak. As parents, we are supposed to teach our children right from wrong. As my daughter stands beside me, Miha, this is wrong. I was taught the importance of voting in my 12th grade year. Shout out to Miss Shaw at San Gi High School. I have a voice. Our kids can't worry about 67, but have to focus on 2027. Allow the people of Sanino to exercise our American right to vote for our own mayor where we live. Like the pledge of allegiance says under God. Well, God is watching and God doesn't like ugly. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hi, my name is Tom Sekum and I thank you for letting me speak. Uh uh I I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak and I'm feeling and I'm lifelong resident of San Bernardino. My family has been a part of this growing this community since the 1800s. I care deeply about this city and its future, which is why I'm here to urge you to not eliminate the directly elected office of the mayor. Sanino is a city with enormous potential and we sit at the heart of the Inland Empire surrounded by growth, opportunity. To meet the potential, we need strong accountable leadership. A mayor is not a ceremonial figure. A mayor is a single visible leader who can set visions and be held responsible for delivering them. When something goes wrong, residents deserve to know who is responsible. A mayor provides clarity. A mayor provides direction. A mayor gives the public one person who must answer for the city's progress or lack thereof. A mayor can advocate for Sanino at the state and federal level, build partnerships with business, and respond quickly in the moment of crisis. Most importantly, a mayor strengthens democracy. When residents choose their leader directly, they feel connected to their government. They feel ownership. They feel empowered. And empowered residents participate. They vote. They show up. They hold their leaders accountable. Th that is how healthy cities function.

I just want to say one thing. This is be it. I've been here a long time, man. And uh I've seen good mayors and I've seen bad mayors. And Mayor Tram, you're a good mayor and I want to thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good afternoon, Shazette Scott or evening now. H it's late. Um I've lost track of time. Um, so first I've just I want to say I've I've been battling tears and emotions since I heard this come out on Friday that this meeting was happening. This is the second day of Black History Month. And because I would typically be teaching my youth that I work with about Black History Month and the Voting Civil Rights Act of 1965. It hurts my heart that this has come forth in this city. I don't I didn't understand at all. First of all, the timing, but just the appearance on the face of it that you want to resend voting rights for which my people have lost their lives. And if you are a person of color, if you are a person of color, you have lost ancestors fighting for the right to vote.

I was prepared to come and talk about who was doing what. And I don't I don't I'm not going to call names because there's only one person up there that's not a person of color. and even his people came to this country to free England in order to fight and have their voices heard.

So I don't understand. I don't understand. I am terribly disappointed. I am hurt because I feel that this is just another fascist grab at power. And we have seen this and we are seeing it and it is enough. We have a so-called president of this country who has been telling us that we do not have to have elections anymore. And the majority of you up there decided to carry his water in this city.

So now I'm going to talk to the community. Community, we have all the power. The same folks that will vote for this in favor of this, we can put them on the same ballot. We have the power of the recall and this election. Thank you. That's coming up in June. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Mike Hartley and I have been a citizen of San Bernardino for a long time. When I first saw this agenda come out, I thought, "What the hell is this about?" With all the crap going on in San Bernardino, we're talking about this. I mean, a lot of crap is happening in San Bernardino and you guys haven't done anything

to address it. And now this, I'm telling you, I am pissed off about it. We've we've always always had a mayor. Now, we may not agree with the mayor. We may not agree with you guys, but you guys got voted in. I accept that. But when I saw the agenda, it was open to interpretation and no one can answer my questions. So, my first interpretation was B, B, and K. The mayor wanted to get rid of BB and K. Is this retaliation? Is BB and K put you guys up to this? Well, if they did, get them the hell out.

The second interpretation was it cost money. So, I started thinking about it. How many wards only garner up 3,000 votes? Well, I say get rid of those. Let's go ahead and get rid of that seat and divide it up among the other council people. So, we only may only need four wards. That'll save us some money.

A lot of money. The third thing was I thought to myself, rotating mayors, there's a few up there, I guarantee you, who would embarrass the hell out of me if you represented San Bernardino as the mayor. So, I want to make one thing perfectly clear. Let's pretend this never happened. Let's go home and say it was just a bad dream. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Ingred. I'm from Sanino. I actually live in Ward One um under Theodore Sanchez and uh my family has actually been living here for the past 15 years and I went to college in San Francisco and every time I would come back just felt like it was getting worse and worse and um yeah, I'm just here because I'm against fascism. I'm against Theodor Sanchez. I'm against the criminalization of black and brown people. I'm against increased surveillance on us. Um, I did see that $1 million go to the police department, which is really weird. Um, but yeah, so please do not take our voting away. Um, the least we can do is at least vote you guys out. And yeah, and more funding towards public transportation and more funding towards um, building us houses and getting homeless people off the street and actually get getting them into homes. Um, but yeah, thank you and I love everyone here in Sanino and I wish everyone on the council loved us as much as they say they do.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. My name is Louis Lopez. I'm a business agent for the Iron Workers Local 433. I oversee a union hall here in the city of Sanernardino. Hundreds of my members live here. Hundreds of my members have been out supporting more than one of you guys up there, knocking on doors, canvasing. I've been in past elections letting my members know who our friends are. I also served two tours as a Marine

and I literally fought for the right to vote. My ears and other ailment reminds me that every day. I do want to comment on the youth. Man, it's powerful in here tonight. Seeing those youth come up here with courage, that's the next generation. That's what I'm talking about. I also want to give uh Council Member Ortiz that a girl for at least having a backbone. And when the question was asked earlier about who up there thought that they could do the job, you were the only one that

that uh raised their hand. And I know I know Mayor TR, you're actually doing the job right now. So you're not in that. But what I want to do is in case some of you actually had a change of common sense, I want to ask you guys a question. I want to see by a show of hands from the council members who's in support of this. No, you know what? I I'll I'll help you out because you might have had a change of common sense. Who's not for this? Who is not for this? Who is Hold on. Hold on. Let Let me ask one more time because Council Member Flores, did you put your hand up? OKAY. SO HOLD ON, HOLD ON, HOLD ON. LET ME ASK THIS. LET ME ASK THIS. HOLD ON, GUYS. LET ME ASK THIS. WHO IS THIS? RAISE YOUR HAND.

RAISE YOUR HAND. OKAY, THIS IS MY OPINION. IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO STAND UP FOR YOUR own for your own self and your own ideas, what makes you think that you're ready to stand up for this community's wants? YOU CAN'T EVEN STAND UP RIGHT NOW.

SO, FOR THOSE THAT DIDN'T RAISE their hand, I want the community to help me out here with my last 25 seconds. Ready? VOTE THEM OUT. VOTE THEM OUT. VOTE THEM OUT. VOTE THEM OUT. VOTE THEM OUT. VOTE THEM OUT. VOTE THEM OUT. VOTE THEM OUT. THEM OUT.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hi everyone, my name is David Freriedman. I'm a small business owner here in downtown. Uh if you've ever been to Viva Laboba, then you free.

Um what is being proposed here tonight is not about good governance. It's about control. It's a desperate hold onto power. Uh you taking away our right to vote undermines democratic accountability by weakening the independence of our mayor. Instead of trusting the intelligence of the voters here to elect a mayor who can serve as a meaningful check on this council, you are restructuring power so that veto authority becomes ineffective against agenda items that you do not want challenged and that is called a consolidation of power. The city of Redlands has a rotating mayor and guess what happened as soon as the progressive city council members turn came up to be mayor? They voted to skip her. It's obvious to all the people here that what what you're trying to do. There are so many more important issues in our city to address. Uh for the last three months, my employees at Viva Laboba have been harassed over and over again by an unhoused individual who is exposing themselves and breaking our windows. You guys have the time on a Friday to post and set up these last minute special meetings to serve yourselves, but you don't have the time to help the unhoused and small businesses like mine because we refuse to pay to play. Downtown Ward One has not improved under Council Member Theodore Sanchez's leadership.

It has declined. Progress has been promised to me by you over and over, time and time again. But years later, we're all still waiting. And the visible condition of downtown reflects your failure.

The delay of the Carousel Mall redevelopment is not an accident. It is the result of mismanagement, legal disputes, and repeated breakdowns with developers. This project has stalled while lawsuits drag on and momentum disappears. And meanwhile, the community continues to waste their time uh lose investment and lose hope. And and the city is the largest continues to be the largest slum lord in downtown. That's you guys. You own more dilapidated buildings in Sanernardino than any other property owner. And you cannot move forward when you are not leading by example. Finally, I want to address transparency. Someone, probably more than one person, initiated this meeting. Someone pushed this forward. I hope you have a I hope you have the courage to tell the public who that was.

And while tonight's vote may not or it may move forward regardless, the community is watching and they will remember exactly who voted yes on this. And to the residents of San Frernardino, 2026 is our opportunity to take our city back. If you're angry about the condition of our city, you're right to be. If you feel ignored, dismissed, or tired of excuses, you're justified. But anger alone is not enough. My call to action is to register, vote, show up, hold pe hold these people accountable. Do not disengage. Do not accept business as usual. Demand transparency, and demand results. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hi. Yes. My name is John Wrangle. I've I'm a resident of Sanino. Uh raised my family here in Ward One and in Ward three, currently in Ward 3. I've been uh working in the engineering field. Our office is on hospitality. So everything I do is in San Bernardino. I am also the president of the Goodfellow Social Club, a nonprofit organization that is solely for the people here in San Bernardino. And so that's where all my time is spent. So with that, I'm here because the people of Sanville deserve to be heard, not sidelined. I'm speaking in strong support of Mayor Halen TR and in strong opposition to any effort to weaken or eliminate the office of a directly elected mayor. Sanino voters chose a mayor. They did not choose to hand the power over to a small group of council members. Any attempt to strip voters of their direct voice is choosing the city's leader is not reform. It's a power grab. And the public sees it exactly for what it is. Mayor Tran has been out in the community listening to residents, showing up, working to rebuild trust in a city that has struggled with instability far too long. Instead of supporting that work, some members of the council have chosen to undermine the office, block participation, and concentrate authority among themselves. This is not good governance. This is not transparency, and it is not what the people of the city asked for. Sanino needs leadership that is accountable to the entire city, not just internal alliances or political maneuvering. A directly elected mayor provides that accountability. Removing that position would silence

voters and weaken the dem democratic foundation of this city. I urge this council to stop trying to take power away from the public and start working with the mayor the voters chose. Respect the will of the people, respect the office, and respect the residents who are watching these decisions closely. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hello and good evening. Hey, fellow citizens. I mean, wow. I am impressed. I'm impressed by the showing of uh patriots here. I am a 13ear special operations veteran. Um I've risen my hand three times with the Constitution, right? Uh two for enlistment and one just recently in September as I commissioned as a naval intelligence officer. But I would want to say this now. Thank you. In fact, for all the veterans out here and and and also those that support us um and the families and this is what I want to go ahead and segue a little bit and I do apologize if I'm off topic CFS children services. All right. False allegations removing kids from their families. False charges that go on and appear themselves in the criminal side. people in jail with no speedy trial. It's disgusting. I fought for these rights. I fought for the 14th amendment equal protection clauses. I fought for the fourth amendment, the sixth amendment, the first amendment, which we all see and experience here today with great fervor. And I'm glad that the uh fire chief is here because there's a lot of fire going on right now. But at the end of the day, please understand this that tomorrow we're going to be at uh Gilbert Street Court uh at the dependency court in support of these families that are going through false allegations. There's a predatory uh system out there. Yes, the mission is real. Child abuse is real. But guess what isn't real? False allegations. You should not go to court that day and receive your paperwork with no chance to fight for yourself. How is that? That's that's what that kind of crap happens in Russia, North Korea, Venezuela, and we're doing it here in San Bernardino.

Yes, sir. Are we? No, we're not supposed to do it. We don't give our people their paperwork the day of. We give them a chance to argue and fight the facts. But guess what? They're taking kids for much less. And I'll give you this and I'll leave you with this. There's a higher standard to repo a car than it is to remove kids out of their homes. I'll say that again. What is the standard for for repossession of a car? It's like this. But yet, when they take their families away and then when you're going through the process, answer me this as well. Why are there black and brown kids at a higher clip than their white counterparts?

We all need eyes on this system. We all need eyes on. And I see all these eyes here for today. And I actually give you guys all props for being here, standing up, running for council, and all that stuff. It's not easy. I see it. You're taking a lot of hits. But with that, thank you very much for serving your community and your country. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Hello, my name is Ben Sagado. Um, I'm here because if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything. Um, I am the the current president of KKC Route 66 Little League and I'm also a proud brother of the Good Fellow Social Club. Um, I'm standing here today 10 toes down behind Hen Mayor Helen Tran. Why? Because she's real. When I call her, she answers. When I text, she responds. I don't get left on red. I don't get excuses. I get respect. That's leadership. That's someone who actually has our back. Not just when it's convenient, but when it matters. What I'm not okay with is with people trying to shut our voices down because they got their own agenda, their own pockets in mind. If you can't stand behind the mayor who stands behind the people, don't expect us to trust you with our community. We live here, we work here, we raise our kids here, we give back here. This isn't politics for us. It's personal. And at the end of the day, we put it all in God's hands. We move with prayer. And the word says, "No weapon formed against you shall prosper. So, we're not scared, we're not divided, and we're not backing down. I just want to say since um and I mean this is what I had wrote down, but at the end of the day, I pray for everybody on the board, good or bad because at the end of the day, what was done in the dark is going to come to light. No bad would ever prosper. you know, uh, Mario Flores and and Hen and maybe some of you guys haven't had

the opportunity to stand up for the kids in the Westside community. I was born in poverty. I was born a Westside gang member, but now I'm a productive member of the society. Do would I change would I change anything about me? I would never change my my trials or anything I've been through because I have a testimony now. I fight for the Westside community KKC Route 66. I'll continue to fight. But when I when and I know this is something, but when I I made that phone call to Helen Tran, it was all all boots on the ground and and Mario, I just call them to this day. I call them and they I probably call them more than their own board. You know what I mean? They were like, "That's Ben again, but my calls get answered." I pray for everybody in here that God just makes the right decisions. You know, we're not perfect, but um we stand behind you. The low rider community stands behind you and we love the way the city of Sanino going. Original 714 San Bino member.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Nay Thompson, Fifth Ward, local business owner. I'm deeply disappointed in the proposal to remove the ability of San Bernardino residents to vote for our mayor and instead place that power entirely in the hands of the city council. This feels sinister. It lacks transparency and it strips away some of the power of the people. For many of us, the right to vote was something our ancestors had to fight for. And with one sneaky decision, you get to decide to remove that right. Democracy should expand participation, not shrink it. Our residents deserve a direct voice in choosing their leadership. This is our city and we should choose the mayor. Anything less erodess trust, weakens accountability, and moves us further from the inclusive, representative city that we claim to be. I love my city, and I expect so much more from it. I expect so much more from you. As a business owner, it's easier to build companies elsewhere. We choose to run our businesses in this city because we love our city, at times to our own economic detriment. The decisions you're making aren't making it easy to stay. We don't want to rearrange our schedules and rush here after working all day. You have children in the audience that have school in the morning. We shouldn't have to know the ins and outs of the city charter to retain our rights. We shouldn't have to be here for you to do the right thing. But we are here and we're not going anywhere. So, please listen to us. While I'm here, I'm deeply disappointed in the city's cooperation with ICE. I've watched this escalate for years, and it's painful to see our local government participating in actions that tear families apart, that destabilize our entire community. You owe it to your residents to protect them, not to serve them up to be detained, displaced, and traumatized.

This is not the kind of city we want to be. This isn't the kind of local government we want to represent us. Please consider strengthening policies to limit local cooperation with ICE. And please reject the idea of removing our right to vote for our mayor. It's unbelievable that you're even considering that. You're overreaching. By even considering it, and printing it on the that agenda in the first place, you betray us. All power to the people. Power to the people means that we have the power to remove you from those seats if you ignore us tonight. Please do the right thing. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Turn on your mic, please. Thank you.

Sorry. My name is Dorothy. I'm from the fifth ward. Um, I didn't want to come here, but when I saw this posted, my jaw dropped to the ground. I couldn't believe I was seeing this. I went to your leadership's workshop in December. I I cannot believe that this is the outcome. I sat, I listened, I took notes, and I thought, "This is it. This is it. This is the blueprint. All they have to do is follow the steps." And this BS is what came out of that. I cannot believe it. And you know what's sad is there was only like five of us and four of us were from church. Okay, I understand. I understand that it was in the morning and it was, you know, it was more convenient, but it was a blueprint. And what I heard was attitude, justification, and just no collaboration, no will to collaborate, shared values on five. One of the council people, you weren't there. I don't know why. The other person, I didn't get yours and I apologize. Out of all the shared values, I did not hear collaboration in any of the five.

So, I don't know why you are a council person if you don't want to collaborate for your city. San Bernardino was not my choice. We were actually brought here because we believe the Lord brought us here. And I want to be fair to everybody. I did not vote for you, Mayor Tran, because you did not do a good job at the mayor's forum at Vermont. Kim, I wasn't sure. But I will say that I have seen improvement. I've seen more willingness to get involved with the city and do what's right. But there's some of you city people that I hear, and this is word salad, kind of like a slide of hand. And I I don't like it. I don't like it. That's the last thing we need. And if city council people are laughing when they're coming into the doors of the city council, they really shouldn't be because you have all these people that depend on you to make wise decisions. And if it comes that this is going to be voted through, then I would suggest you get rid of the mayor prom and then just make it city manager and his staff because it's not fair that you get rid of the mayor and you leave a mayor prom. That doesn't make sense. If I'm ignorant, I apologize. Someone educate me. But I'm here for a reason and I support you as much as I can. But excuse my language. I'll be damned if I'm gonna be quiet and watch you guys pull a bunch of BS.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Irma Flores. I'm here from Riverside, California. I mean Riverside. And uh I know that uh this meeting is to try to remove your elected mayor. It's a special meeting, but there are things that are more important in this city and I'm going to talk about tonight. I have a good audience to talk about this issue that's here going on right now in this city. Over the past 11 months, uh Audrey, my associate and former California state deputy treasurer, have met with key officials and representatives from the following agencies. City Manager Levitt, Chief Police Chief Goodman, and Mayor Tran, who I have to say has been my biggest champion along with the people that I'm about to talk about. That's the office of Supervisor Joe Baka, the office of Assemblyman James Ramos, the office of Senator Eloise Gomez Reyes, and and San Bernardino Unified School District, and various agencies. I've also met with CALR District 8 director Councilwoman Ibara. I'm here specifically to talk to you. You are the only one who has ignored my calls and requests to meet with you for 11 months. I have logged everything.

The focus of these meetings and tours is regarding the CALR easement behind the Tuscanany apartments in your ward. Councilwoman, it has been um to address the growing and increasingly dangerous homeless encampments directly behind the apartments. These encampments, which lie on the property reportedly under the jurisdiction of CALR, have been a source of ongoing criminal activity, public safety hazards, fires, breakins, and community disrupt disruption. For over 10 years, 10 years, we have compiled extensive documentation including many photographs, police reports, fire, CHP logs demonstrating repeated and instances of burglaries, vandalism, shootings, fire within one of the carports of the apartment complex, encampments, general unsafe conditions affecting apartment tenants and nearby establishment. break-ins in one of a in a child's room twice, vacant and occupied units and managers in maintenance office. This is occurring on a daily basis and becoming alarmingly dangerous.

In addition to our meeting with public officials, I have conducted interviews with surrounding businesses and local churches. These stakeholders are unified in their concerns and deep frustration, citing the negative impact on their daily operations, clientele, and community safety. The consensus is clear. They are sick and tired of the violence. A Dairy Queen employee has been assaulted five times in less than a month. The employees feel she fears for her life. The tenants, management, and staff at the apartments also fear for their lives. Sandra or councilwoman. Thank you. Oh, thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, mayor and council. My name is Ray Blum. I'm a lifelong resident in the fifth ward. I own a business in the sixth ward and the first ward. And I'm going to talk to my elected council leader for a second. I've got to meet with you, Kim, and you know, I'm going to be transparent. Mayor Helen Tran and Kim Nos, I didn't vote for either of you, but as I gotten to work alongside both of you, I've learned your hearts for this city. You know, we've been doing a cleanup every month, and there's one leader from this Diaz that's come out every month to help pick up trash around our city, and that's Mayor Helen Tran. That's right.

The high the highest form of leadership is servant leadership. And Jesus portrayed this in the Bible, and that's to serve your neighbor, to love the Lord God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. And you know, I'm going to challenge you, Kim, is that whether some of these things are right or wrong, the way it's being done is wrong. It's wrong. It just doesn't need to be pushed through. If it's the right thing to do, it's going to pass on its own merit. But I'm going to encourage you as my elected leader, Kim, please vote against this being pushed through tonight. let the charter committee leaders go through it and and go through the right process. If it's the right thing, there's no reason to rush this.

And there's a elected leader. We need an elected leader. We need a visionary for our city. We need somebody that can bring unity to this DAS because when there's unity, nothing's impossible. And I know it's a hard thing. I pray I pray for Washington DC. I pray for Sacramento. And I pray for Sanino elected leaders. It's not easy to be an elected leader. But I know that we can do this. I've seen the momentum building in our city. This is heartbreaking and exciting at the same time tonight. It's heartbreaking the reason we're out here, but it's exciting that so many people care about our city.

And and I'm there's more and more coming, guys. We will see the city changed. We will see it cleaned up. We will see it prosperous again. Proverbs 2:15 says, "Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts to poverty." This feels like a hasty shortcut. We need to have planning sessions. We need to have input from the community, and we need to do things right. I know we can get this done. We have an great mayor that's out there leading by example. And I challenge every one of you on this DAS, follow in those footsteps. We need people next to us fighting for our city. We don't need people telling us what's best for us. They we need to show be shown how to get it done. And I thank you, Mayor Tren Kim Nos. I thank you for coming out. And I see you involved in the community. You've held community forums to take input from your constituents. And I'm just asking you to do the same thing before we make a decision tonight. God bless you all. Take care.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, Mayor Tran and council members. Uh Veronica Munoz. I live in the fourth ward resident. Um I'm not only a resident, I'm also a active community volunteer in the city as well. Um I care deeply about the city and about making sure our residents always have a voice in how we are governed. I want to speak tonight regarding the proposed changes to our city structure, specifically the idea of allowing the council to designate the mayor and extending the term lengths or limits. Not only would I not trust some of you to pick our mayor, some of you I wouldn't allow to pick fruit from my trees at home. While I understand the desire for continuity and efficiency, these changes reduce something far more important. It reduces voter choice and accountability. The mayor is the face of our city. That position should be decided directly by the people, not internally, not by appointment, and not behind closed doors. Elections are how residents hold leadership accountable. When you reduce elections or lengthen terms, you reduce the public's ability to be heard. Extending terms and loosening limits often benefits incumbents the most. But our city benefits from fresh perspectives, healthy competition, and regular opportunities for voters to decide our direction. I also want to share something on a personal level. Like Ray, I also did not vote for Mayor Tran. However, she has proven herself to be an excellent representative of our city. She shows up. She attends community events. She builds partnerships. She shines a positive light on our city. And she works hard for the residents. Not only is she present, she's not just there for the photo ops. She's actually hands on. Hands on. Hands boots to the ground doing the same thing. Uh active,

present. And we need that. We need that for our city. We need somebody to be the face of our city. To me, that's exactly why the people should choose because leaders earn trust over time, and she's definitely earned my trust. Voters deserve the chance to evaluate that and decide for themselves. Please protect the resident's voice, keep the mayor elected by the people, maintain transparency and accountability in our government. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hello. So, uh, James Albert, uh, Seventh Ward. I'd like to call myself a charter review committee member, but I'm not exactly sure because we haven't met, uh, in the time that I've been appointed. Um, but I do recall, um, I do recall that I was engaged when the last charter committee was, uh, activated under the venerable leadership of Phil Savage. Um, and we actually that committee actually made some good recommendations. The problem was is that we had a mayor and council that sat on their hands for two years and didn't do anything with it. So, let me talk about a little bit about those recommendations and what they were. They were for rank choice voting to make sure that our candidates uh represent a majority will that we produced outcomes that represented our city. It was also for public financing of elections so candidates wouldn't have to dial for dollars outside of our of our community and be beholden to those interests. It was for independent redistricting committee uh commissions so that our current incumbents did not gerrymander as we saw both on the Democratic side and the Republican side. But again, that that fell silent. I'm not a supporter of the current supermajority of council members and quite frankly I'm not a supporter of you current uh mayor Mayor Tran. Um but I am a supporter of our constitution known as our charter. I'm supporter of our truth and dignity of our city and to do this do this at rush time when the charter review committee has not met in over two years the last last agenda that I saw on the city website was November of 2023 speaks volumes speaks volumes about our leadership. One thing I want to point out to to the current mayor and council is the the issue that I think really uh erodess crisis of confidence in our city is removing primary elections without rank choice voting. If we do that and we have multiple candidates running like we do right now, we're going to get candidates that win with just 10 20% of the vote. You think we have a crisis of confidence in our leadership right now, the floor is going to fall out under us after that. So I I want to say I want to speak

directly to council member Ibar. You've been a supporter and a champion for us on rank choice voting and I urge you to exercise that sound judgment and being a leader on the dis here. Now to the rest of you, I just say remember elections come around every every four years. You're and then the path to progress in the city of Sanino is through Ward One, Ward Two primarily and those are up in June of 2026 and the people will remember. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

I hate public speaking, but this was necessary. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is TLN Johnson and I am a resident of San Bernardino. I'm in the seventh ward and I am also the proud owner of Three Little Bluebirds right downtown in San Bernardino. I'm here tonight because what's being proposed is not a small procedural change. It represents a fundamental shift in how power is held in this city and how accountability works. And that deserves careful consideration. We elect city council members to represent their wards. We elect a mayor to represent excuse me. Excuse me. Apologize. I lost my stepping here.

Moving on. We uh elect a mayor to represent the entire city. These are not interchangeable roles. The mayor is the one position that must earn support across all wards. That city-wide mandate creates a clear line of accountability to the public as a whole. Removing voters from this process shifts accountability inward away from the residents and towards a smaller decision-making group. This matters right now. Nationally, many people already feel disconnected from political decisions making and concerned about power becoming more centralized. Local government should be the place where trust is strengthened, not tested. As a business owner, I see how decisions made here show up in a very real way through this throughout the city. Not because one person controls everything, but because accountability and confidence shares how people engage with San Bernardino. For instance, Mayor Helen Tran has been in my store several times. She comes by and visits me when I'm not even there. I have invited you, sir, several times, and you laughed in my face. And I'm very very very very I was very embarrassed by that. Not only am I a resident, I'm a realtor in this San Bernardino area. I have sold homes in this space. I have spent numerous time. My family is from here. They've been here since 1944. Lived right over there on the west side. So, I I I am truly affected by any decisions that are made here in the city of San Bernardino. And I'm watching I'm watching from a little place right here off of Fourth and F Street. I'm watching for you to walk in and just say hello. Treasure's been there. I've invited you, Miss Kim. You've not come. You've never showed up. I know you. You and I talk all the time, but the rest of y'all, you don't show up.

I work here. I have a business here on the on my back, matter of fact, because there ain't no grants, no money, no nothing. It's just me. Y'all better get it together. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hi, my name is Jolene and hi. Um I wanted to say that I am a member of associate student government at my school um Sanino Valley Cal College and as I am a senate and I know right from wrong and you guys are wrong and for one I would I want to say that since the founding of the United States has relied heavily on the participation of citizens governed at the local state and national levels which if you didn't know but you should know this land was built on stolen land. The right of citizens to participate in the government is an important feature of democracy. And over the centuries, many of us fought to acquire and defend this right. And we still are. This is America where you vote as you please. Where your privileges of democracy belongs to all people equally. We are we your government's where your government is your servant, not your master. This is America. Keep it free. Voting is an important part of the fight to keep the United States free. The purpose of voting and the other forms of political engagement is to ensure that the government that the government serves the people and not the other way around. So please listen to us. Please please know that there is a lot of students in here, middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college students. And we are fighting for our rights because we know our rights. And if you want to see my shirt, Thank you. That's all.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening. Uh mayor, council members, my name is L. Perez. I'm a resident of Fontana. I'm here because I'm concerned with the current proposition. Um, this is a way of disenfranchising voters and I'm asking you today to please listen to your constituents. Listen to the many voices that are here today asking you to vote no. I'm asking you to vote no to the proposal. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hello everyone. My name is Michael Sigura. I'm the executive director at the Garcia Center for the Arts and I'm a member of San Bernardino generation now and also a lifelong resident of San Bernardino. So, evening mayor, city council, city staff, and happy New Years to everyone. Um, thank you to all the community for showing up and speaking. It's refreshing to see that we're not apathetic to democracy and we actually vote here. We care here. Thank you to Freddy Calderon and I community news. Without y'all, I wouldn't have known that this was even taking place in our community. Uh so going to my public comment, we need a government that is accountable, transparent, and consistent. That looks like community engagement that centers long-term strategies and plans not shortterm and plans, not short-term reactive government. The reactive mentality is the reason why our arts collaborative did not receive a California Cultural District designation from our state. In a feedback session, they told us, "Your city has no plan for sustainability."

My question is, when will we pass our general plan and downtown specific plan that we have all spent so much time and money on? And that's a real question. When will we pass that? I want to know when that's happening. Now, regarding the issue tonight, the people should be the first ones to have the correct information to move forward with any change to our charter. Policies should take place with community input and engagement to understand what the people who live here want and not any outside interest. This is why I want to invite everyone here to come to the Garcia Center for the Arts. with partners. We will be hosting a SP arts advocacy gathering on February 12th from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the center at the Garcia Center for the Arts. We'll be gathering with artists, cultural bears, other cultural organizations, small businesses to strategize and plan together what arts and culture, what an arts and culture strategic plan would look like and what that investment looks like. We will also launch our new advocacy initiative in our in the Garcia Center's West Wing, San Bernardino's very first arts and culture department. A project that will reflect the arts and cultural investments, support, and strategies we want to see from our city government. Now, I ask you all to please re-watch this meeting on YouTube, listen to it even as a podcast right, and reflect on all that you're hearing from your community now. Let's continue to move forward with accountability, transparency, and consistency. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening, San Bernardino and city council and mayor TR. My name is Ajasa and I'm a resident of Fontana, but I'm also candidate for mayor of the city of Fontana. And the reason I'm here today, I just literally flew down here from Alligator Alcatra. And let me tell you, the vibes ain't no different. Because when the world is seeing what's going on here in the United States, when the world is pressuring us to meet the moment and our country is betraying us, we don't need this to happen in our communities. This was the last thing that our community needed to think about that our votes are being stripped away because guess what happened when I found out about this meeting? residents and constituents of the city of Fontana got scared that mayor Aquaneta Warren was going to think to do the same thing because control and power grab is their middle name and the thing is what happens in San Bernardino the city we're 218,000 people in the city of Fontana what happens here in San Bernardino matters to the cities around it is crucial to understand that the political power grab is not just in DC. We're seeing it right here back home. It doesn't matter that California is a Democratic blue state when our small towns are tearing us apart.

They're putting us against each other. The fact that I came where they're killing undocumented immigrants, that I came from there and I came here and the fight is the same. Yes, ma'am.

I said to myself, I will never go to Florida until hell freezes over. And guess what? This past weekend was the coldest ever in the state of Florida. Hell has frozen over because the fact that the city of San Bernardino with a strong diverse mayor and mayorship, do you know that people are going to remember this? your children, your brothers and sisters, your cousins, everybody's going to know where you stood tonight. To strip the people from their voting power. What makes you different from Donald Trump?

And to top the fact that you do this when the Epstein files get released, thinking people are not going to notice that you're trying to rip the rug under the president's feet. That is not okay. They voted you in. And let me tell you, they're called vote you out. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hello, my name is Miriam Neto. I am a resident of the seventh ward and lived on the west side um for a quite some time. Um hello mayor, hello council. Uh just wanted to come on here and really just this is really wild to be here to talk about what you guys are currently trying to propose. Um and I have so many questions but I think the biggest question is why now? Why create this t this sense of urgency and fear amongst our communities especially given the current times? Why are you trying to do the same that our federal government is doing and you see that it's not working for them? Why do you try to push that here in Sanino where I see that there is a diverse group of people here? Not just the older generation as we usually say, but you see the young people coming out here in power

angry and really standing up for their rights to vote. What you are teaching them is that their voice doesn't matter if you move the way that you are trying to move right now. So what I am saying is we should be focusing on how you are standing up for us and our and our children. Any changes to our charter should involve a more extensive discussion. This would allow the public enough time to consider it the vote. What I am I'm seeing today is an opportunity to learn from what is currently not working within our larger government structure and we should aim to be different and better. Why push back us on us now? Your push back will lead to more distrust and distract from the good work that is organically taking shape. What you see here today is local businesses coming together. Organizations who have been the been doing the on the ground work trying to work with you. Actually, there are businesses who are holding ground, who can barely afford to pay their rent, who can barely afford to fix their businesses. There are organizations who are struggling to keep staff in their organization working and organizing and doing the ground on the work and still they are there trying to work with you and this is how you pay them back. You want to take their vote. You want to take their rights. You want to take their voice. Why? Why would you do that? Why would you even think that this is gonna go well with the people? It's not. As you can see, it is definitely not going well with anybody. Not with the younger, not with the older generation, not with the middle class, not with the working class, not with the unions, not with anybody. So, I think I think you should stop pushing back on us. You should stop pushing back on us and just lead. Focus on what you're doing. Focus on how you are leading in

your own words. focus on how you can support this the residents, the community, how you can bring us together, how can you can unite the community because we are uniting ourselves as you can see. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening. My name is Alex Beltron. I'm a resident of the fourth ward and I'm here as a resident. Don't worry, Fred, I'm not running this time. Um, I'm here to urge the council to vote no on this proposal. It, um, it seems rushed and like everyone has been saying, there's not there hasn't been a lot of community input. I found out minutes before the meeting started that there was no input from the charter committee. I I supported the charter reform back in 2016. And when it started, it came from the community. um residents had input um and it passed with uh 51% turnout in the general election. Um this yeah this proposal just feels authoritarian um like I told the Redland school board if you want maximum participation you would push it back to the general election and give give it time for people to have input give time for the charter committee to have a plan for voter education to educate the voters about this proposal and not trying to rush it through um when There's weeks until the ballot measures are being finalized. Lastly, I want to speak to the young people. Even though my shirt says generation now, I'm closer to generation then at this point. Um, but I just want to remind you that you do have a lot of power. Um, don't let them silence you. you could um urge all the adults in your life to vote. Discuss these important issues with your peers and any platform you have and um remember to take up space and don't let

them um ignore you because that's what historically um people have done in this community. Ignore young people even though they're they are the present. They're not the future. They're the present. And you don't you don't have to do what they told you. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, mayor, council members, and members of our community. My name is Amy Malone, and I'm a resident of San Bernardino Ward 4, and a member of SEIU 2015. I am here tonight to speak in opposition to moving forward with the proposed city charter changes. The city charter is the foundation of how our city governs itself. Changes of this magnitude require careful review and community engagement, not rushed action. What is especially concerning is that San Bernardino has a charter review uh committee in place for this very purpose. Yet that committee was not included in developing these proposed changes. In fact, it has not convened since 2023. When an established body designed to provide oversight is bypassed, we are no longer operating with proper checks and balances. Instead, we are moving out of sync. Residents deserve to know why the charter review committee was not um con uh uh spoken to. Why were they excluded? Why this process is being accelerated? And why such sweeping governance changes are being proposed without the infrastructure meant to vet them. Rushing charter amendments to the ballot without adequate time for residents to research and ask questions is not good governance. When voters are asked to decide without sufficient information, trust in government is eroded. Voter participation drops. San Bernardino simply just cannot afford it. The timing of this proposal is also deeply concerning. Our city is currently facing urgent challenges. A growing homelessness crisis, an unstable local economy, py public safety challenges,

and a lack of leadership. These are issues that directly impact residents confidence in city hall or lack thereof. Proposing major structural changes to our form of government. While these issues remain unresolved seems s sends the wrong message. It suggests that political restructuring is being prioritized over the real immediate needs of the people.

San Bernardino has too much at stake to make rush uninformed decisions. We are a city striving for upward movement and rebuilding. The progress is undermined when decisions appear driven by individual agendas rather than what is best for the people as a whole. The city of San Bernardino cannot be run by individuals who place personal or political their own political agendas above transparency, process, and the will of the residents. If charter changes are truly in the best interest of San Bernardino, then residents deserve adequate time to study the proposals and a transparent process that includes the charter review committee. We cannot afford to make permanent decisions based on temporary momentum. I respectfully urge this council to show this process and make sure that we know what is going on. Don't wait last minute. We deserve better.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening everyone. My name is Artoro Forte. Uh I'm running for Fontana City Council District 1. Uh the fact that some of you guys uh would even consider consider this is proof that you are not fit for the chair you guys are currently sitting in. People who are fed up, people who are fed up like me need to stand up and run for your positions. Yeah, I wouldn't want you guys to even be the lo a local dog catcher, let alone deciding who gets to become mayor. By the looks of the Louis Vuitton bag back there, you guys clearly are out of touch with the average citizen in San Bernardino.

Why would we why would we trust why would we why would we trust trust you to vote in our best interest? Local government is supposed to be the last line of defense against the overreaching wannabe dictator in the White House. And you and here you are making us waste our time protesting such an idiotic and blatantly unconstitutional vote. Sir, you should be ashamed of yourselves. Ashamed of yourselves. You are here to serve your constituents. We the people who chose you. We who play pay your salary. And we will remember the decision you make today and remove you from office if need be. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker. Please state your name. Hello. Uh good evening. Um look at the people around you, especially the young people that came here out of concern. I hope they come back for the next council meetings. They are concerned by what you are what you are trying to sneak through a power grab. Not only is San Bernardino considered the dirtiest city, the least desirable city in the state, we were listed that way because of you. It was already listed as corrupt, but now you want to be the most corrupt. You're trying to take it to the next level.

You want to take away our right to vote. This ne this action is not for the benefit of the citizens, the residents or the businesses. It is for the direct benefit of just a few of you. And the one and we know who you are now because you raised your hands or you didn't raise your hand. I'm sorry, you didn't raise your hands. So, we know who you are. The fact is that this was a rushed special meeting and not part of the normal agenda raised red flags. That's why people are here. It raised the red flags. You think we're stupid. You think we're ignorant. You think you can just get away with anything we want. We are here because we care. We care about our right to vote. We care about our city. We love our city. We may not love you, but we love our city.

Okay. Why the rush? We want the office of the mayor intact because we made that vote. We didn't give it to you. We made that vote. We're going to keep making that vote. It's not for you. Rotating mayor is too confusing to the residents and to the rest of the world. And it weakens us. It weakens us. It empowers just a few. The ones that didn't raise their hands are the ones that would be empowered. Look at who chooses the mayor prom. That's a good example of who chooses what. Because you see what happened. We did. The corruption just does not stop. People, you know, your vote. You see, you see who is not for you. People come to the council meetings also because we need you. This isn't the only time they pull this stuff. They pull it at the council meetings, too. So, be aware. Know your vote. Come out to vote. Your vote does count. If you don't vote, it counts. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening. My name is Mark Westwood and I'm the general manager of KCANBC 1050 a.m. 106.5 FM, KQLH92.5 and KFXM 94.1. And I'm here to stand against this emergency measure here in front of city council, no to term limits, and no, definitely no to eliminating the primary. There's 126 days, 17 hours, and about 10 minutes until the election on June 2nd takes place. And it is far too fast. And I'm not here I'm going to separate the politicians from the office. I'm here to talk about the governance of San Bernardino and to say while this might have some merit, not in this time frame, not now. It's too soon. And I will tell you right now that this is really about four people on that city council wanting to elect over 77,763 registered voters out of a quarter million people in Sanernardino. What's wrong with that number? We need to get more registered voters. We need more people voting because none of these people up here have a mandate. Not a single one got elected by more votes than the local ASB student body presidents at the high schools. Do you realize that? That's something. You don't have it. You don't have it, Sanchez. No, you don't have it. Fred Shoret, you don't have it. You haven't inspired people. In fact, there's a good argument for disbanding the city with the California League of Cities. Completely insane because the voters have no confidence in you.

None. And it mean you've been taken out by the Woodshack behind the woodshack tonight. And I would think some of you would be smart enough. You don't have a mandate. You know, there's just I could go on and on, but I'm going to keep it shorter because I have a microphone. I've got many microphones. I've got 5,000 kilowatt radio station right down the street from you. And I'm going to put my full faith and credit into defeating it if you guys are dumb enough to stand up and vote for this tonight.

It's ridiculous. It's wrong. all these people, you know, you have a few gad flies here and there that show up at city council meetings and yeah, you dismiss them. Don't miss this. The crowd was all the way in this room, up and down the aisles, out in the foyer, and out around the front of the building. The only reason there's not many, many people here is because the fire chief said we couldn't be here. But you know what? Be brave. I recommend right now what you do, somebody be brave enough to stand up here, table this agenda item until after the primary and refer it back to the citizens committee, the charter review committee and do it the right way. Otherwise, you know, we Democrats reverse Texas just this weekend by 30 points and and 17 percentage points. People are mad. The midterms are going to be rockus and you're not going to get the votes. Any of you,

please don't do this. Vote it out or vote it down. That's your choice. It's your choice. Please state your name. Good evening, city council and mayor. So, here we are today. Sit back, breathe, take it all in, and make a conscious decision of what is right and what is wrong.

I heard so many great comments from the residents here, young and old. I wasn't even going to come. But I said, "This is something that is so important, not only for me, but for my grandkids and their kids' kids." And also, I remember growing up going with my grandmother and she's sharing with me when she was younger, she couldn't vote. Jim Crow. Is that what we're looking at today? because it's borderline on Jim Crow. Think about it. Because you are taking the rights of individuals who Martin Luther King and many other people who died for the freedom for us to vote. So consciously take a look at each one of your conscious and make the right decision today because whatever decision you make today is going to have consequences in the future. I don't have much that I want to say. I'm not here to batch. Due process needs to take place. There is a committee. Step back. Go back. have the committee take a look with recommendations and input from this beautiful audience and then come back and make an informed decision on what is right and what is wrong. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. My name is Rigo and um I'm disappointed in you guys because you guys haven't had the dignity to come and ask us to even ask us like what do we want? You guys took it upon yourself because what? For whatever whatever your shady reasons you guys have. You know, I see and I've heard these people talk about not showing up for your community. Sanchez, I like you guys, you guys represent for something to help something. You guys ain't even there for nobody but yourself.

You know, I seen Miss Trance. I seen her in the community. I seen her reaching out to us. She been out there in the gutter. You know, you guys don't understand that. You don't even want to come near our our communities, but Miss TR does. She takes her time no matter what. She answers our calls, my texts, anything. You guys should be ashamed of yourself for trying to put her and trying to put take our voice, trying to take our choices. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening. Excuse me. Good evening. My name is Kai King. I am actually a resident of Rialto, but I'm a a business owner here in the city of San Bernardino. Um, I met Mayor Helen Tram before she was even mayor. And she came to me and she said, you know, I'm going to try to beautify this city and I'm going to try to bring it back to the way that it was before. And I told her, you know, I really appreciate that because my mother had passed. And I told her that, you know, I would have loved my mother to see a female mayor, you know, in this city. And, you know, it's Black History Month and and I try to keep out of this stuff. Um, I would say it even gives me a level of PTSD because as a black man, when you get put in these places and these spaces, you're not welcome and you're not treated properly. And I see all these people and they want to fight for what they believe in. And for these young people, I applaud you for coming here and doing what you're doing because we're getting older and they're stepping and pushing us aside. My mother didn't get to see this. You know, my father, he doesn't believe in democracy. And the younger Hispanic males, Hispanic women, black men, black women, the younger people, they don't believe in this stuff anymore. and they feel that they're getting glossed over. So, I just want to say it's a shame that during Black History Month, we're doing this when we should be talking about the people that were celebrated and how they brought civil rights to the forefront to give everyone in here an opportunity. You may or may not like them, but that was what the Brown Berets, the Black Panthers, those people, they did that for us and for you. We're doing this stuff with ICE. There's

no accountability. And like you said, there's Chico people up there and they haven't said a word about what's going on with ICE. And that's terrible. And yet us as business owners or students or people in the community are just supposed to gloss over like it's not happening. It's it's a shame and I really feel sorry um for the people in those community that have to say, you know, he's uh part of Rasa because he's not. They're not. And my people have marched with Hispanic people and we'll continue to do so cuz that's what we're supposed to do.

And Helen Tran, if you're going to march with us and you're going to support us as well, we'll do the same. But if you guys think that this is just and you think that this is what we want, it's not. My organization is called Stronger Together Now because we should be together and we should be stronger together and this isn't what this is. So, God bless you guys and uh hopefully you figure it out. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening everybody. Can anybody hear me? Sir,

my name is Rick Avila. I am the sixth time mayoral candidate. Six times. If anybody loves this city, you're looking at him. The fifth time I ran for council, I mean for mayor in 2022, the city clerk denied me the nomination papers. She said I didn't have enough proof. I ran four times. All of a sudden, I don't have enough proof. So, I stood up and I said, "Okay, come back next time. I'm not going anywhere." And uh in July of 2023, I filed a 501 letter of intent to run for city council. Just a few days later in August 2023, the charter was changed again. You guys amended the charter. You changed the rules. And I didn't know what the rules were until I got the nomination papers in November of that year. And in that clause, you had a a driver's license clause in there. So in in July and November you changed the charter in between right between the uh election.

So anybody asking questions? I got that done now. you people are just writing the rules and and amending the the charter as you go along. I don't write the rules. I just follow them. So, fast forward to 2026. I have all the all my ducks in a row. And now what you want to do is just eliminate the the mayor's position completely. Now, the city of Sanernardino had a mayor for 172 years. Now, you dishonest politicians are rushing this item just seven days before the nomination papers are pulled. Think about that. Seven days. Now, I'd like to know, and I think everybody here

would like to really know the reason why. I like to know the reason why. I have some Yeah, I would like to know the reason why, but I'll leave it on a on a good note. Even Even Mayberry has her own mayor. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Uh, we need six minutes because I'm going to be doing interpretation. That's okay. Yes. Six minutes.

Okay. My name is Anna and I'm part of the San Bernardino airport communities and we've seen each other multiple times by this point. Bernardino.

Do you think it's more important to be doing this last minute changes instead of addressing the basic needs of San Bernardino? Listen to the youth. Listen to the students. We don't want youth to be ending up doing drugs. We have been asking you multiple times for basic necessities, for resources for the youth, for sidewalks, for things that we need in the community. Why don't you take us in consideration? We're not invisible. We are here. We're here to tell you that you're not going to suffocate us with more warehouses. San Bernardino.

You want to be a politician? Then do something for your district. You see, no Minda, we also want a beautiful San Bernardino.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. We have so many kids with asthma and cancer in the hospital. We need clean water, clean air. We need the trucks out of our community. as I'm asking you, especially the youth one over there. I don't think you're youth, but that one over there. um to do the right thing. Yes. Okay. Listen to us. You don't give us a time. You don't give us interpretation. You do the same thing at the airport. It's it's time that you listen to the community.

You want to suffocate us, you probably don't even live here. And again, ISIS is terrorizing our communities. They're separating families. You know the youth that I that's a traumatizing thing for for that kid to go through that's going to be mark on his life for the rest of his life. be sitting just there. So, do your job.

Thank you.

THANK YOU. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, city council members and mayor. My name is Angela Wilkinson. I'm an elected assembly district delegate since 2016 for former Assembly Member now senator Senator Eloise Gomez Reyes. I'm also a delegate for Assembly Member Robert Garcia and a representative for Congressman Pete Aguilar for the U district 33. I'm also a descendant of the 26 slaves that came to San Bernardino with the Mormons in 1851, which my third great uncle, Grief Embers, is listed in your bsentennial book of 1810 to 2010. So, I'm speaking on behalf of this charter that should go through the charter committee. And I want to also thank Helen Ma uh Helen Tran and Treasure Ortiz for being out there for the city residents which the rest of the city council members need to be. And also I want to address no disrespect to Kim Kess mayor uh proterm. I have advocated for one of your residents through email several time and got no response for an issue that was um uh to be addressed. So, um I just wanted to let you know all know that this is not um you know very uh good thing to do because this person is going to uh vote you out when the election is up. You are paid through the taxpayers to represent this city and this community and all the other residents who have ancestors who are buried here who have helped build this city up. It's been decades decades since uh we've been the

all American city. Now we are the lowest of the lowest in the world. So I'm asking every each and every one of you that were elected, Sheret, Sanchez, Ivara, and Kess to let you know that this is not acceptable, you know. So apparently the residents have spoken. I've been coming to these council meetings for a long time and listening to the residents and obviously they're being ignored. I was raised in San Bino and I also retired from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department as an office assistant. So I have seen a lot. So you need to step up. But for apparently we've uh the city has elected the wrong people. And on this behalf, on this last note, I want to send my condolences to the San Marino County Sheriff's Department for the passing of their SA President Grant War, who spent his community here.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please state your name. Six minutes. They should be Good evening. My name is Jose Solorando and I'm also with the Sanino Airport Communities. Um I'm here today because we're here to discuss the current item. Um you have seen the necessities of the community in San Frernardino. Um, I know it's difficult or you say it's difficult and they're saying the younger one, um, um to do their job. But it's not just the younger one. You all have a job to do. We are tired because we're not seeing true change here. Um, and we are asking you

to have a good summer in Dino. So, we're just asking you to do your job and if you don't feel capable of doing it, just leave. So I know it's difficult but when I worked I had to show that I could work hard and I could do it and we all have to do that at some point that you can do it

please minimize public harm from the from your seats. We need to relay it. Thank you. All of us pay taxes from the youngest to the oldest. So, we need to make sure and see that our taxes are going to something that's going to make Sanino good. There are a lot of people here who have been proposing good things and good things for you to focus on. So, I'm asking you to prioritize that and focus on the needs. Don't ignore us. And like you all, we also deserve to have a good life and live in safety.

A lot of good um priorities have been mentioned. One of them being like safe safety and you might have cameras or you might live on a good street but here at the heart of San Bernardino it's like cancers. We are hoping for a solution to come from this um and hope that you also see all the necessities. But if you haven't, we recommend that you go and walk the streets of San Bernardino. and start with the priorities. We want to see a good uh we want to see clean air, clean water, and better streets.

Thank you. Gracias. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hi. Um, good evening, Mayor Tran and City Council. My name is Teresa Presiato. I'm a business agent for the Mid Manager unit of the city workers of San Bernardino. I am proud that our local resides in this wonderful city. I'm coming before you to urge you to vote no against amending this current charter for the city. This amendment would currently remove the voice of your residents and ultimately place all the power for change within the city council, not the people who live in the city. As a union member and representative for the workers here in San Bernardino, for the mid-managers, this type of change not only will affect the residents of the city, but also your workforce. This workforce provides crucial services and functions for this city to maintain itself. You have Lkesha and Trudy in the senior center making sure that not just the seniors but the homeless seniors get fed every day. You have also Wanita making sure that the events that the cities run daily are are in a great fashion that represent the city and what we stand for here. And you have Shawn that makes sure the the parks and his crews maintain the parks and keep them clean for the residents to enjoy. At a time where it's already hard for workers to get by, this council is focusing on the wrong issues. Instead of focusing on who gets to be mayor, you should let the pe people choose this. And we should focus on how your workers can afford a home in the city that they work and the ability to keep putting food on their tables. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

My name is Sia Gonzalez. I am a community organizer with the People's Collective for Environmental Justice and I'm also part of the San Marino airport communities. I've been here many times before and now I'm here again today to discuss once again the lack of transparency and accountability from the city council. As many before me have mentioned, there is so much happening in this country and in this world already. There is a current genocide happening in Palestine, Congo, and Sudan. All being facilitated by the US regime that was also built on the genocide of indigenous people here. ICE is kidnapping our communities every day. People are living in poverty. We can barely afford to live barely. We have to choose between paying rent or paying food. Um, do you really think people need something else to worry about? Instead of making things better for your constituents, you are worsening their lives. But honestly, unlike some folks here, I'm not surprised. Um, I've never really had faith in politicians, if I'm being honest. Um, and the way that you're rushing this is so shady that it says a lot about you because again, a lot of us did not find out either until Friday or until Monday. Um, it's also a shame that you don't have proper interpretation for the residents of Sanino as there is a lot of folks who are Spanish speakers. You know, um, you are the ones who requested this meeting. You did this, so you should have provided interpretation for your constituents.

Shame on you. And to those of you who are in favor of this, you know, like Sandra, Kim, Teddy, Juan, you didn't raise your hand. Fred, I mean, at least have the balls to admit that you're in favor of this. Y'all are so shady. Like, we know who you are. But anyways, I Free Palestine.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Thank you. Carlos Gonzalez, business agent with Teamsters Local 1932, representing the proud city employees of City of Sanernardino that bust their butt every day. Before I say my piece though, I do want to clarify something because it term has been used a lot. The term choco is more than being Mexican-American. It's standing up for injustice. So if you're Mexican-American and you don't stand up for injustice when it's there, you're not a cho or chana. Just want to make that clear. Also, the other thing is I think we're talking a lot about the mayor seat, but the reality this is about Mayor Tran. It's not about the seat of mayor. And that's sad. Mayor Tran has been a great partner of labor. So, when you go against Mayor Tran or anyone that we endorse, it's a shot against labor. Not against the teamsters, but against the members we have that live in this city and the members that we have that work in this city. the members that we have that put taxpayer money when they shop and play in this city. And every time that we have a council person come in, whether they're an incumbent or not, they talk about stability, stability and progress. Every single time, some of you have come from endorsement. That says a lot, too. Um, but how are you going to have stability if your sole goal is to move the mayorship? If you want to run for mayor, run for mayor. If you think you could do a better job, run for mayor. The problem is everyone that supports this, what you want is a participation trophy. You want to say, "Hey, mom and dad, I was mayor for a month." That's what you guys want. That is not stability. This is a large city and we the residents, our members need a mayor. Our building is right here on Fifth and Sierra right here. We've had a few of you council members that have attended

many of our events that we have. We put on a huge car show here in April that thousands of people come out, thousands to support, which I might add, put tax dollars back into the city. Why do we want that? Because we want our members to be proud to work here and be able to go home and put food on the table and not worry about their wages. But we can't do that if you don't have stability. That's a fact. And you guys are killing me with this. I want to support you guys. I want to support this council, but when you don't support my members, it pisses me off. And before I leave, I'm going to say something. Mr. Sanchez, I've sat here watching and I wasn't going to say anything, but damn, show some respect, man. You smile, you laugh, you get on your phone as people are talking. You're trying to talk to council women can uh council women next to you, you're trying to talk to other people. You don't GET THE HINT. THEY DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU. They feel uncomfortable. But yeah, you're opposing like, "Hey, hey, hey."

Because you know what? They're actually trying to listen whether you agree with them or not. They're being respectful. Dude, you do this at every council meeting. That's why everybody comes up here and talk smack. So, damn, dude. Show some respect. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. residents of San Bernardino

council and uh Mayor TR. Um, I'd like to thank you, mayor, for your energetic leadership for our city. First of all, in case I run out of time, and thank you for number 14 font. Um, we're here tonight because something significant is happening in our city, something that deserves our full attention, and I am pleased at the turnout here this evening. While what's being presented is a simple modern modernization effort, the truth is that this proposal would fundamentally change how our local democracy works. Let's be clear about what's at stake. Ms. McDuff earlier stated that there are three parts to this illconceived initiative. First, it would eliminate primary elections. Primaries are one of the few opportunities voters have to narrow the field, compare candidates, ensure general elections offer real choices. Without primaries, crowded races can produce winners with a small fraction of the vote. Not because they don't represent the majority, but because the majority was split among many candidates. That's not efficient. Efficiency. That's a system where the loudest and best funded voices can dominate and everyday voters lose influence. Second, it would end directly elected mayor and replace it with a mayor chosen from within the city council representing a single ward. While currently our mayor represents and was elected by the city at large, it gives residents the ability to choose the person who represents the entire city, sets the tone for our leadership, and serves as the public face of our

community. Moving that power behind closed doors into internal council negotiations reduces transparency, weakens accountability. A mayor chosen by council members answers to political alliances, not the people. Third, the proposal introduces three consecutive term limits, but only starting with officials elected in 2026. Term limits can be a healthy tool for renewal, but implementing them in this way exempts many of the current office holders. And that raises real questions. Why should the rules apply to future re leaders and not to the ones pushing for this change today? If term limits are truly about fairness and fresh leadership, it should be applied consistently, not selectively. Thank you.

Our democracy is not for sale, not for trade, and not for quiet restructuring. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Yes, sir. Hello. My name is Ricardo Cisneros. I'm with the Ellen Empire Labor Council. Yes, sir.

Labor Council represents 93 unions, over 400,000 members here in this region. And tonight I'm here witnessing political theater and a waste of resources to be honest. Instead of us talking about beautifying our city and talking about rebuilding the downtown area to fit the needs of the residents, we're here talking about nonsense just because a few of you wants to do a power grab. Come on, guys. Let's do the job on behalf of the residents, not just on behalf of yourselves.

I'm going to ask you this. What you're doing right now, is it about justice or just you? Because right now is what I'm seeing is just about some of you that are up there. And I want to thank those of you that raised your hands earlier because you show some grit. And the rest of you, you heard it earlier. Bottom line, you're all elected and you're elected to do the job on behalf of the residents and the folks you represent.

Do your damn job because that's what these residents are asking for tonight is for you to do your job and do your job on behalf of them, not on behalf of you. So, brothers and sisters, do we want them to do their job? Yeah. Do we want them TO DO THEIR JOB? Do your job. Do your job. Do your job. Cuz if not, if not, we're going to vote your ass out.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. My name is Miss Ashley. America is a constitutional republic. We elect officials to legislate and execute laws and you are limited in your power. You're supposed to represent your constituents and make decisions on our behalf and be accountable. But the council, city council is not the problem. We the people are the problem. You cannot have uh 10 or 12% of the people show up on election day and vote and all you need is your family and some church p members and win election. We're not doing our jobs. That's what's happening. So you get what you get because of that. Okay? Show up, get up and vote. Okay? Nothing to California was once the primary education system in the country. We now rank in the lower 20% in the nation despite spending $23,000 a year per child. We have children where graduating children can't read, can't write, do simple math. These are same kids that ended up on homeless, on drugs, committing crimes, suicide, and will be your future leaders. I moved to Sanino in 1968. In 1977, San was awarded the all-American city based on a lot of different factors. In 2025, the city of Sanernardino was ranked as one of the worst places in the United States to live and it still is. Okay. 2027 will be the 50 years since Sanino was designated all-American city. What we want to do, we start a program saying bring back Sanino. And what we want to do is people to use those websites and social medias, take pictures of good things that are happening in Sanino and post them everywhere. We got to have a different face on this on this community. Now, if you get these I passed these out already for the education opportunity.org and what it is called the CEO Act, which will give each child $17,500 of your own taxpayer money from grade K through 12 to go to the the school of

your choice. Could be a private school, religious school, home school, where the parent sees fits. These funds once applied will potentially pay for all your tuition and also your college education. So be zero going both ways. Don't do anything different because it's all your taxpayer money. Now council, we don't need you to concentrate on this thing you're trying to do now. Concentrate on the education kids because that's really where it matters. Now one thing I want to say too with the I know a lot of kids left and I love what the kids saying though that's 10%. Other 90% are not doing well here in California. It's butts in the seat. Please stop using slavery and Jim Crow as a crutch for you. Okay? Nobody's dragging you out your house, lynching you, castrating you, raping you, burning you at the stake, and all kind of things they did to black people. Okay? Nobody stopping you from voting. You can go vote. And they're not ask you to recite the Constitution. They're not ask you to uh how many ask you how many bars on uh soap bars they have in here. They're not ask you all these horrible things you have to do and then beat you to death or lynch you when you get home. Stop it. And stop using as your crutch. Do what you do for you right now. The reason you don't knew this because people don't know their history and they don't vote. You need to get out and vote and learn your history and what's going on in this country. Okay. Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you. Now, Miss Ashley, if you want to see Speaker, please state your name.

Um, hello. Thank you, city mayor, Mayor Tran, and thank you, city council members. My name is Roberto Sea. I am a local city neighbor resident in the city of Redlands. Um, my wife and I have lived in the city of San Bernardino. We have worked in the city of San Bernino and we have participated in the city of San Bernardino for almost a more than two dec one day um a decade and a half to be precise. Um I have worked you can hear me right. Um I have worked in downtown San Bernardino in hospitality lane to be precise. I graduated from Calcy San Bernardino with not only my bachelor's um but also my master's degree in mathematics as a first generation of my family to have graduated from that. Um I I have also I am also um previous educator at Cal State San Bernardino. I've always advocated for education in the city of San Bernardino and the fact that me as a resident in Redlands have seen your work, Mayor Tran, your work and dedication time and time again all throughout social media is noted and well well respected by the way and I appreciate that you're putting more effort into San Bernino than any of you council members. The fact is is that this city as many of you already know is the armpit of California and everybody knows it. We all know that this city can use a lot of improvements but instead past couple of days I was notified through social media and other friends that this was passed um this agenda was going to be discussed last minute as many of us already woke up and started to be like all right we're going to get started with our day. No, we have to come down here to give our public comment when you should be doing your job at the end of the day. Regardless of what you think or regardless of how you take our input, the fact is is that we're all watching. We're all observing. Your council seats or your um elected seats are up for election anyways,

whether it's coming up or later on. Whatever decision you decide to make, all of us know. And the fact is is that I've seen this for the past three generation um three election cycles. I participated in the 2016 general election. That was my first time voting. And the fact is is that I've seen time and time again what actual change has happened for the past three election cycles. The fact is that we have a president that doesn't that continuously ignores its communities. And we know that for sure. continuously uses ICE to berade community members when it does more harm than good for its community. And the fact is is that I can keep going on. I'm going to use this three minutes anyways. But the point that I'm trying to make is that instead of addressing the issues that San Bernino is facing, we're facing a amendment charter to the city of San Bernardino. So the only thing I have left to say is please fix your city. I have been an educator and advocate as well as a worker here in the city of San Bernino. I see what good um advocacy can do. Do your job.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening everyone. I'm Pastor Larry Lee and I've been the senior pastor of my church in the city for the last 43 years. And uh when I signed in tonight, they asked me if I was here for the invocation. And since we didn't have one, maybe my words can serve as a benediction uh for for tonight. these thoughts. When when I was informed about this meeting, my heart was directed uh to these thoughts and I want to share them with all that will listen to me tonight. Even when a a change of leadership or direction was needed, God would send a prophet Samuel to anoint the one who was chosen to lead. And when he got there, he looked at all the candidates and he thought, "Well, surely this must be the one, for he was much taller and stronger looking than better looking than all of the others." But God said to the prophet, he says, "You're looking at all the wrong things." Uh, man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. And just because it looks good or sounds good, doesn't mean that it is good or what is right. When I heard of this issue, I started to research myself and look at the pros and cons of a city- elected mayor form of governance versus a council elected mayor form of governance. And I I think that everyone should do some homework and study up on things themselves. But the issue for me which is in the what is what is in the heart of the issue is what's in the heart of our leaders. uh you know what's uh you know the motives behind the decisions that you make on our behalf and as elders and leaders of a city it's our responsibility to know the heart of the issues that we face and to seek really for me and I think for all of us the heart of God that we might have the best outcomes possible. So, I I'm really calling upon all of the pastors and the spiritual leaders of our

city to come together in the spirit of unity and to pray pray into these matters and let's ask God what what he wants and and and let's be an encouragement because and you know we have many constituents many and and we want them to do this very same thing. We want them to take issues to the heart. We want them to know what's going on. We want them to pray about those things. And so, uh, you know, I I think that it's a great time because I want to see the blessings of God come upon the city of San Bernardino like never ever before. And I want to see all of the past garbage and all of the the the junk and the curses broken over our city for once and and for all. And I I think that'd be a good place for somebody to say, "Amen."

And uh and so I I bless you, the city. I I bless our city uh in the name of the king uh king Jesus who said that you need to redeem the time because the days are evil. And so I want to admonish that to you and God bless you. Thank thank you for listening. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Hello everyone. Hello council. Uh my name is Jonathan Rogers. I am a student, a graduate from UCLA where I got my degree in political science, concentration in international relations and a minor in African-American studies.

Absolutely. But uh that's not what I'm here to focus on today. Whereas where I have my time there, I've done a lot of studying about our city and the opportunities that we have here or don't have. And it's very atrocious and very offensive for me to see that this is going on in my city. Uh because I'm only 26 years old. And at the same time, I do feel like I speak on behalf of a lot of people my age that are really truly working very hard in order to do the things that I've hear I hear that mayor TR is seeking to accomplish where we want San Bernardino to be a better city not only for ourselves but the youth and even older people alike. Um, I believe this, um, I'm not sure what you want to call it, but amendment, if I'm I may be saying the wrong language, but is offensive to the entire city as a whole. Uh, my answer to it is hell no. And I think everyone else in the room feels the same way. If you do and you're up there on stage, I ask that you please step down from your position. what you're doing here echoes the exact or reflects and embodies the exact same thing that we're seeing in the federal government currently with our president which is an atrocious sight to see. I'm a stu or not only a student but I'm a teacher currently for the San Frernardino school district. I've grown up and I've been a student here. So it's an honor for me to be able to come back and work in my city uh and amongst other things. But to see that this uh manipulation of power uh to deceive people and coers and bring power and consolidate it all into one place is just a terrible thing to see. This is not what our democracy is built on. It starts with the words we the people, not we the power or anything of that nature. If you believe that, I promise you, you should truly read the Constitution one more time. Do a gut check. See what you really feel about this position and reconsider. This is a terrible thing to see. I'll be talking to so many of my friends about this who constantly see

all of my posts and everything like that. I have friends all over here in the city all over the world and they see what goes on here. We have an amazing city that people come and travel to for entertainment such as the raves and things like that that go on. I have friends that are trying to continue to grow that. But I see that we even lost um believe it's like countdown or something like that which I know is a huge event in the city and that is taken away from the culture and everything that we have here. I just ask that y'all please seek uh just proper guidance and thinking for the future for the long-term thinking for this city because what I'm seeing right here right now is just something that is so backwards that I can't even explain it. Um, I I see that all over the entire federal government and it's a shame to see that it's come all the way down to my city.

Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, San Bernardino Council Mayor. My name is BJ Sims. I serve as a pastor of Kingdom Culture in the first ward. Also, I'm a proud resident of the sits ward and I serve on the public safety commission, mayoral appointed. Um, and I'm here today because we care. Let's just let's just get that out the way. The only reason that I'm speaking right now is to be a representation of the families that I serve. Um, and in the same vein as Pastor Larry, I don't believe in arguing about things that we could change. John Lewis said that when we pray, we move our feet. We don't pray in vain. We don't pray and sit still. So tonight, I don't feel like I have to say anything that has not already be said. I'm just going to pray for y'all. And I really want to pray for y'all because I understand what it means to be in leadership. I understand what it looks like to make hard decisions. And I also understand that whenever you see a demonic cycle that there's demonic oppression there. The Bible says that we do not war against flesh and blood, but we war against things that are unseen. And I'm very very aware that anytime you see something perpetuating itself year after year after year, even when we change city council members, that something else is going on. I would also be encouraged to say that I think everyone here tonight understood that this would not pass. But then it makes me ask the question that who put who up to this to actually make this an idea? It seems like it seems like and if I'm just gonna be honest and I'll be a prophet as pastor Larry said today, it seems like a spirit of distraction. I want to address something in the room also. San Bernardino is not the armpit of California.

This is not the hood. We are seeing God do exactly what he was going to say with this city. And we believe that this will be a praying city. We don't pray and we don't labor and we don't clean because this is the hood. We pray and we believe and we toil over this land because we believe what God said. Here's a scripture for you. First Corinthians chapter 10 verse 23. In case y'all didn't go to church this Sunday, if you did, you come to my church. Praise God. All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. A different translation says it's speed. But listen to this. Says all things are lawful, but not all things edify. It doesn't build you up. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor. How does the decisions that we make tonight benefit our neighbors? That's the question. How does the decision we make benefits the community? If it does not benefit the community and it only benefits an individual, it is illegal. It's wicked in the kingdom of God. So here, let's pray. So, Father God, we thank you right now for every city council person. We thank you for our mayor, God. And we thank you, God, that every word curse over this city has been broken. You said that no weapon formed against us shall prosper because we put our faith in you, God, not angel, nor demon can come against what you have planned for this city. As you promised before that this is a pioneering city and that this will be a city that praise and seek your face, we believe that we are coming into our best days in the city of San D. FORGET WHAT EVERYBODY else say. We trust you in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, Mayor Tran and council members. My name is Mitch Miller and my wife and I are residents of San Bernardino in Ward 7. I prepared something to say tonight, but before I read that, I wanted to read a message my wife just sent to me a few minutes ago. She's a special ed uh teacher in Sanernino Safety City Unified School District. Um, she wanted to be here tonight, but she has social anxiety and she knows that there was going to be a lot of people here and just couldn't make it. But she still wanted to make sure her voice could be heard. So, I'm honored to speak her words for her. She wanted to let you know that she may teach special education in elementary school, but even her students are aware and mention that they are afraid to go to school sometimes because they're afraid that ICE is going to be outside the school. or sometimes their parents keep them at home because they're afraid that they'll get picked up on the way to school.

Her students are food insecure and they're battling real world problems. She's wiped tears off their faces and has witnessed students being separated from their families. She wants to say on behalf of the teachers of Sanino, please help this community and help the teachers. Please focus on more important issues than what you're voting on tonight. Now, on to what I prepared. Um, I want to be clear. I support good government and accountability. These are important things. I support term limits in most cases. I do think the people should have a voice, but you know, we tend to vote for the people whose names we recognize more often than not whether or not they're doing a good job. But I strongly oppose eliminating the directly elected mayor of our city. Our city is divided into wards for a reason. Each ward has its own needs, its own struggles, and its own voice. My council member represents my neighborhood, and that's important. But the mayor represents all of us. Taking the mayor vote out of the hands of the voters and selecting that role internally concentrates power instead of balancing it as it should be. It removes a city-wide voice that is directly accountable to the people and not just your colleagues on the city council. The role of the city council and mayor are not duplicates. They serve different democratic roles. And I want to say in who speaks for my ward and who speaks for my city and these shouldn't be the same people. Eliminating the mayoral

election doesn't make government simpler. It makes it distant. Doesn't increase trust. It erodess it. And if this proposal truly aims at good governments, then it should expand civil participation, not narrow it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening, uh, mayor and council and community. My name is Juan Via. I'm a lifelong Sanino Ward One resident. I'm proud to call this city my home um and all of my family. But there's uh been the question that has come up and and I'm talking to the community here. Why? Why did this come up, right? Why h how did this come to be? And I have answers for you. Okay?

So, I want I want to let you know that there's three things. Well, for for one, they're going to tell you this is going to be in your hands, right? This is going to be in the voter hands. This is a charter amendment that they're proposing to get on the June ballot, right? So, they're going to say voters are going to get to decide on it, but there are three things that they've bundled intentionally. So, let's go through each one. The first one is a adding term limits, right? Term limits are a good thing. We don't want people in office forever, right? Because the longer they're in office, right, the more power hungry they become, right? We've seen that happen from the local level all the way up to our our our federal levels. So, but term limits are generally a good thing, right? Second, removing the primary election. They're going to say, you know what, this is a cost savings things. We want to this this money is going to be spent for our roads. are going to be spent, you know, to fix our parks, clean up, address homelessness. That's not what it's for, right? They're doing that, right, to consolidate power. And number three, they said they added on there at the very last to to mind you, to remove the elected position of the mayor, right? Now, why would they do this? Right? They would do this because bundling those three things, right? Especially adding term limits and removing primaries. I work on campaigns and I've worked on some of these folks campaigns up here. I know that they're banging they're they're banking on messaging to voters that don't know. They're going to say, "Hey, we're going to save money, right? We're going we are going to we're going to um add term limits so we're not in office forever." And combining it with the third thing, removing your elected mayor, they think voters are dumb enough. They think you guys are stupid enough to not read those three things, right? But no, we are not. And and let me tell you something. As somebody that works in campaigns, I know I bank on some of those folks that don't pay attention to these council meetings, okay? But I want to let you know that this is not about the mayor. This is about our city. The mayor is going to be gone in in 2030, 2034. If you want to

get rid of her, challenge her. Run for office. Spend money against her. Right? If she's not doing the right job, vote her out. Okay? This isn't about her. This is a shortsighted um view that the council has decided to take, right, to eliminate her position because guess what? They see the writing on the wall. They know that the folks that are up for election this cycle are not going to win, right? And we're going to replace them. And so I encourage you I encourage you today to get involved in any campaign against the incumbents, right? starting. We have our our our Martha here who's who's um helping the campaigns, but we also have some other folks back there that are running for office. We need replacements and we need them now. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening everyone. My name is Stephan John's and I have been an almost life lifelong resident of the fifth ward. Uh first and foremost I want to reiterate what was said earlier and it's absolutely deplorable for anyone on the dis to have a smug look on their face or to have be paying more attention to their phone than that of someone at the microphone.

So many people have known that know that I'm not new to this podium. I stepped away for some time due to a personal experience I wouldn't wish on anyone. Recently, however, my desire to re-engage with the community and participate in council meetings has grown and tonight felt like the right time to return. My parents and grandparents lived lives of service in Sanino and the surrounding communities. And in 2005, I began my own career of service with the city of San Bernardino. For more than 20 years, I've given my blood, sweat, and tears to this community. I've had opportunities to continue my career elsewhere, but I chose to stay because I believe in this city and I want to be a part of the transformation it deserves. Early in my career, I suffered an occupational injury. I was offered a choice between a cash settlement or lifetime medical coverage. I chose lifetime medical coverage believing it would ensure proper care. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. When when my workers comp attorney recently asked the city to pay out that medical portion so I could seek care through my own provider, the response was that the city did not have the funds budgeted to do so. Yet tonight, funding has been found for the proposal under discussion.

That contrast is difficult to ignore. When I first started the city, there were two models that were very prominent. and a city on the move and pride in progress. Unfortunately, this city hasn't moved in a positive direction and there's no pride because there's been a lack of progress. We need visionaries and I can tell you that in my opinion there's two on that DAS that are visionaries and Mayor Tran you are one of them. Mr. Fred Wilson was my first city manager and served for 11 years. Since I began my career, 17 individuals have been offered or served in acting interimm or permanent city manager roles.

Before the 2017 charter amendment, shifting us from a strong mayor to a council manager, seven individuals filled that role in 10 years. Since then, there have been 10. I have high hopes that Mr. Levit will become the strong leader Sanino needs and serve with the longevity of Mr. Wilson. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Can you hear me? Okay. Sorry. Violet Castro, Violet, the pilot. I am a pilot. I am also a substitute teacher for the city of San Bernardino and I also drive trolley at the beach. So, I have a couple of things uh going on. But I'm here because changing how mayors selected is not a small administrative tweak. It's a fundamental change to how democracy works in this city. And basically, everybody here took all my ideas on my speech. All right, I'm out. I'm out. That should be a hint. I'm glad that everybody can read my mind. I'm from Fontana, but I'm here to represent. I'm gonna show up to every place that I possibly can to support. You guys are me. I am you. Okay? So, I'm going to show up even though I'm from Fontana. Okay? But I am a part of this city. I got family. I got cousins here. But hey, I do got a couple of things that you didn't get. You got one fan earlier. one who supports what you guys are trying to do here and she just lied her ass off. Cities do not benefit from taking their voting rights away from them. Okay? And this is you're going to see it in my little speech real quick here. Removing the public's ability to directly elect the mayor concentrates power inward and not outward. And I've already heard somebody say that, too. Even if formal authority is limited, the position matters symbolically and practically. It's the most visible citywide voice. and voters deserve a direct say in who holds that role. We are often told that having the council choose the mayor reduces politics, but politics don't disappear. It just moves behind closed doors when five or seven people choose leadership instead of tens of thousands of San Bernardino residents. Accountability shifts away from the public and toward inward alliances. and for English friends.

We've seen this elsewhere in cities like Hartford, Connecticut, where the council historically chose their mayor, residents experienced years of internal power struggles and frustration over accountability. In contrast, places like Asbury Park, New Jersey, moved away from council selected mayors specifically because residents wanted clearer leadership and more direct voter control. Number one, this feels rushed, self-protective, and in case you haven't been paying attention to the current Trump administration, the people are tracking whether in your own communities you are capable of transparency. Democracy does not become stronger by reducing voter participation. All you're doing is proving we can't trust you. And like I said, we are watching you. We are the power. We We want to be able to decide the future of our city's leadership. Don't try and butter us up with other topics here about term limits. We know how you all like to mix one or two things that are good and then one very bad thing you think the voters are going to miss or skip over.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hi, my name is Laura Rodriguez. I'm a social worker. I believe in service to others. I work with people that are involved in the justice system and and just for justice reform because I believe in transformation, redemption. Um I do I belong to W seven. I do uh attend community meetings and over and over I see our mayor TR there at the community community meetings taking heat for you guys's impotence. She takes the heat graciously. She never throws any of you under the bus. I've been meaning to come to a council meeting. Um, but I had just haven't had the time in my schedule until last night. I'm on Instagram and I get a something on my feed that says, "You guys are trying to take away our vote." So, as an American, I said, "WTF? They're trying to take away our vote." So, no, I got to come. And I've sat here. I got here real early cuz I wanted to make sure I had a good seat. So, everybody has said what I was going to say to. So, I don't even need my paper to to speak. I just want to share a couple of observances and the points being my first time at the council meeting. The word that comes to mind watching you guys, except for not you, mayor, except for maybe two, is smug, disconnected. You guys aren't listening to everybody here, but we're going to pay attention and there are elections. Um, I can see why she continues to have trouble delivering what she promised us, too, because you guys are in the way. And I can't imagine how fierce it's going to be after this fails, what you guys are trying to do, steal our right

to vote. But the thing is, so I did a little research. I'm like, well, who the heck is this count, these council people, and I researched all of you and looked at how many people actually voted for you. One of you didn't even get 500 votes on the end right there. Another one of you didn't even get a thousand. But the mayor, she got 62% of the vote. That means you guys need to support her or get out of the way because we all want what she promised us and you guys are standing in the way and it is so clear and it's my first time here. It's not going to be the last for sure. So, I'll just close real quick. Mayor, thank you. I see you at the meetings taking the heat. I saw you at the car wash talking to people there. You're not even trying to get their vote. You're just connecting. So, thank you. Keep doing it. We're going to get these people out of the way. Thank you for all you do.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hello, my name is Esther. I am in Ward One and I can't wait to exercise my right to vote um and vote certain people out. Um, I am also a proud member of the San Bernardino Tenants Union. If anybody is experiencing issues, please reach out. We are here for the community and um to uplift those who need help. Um, I wrote a poem uh regarding I was inspired because of this um this amendment and how it came to be very shady, very rushed. And so this is how I feel. You don't give a about decorum. You leave no space for an open forum. Moving in secrecy to play dictator, betraying democracy and a full-fledged traitor. It's evident from your actions. You ensue chaos in the hopes of distraction. All because you are scared. You're scared that your time is up. You look around every look around. Every voter is gearing up with pens in their hands. We are taking a stand for we can see through your corrupt plan. Listen to the people or you'll be voted voted out. There is power. Yep. Yeah. Vote them out. There is power. Oh, hold on. Sorry. Uh listen to the people or you'll be voted out. There is power in numbers. You better watch out before you before you fumble. You cannot keep us down. You cannot mute our sound. So try as you might, but we won't give up the fight. Power to the people. Thank you.

And um I just want to remind everyone in these seats that our numbers outweigh yours. We put you in those seats. We have the power to keep you there or to to take you out. So I urge you to vote against this and not decrease the p uh sorry and not decrease democracy. Let's sorry

I don't know why I got nervous. But you know what's right and you know what's wrong and this is wrong. I'll leave it at that. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening. Uh my name is Miss Retig. I am a teacher in San Marino City Unified School District. Why would the verbiage elimination of an election ever be allowed? Do you believe the seat of the mayor is primarily ceremonial? We have heard from a previous council member that that is in fact not true. In all areas of government and leadership, there needs to be checks and balances. A group of people that are voted in to represent their wards and an impartial leader that is the combining force for the growth of the entire city. Who the city votes in as mayor is in the power of the people and the people themselves. You may believe taking away a primary will better balance a budget. There are other ways to budget. Taking away the constitutional right of your constituents to share their voice is not the answer. Removal of the directly elected mayor's office silences the voices of every single young person that I work for every day before they even get the chance. Having the mayor come from among the council members is selferving only those who are seated here tonight and decreases the insight of the population of San Frernardino. Kim Nos and others, bright students and future leaders are taking your word. The youth should not blindly trust and follow you when the constituents and voters who have shown up here tonight are able to see through your future self-preservation. Please do not lead from a sole ideal

that you think is correct because you think it. It shows tonight that that reach is only a small radius. If council members are trying to procure their own place in government without listening to the people, I hope, I implore you, change the power you hold currently should be held in the highest regard because it its sole purpose is to share the people's voice through you. Replacing this act of voting with a mayor chosen from among the council members will require closer insight or closer oversight from each member of the community. The community does not want to watch you under a microscope. The community wants to trust you. You may feel as if people do not pay attention, but from the outpouring here tonight, that is clearly wrong. If you feel as if the mayor was not chosen on behalf of the constituents, allow them to tell you through their vote. We do not have dictators on the council to influence their fellow council people to turn on importial voting council into a king's court.

Thank you. If you believe the mayor is ceremonial, that is your opinion. Thank you. Thank you. But the people here do not believe so. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hi everyone. Uh my name is Gustavo Herertado uh Jr. Um I'm a director at RPYA, local nonprofit that works with youth in the Inland Empire. Um I'm just here to kind of speak for myself as like someone who's worked in like downtown San Bernardino for like seven to eight years. Um I do want to also echo the point that like San Bernardino is not an armpit. And I would say like under the leadership of like Mayor TR um things have got better. Like I like I feel like that's a controversial thing to say, but I do think things have gotten better in the past like five to seven years. Um and it's been like a group like a community effort. Uh but I've seen like Mayor TR and be part of the community support and being active meeting with community members. Um, this amendment to the charters does seem like a big major power grab and I just want to say like it's a bad dumb move and y'all should be focusing on like big structural issues like clean water, housing, like more garbage cans like around like downtown. That'd be great. No, everyone's working on that. Um, but hey, things are more pressing than like this weird constitution reamping. um mayor direct um electing the mayor directly like is I don't know worked so far worked effectively with Mayor Tran so why not keep on doing that. Um I'm not going to use the rest of my time because y'all have been very passionate and wonderful community support and hopefully this is uh the end of this issue. All right, bye y'all. Oh uh eyes and go birds.

Thank you. Before we continue, I just want to ask the council if they wish to continue past 10 p.m. Um, I don't know how many more speakers do we have. Madam City Clerk, can you confirm? Uh, to be honest, I'm not sure because a lot of the speakers have left, so it's a mix. I think just Can I have a raise of hand? I know some folks are standing. How many speakers do we have here left? One, two, three, four, five, six. Council, are you okay to proceed with the remaining as public comments? I just need a motion and a second because we're approaching. I'll move. Thank you. There's a motion. Is there a second? To do what? To continue the meeting. Yes. Thank you. Okay. Please state your name.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, members of the council, our honorable mayor, and the very brave members of the public who have risked their reputation, who have given up their time to speak out against this injustice. Today we face a mighty day, a mighty vote over on this year dis. The great question of whether or not we will give up our democratic right to vote for our elected mayor. Time and time again in this city, we see that there is a great deal of suffering. Uh one of the reasons why I'm running as a candidate in the second ward is that so many of our young people are suffering. So many of our unhoused folks, homeless folks are suffering. Our seniors are suffering. There is an affordability crisis. There is a homelessness crisis. Time and time again, the people of this city cry out for change. They cry out for items to be put on the agenda. They cry out for things to be put on the ballot. And those voices, those requests go unanswered. But I would like to remind the community, it took them four days, four days to put this on the agenda. something that 99.99% of the people in this room did not want and will not want and if it gets to the ballot will go down in flames with a resounding no. But let me go and ask our labor brothers and sisters right now. How many years have we waited for them to push through a community benefits agreement to give our young people hope to go and give career changers hope to give seniors hope people coming out of prison prisons hope? How many times have we waited for good PLA so that if we have to build the warehouses, at least the people building the warehouses have justice? How many times have our small business people cried out against the injustice of paytoplay? How many times have we begged and pleaded, gone up to this microphone, running for office, not running for office, demanding change? But we didn't get our four days. We did not. You didn't get your four days. You

didn't. You didn't. None of you did. But this did right here because it gets them a benefit over their political opponent. My friends, we can and we will do better. Understand this. As so many brave people remarked earlier today by testifying to this being Black History Month. The baptism rather the ballot box that we have clasped in our hands, our ability to vote, our human right, our God-given right to vote is something that was delivered unto us by a baptism of blood. People had to give their lives for for our opportunity to vote. Whether it's for the mayor, whether it's for council, for anything that we can vote for. Do not give up that right lightly. Do not allow people on this council for political gain alone to give up your right for you. June 2nd is coming up soon. And it is our opportunity. It is our responsibility to stand up against this, to stand up in favor of our democratic rights and to send a message throughout this council and throughout this city that change is coming and that you deserve better because you deserve that change. Join us, brothers and sisters. Let's make this happen. Thank you and God bless the city of San Bernardino and God bless the Second War. We're going to see it through. We're going to win. Madame Mayor, council members, good evening. My name is Augustine. I'm a chaplain and I have a ministry here in San Bernardino, Celebration Center Ministries. So, on behalf of my team and I, I just want to bless all of you up here tonight. Uh my professional opinion is San Bernardino is a spiritual city and it has been for a long time and I believe it is growing out of a long period of spiritual crisis and I think mayor you're doing a fantastic job not only as a political leader but also as a spiritual leader

because you are boosting the human spirit of the residents of San Bernardino. you know,

and you're giving the people hope and you're giving them a vision and courage to hold on and not to give up and you're boasting their creative spirits to start businesses. I was just talking to a resident not too long ago, I think the day before yesterday, she just began a pie business from San Bernardino so that people have hope and courage that things are getting better. And I look forward when we're going to bless and open Sakumbi Park. I see you doing a fantastic job there and I've been around to examine it and I've been praying over it and praying over your ministry. If we take away from the people of San Bernardino the right to vote for their mayor, we're going to break their human spirit. We're going to take hope away from them. They're going to get discouraged and they're going to be broken. Will you all please stand with me tonight so I can pray for these council members? Yes,

sir. who haven't made up their minds tonight. Pay attention. Father God, Father God, we want to pray for the council members tonight. We don't know, Father God, if they have been bullied secretly. We don't know if the enemy is enticing them. We don't know what they're going through, Father God. Or who has spoken into them, these negative thoughts to rob the people of San Bernardino of their right to vote and elect their mayor. Father God, bless these people, Father God. Give them courage tonight. Let their knights be restless. Yes, Lord.

If they continue to pursue this evil endeavor, Father God, bless their lives. protect them but let them be restless. Father, give them visions from heaven through the power of your holy spirit that this city is a spiritual city. It needs a spiritual leader. Thank you for our mayor and bless this beautiful city in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Hi, good evening. Hi guys. Uh, my name is Vicki Hernandez and I just come here to say um to Helen and you guys. I can see the change in San Bernardino. I used to live here many years ago, but it was San Bernardino. It was the same. It was not changed. So, I have my kids. I just move on because I don't see any change. So when I see her the mayor everybody say we can see the change it's different sardino even if you can walk around I used to live by del Rosa long time ago and now I live in a valley so I just come and I drive around Sanardino because sometimes I have I have family here so I come and visit them and I can see the changes So I hope tonight she can be the same like she's doing changes in summer. So I'm so proud like a woman she is. It's not easy. Of course not. I can say that like a mom now. I can imagine in her seat. So for me I can say thank you Helen for everything you have done. You know who I am and then that's why you are endorsement because I was before come it was a meeting and speak to them and they tell me hey bring the news. So I hope I can bring a good news and I say I'm so proud. I feel nervous because it's not easy to come and speak like Hispanic a lot of Latinas my uh people I was talking to them because I just get the

flyer they say urgent to come but I have to attend them first to my um my meeting and then come here but I said you know what I going to speak for you guys because they say sometimes the politicals are the same but when they board for you guys like Latinos you know So when things like this happen, that's what they say. You see that's the same. So please no people. Thank you. Thank you. Gracias. Next speaker, please state your name.

Uh yes, ma'am. My name is Haime Monson. I'm a constitutional observer, constitutional protector. And as soon as I heard you were trying to take people's voice uh votes and people's voices, I stepped up to the podium. And I'm here to ask all of you to please understand that we are in crucial times right now. Our people are being kidnapped off the streets without no purpose, without just for the simple reason of going to work. So you guys trying to do the same thing the White House is doing by just forcing people to do things that they don't want to do and trying to be sneaky about votes. That's not right. I'm just asking you to please ask your police and your sheriff's department to protect the citizens, the taxpayers, not no mass kidnapping individuals. You need you need you need you need to protect the citizens of your city, of your county. You have to take accountability. Identify all these criminals. Unmask them. Make a police report from every violent incident that alters the peace of your people, of your city, of your town, of your county. We are not criminals. We are hardworking people. It is not a crime in the United States to go to work every day. It is not a crime to take your kids to school. It is not a crime to go shopping. And brother, you over there in the gray, pay attention, brother. I'm talking to you, too. You're here, too. You're part of that team. You've been annoying. You've been avoiding people's comments and people's observations all night. Do you need to resign to your job, sir? Do you want your job? You're here to represent the people, not yourself, not your self-interest. You've been playing with your phone all night, brother. We see you. You've been playing with your phone all night. Pay attention. We pay taxes. We pay taxes. Am not your race, bro.

I'm talking to you in the gray. Dirt number three. Teddy, are you there? Teddy, that's what I'm saying, ma'am. That's what I'm talking about. Ladies and gentlemen, you are seeing it for yourself. You are seeing it for yourself. The guy is resigning to his position. He's not trying to listen to the people that put him there. So, ladies and gentlemen, I'm just trying to say from the bottom of my heart, I am a Please, please let allow the speaker to complete. Please,

I am a US citizen. I was first generation born here. My parents made a big sacrifice to make it to this country and give me this opportunity to speak out for my people. I was a drug addict, homeless for five years. And they gave me the opportunity for a rehab and they gave me a a reason to move on. And here I am working six, seven days a week putting my voice up because I have a voice. And everybody else here and everybody else in a cell, everybody that has been killed by ICE, ICE agents that you guys have been protecting instead of protecting us. That is what we want. That is what we want you to focus on, not this Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Arlene Castro. Peekab-boo. You guys remember me when you guys did your bridge ceremony? Yeah, that was me out there protesting. I was the only I was four people. I was out there protesting against ICE when you guys were doing that bridge ceremony. Yeah, I was that crazy lady out there. I'm back and I'm And I It got worse. Instead of you guys helping us, it got worse. I'm out here by Home Depot every day because I GOT ICE PIGS getting my people. EVERY DAY I'M OUT HERE CHASING ICE. YOU KNOW HOW HARD THAT IS? I'M A SINGLE MOTHER

AND I GOT CHILDREN going on city buses IN THIS CITY and this city. If I takes one of my children, so help me God. You guys will not hear the end of it. You guys will not hear the end of it. And I'm the fourth generation here. My kids are fifth. But you know what? Because of the color of their skin, they can get picked up. American citizen or not. And you guys ain't DOING YOUR PIG COPS ARE helping ICE. I see them. I see THESE PIGS ASSISTING THE OTHER PIGS. And yeah, outraged. BUT I SWEAR TO GOD, IF THEY TAKE MY KIDS, YOU GUYS ARE ALL GOING TO ANSWER.

YOU GUYS ARE ALL GOING TO ANSWER. AND GUESS WHAT? MY COMMUNITY WILL come with me as well. So, all this you guys are trying to do and help your citizens. Step up or step down. these ice pigs, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you.

Any more public comments before Okay, I see two more. My name is Wanda Phillips aka Missy. I worked for the county of San Bernardino for 40 years. I had a career there. I'm a um my great-grandmother was here, my mother lived here. I'm a native here. So, I've seen a robust San Bernardino. And now I am a little bit afraid to walk around. My son and I I'm a caregiver. Used to play tennis at 9:00 at night or walk four miles in the summertime and it could be 9:00 at night. It didn't matter. But not now, you know, not anymore. Um, I know because I've sat on a few boards myself that sometimes it's a thankless job. I understand that. And it seems like people only come out when they're complaining and that is kind of disheartening when you're trying to do your job and make decisions. So, I understand I appreciate all the time that's been put in. Um, I've moved around in the Inland Empire. It was really weird because when I moved from Redlands to San Bernardino, my car insurance went up. I didn't understand until I was here for a little while why that happened. But I would like to say, and I know I'm only preaching to the choir here, but I heard some statistics here about people were just being barely voted in. Well, that means that people are barely

voting.

And the problem with that, you know, it isn't just what's going on or the decisions that are being made up here. You know, there used to be something that said it takes a village to raise a child, but really everything starts in the home really. Um, if we don't teach our children certain things and we and respect is very important too. Um, my mother, she just I don't even think she graduated from high school, but she was very smart. She was very patriotic, and to not vote would have seemed outrageous. Um, senior moment. forgot what I was going to say about that, but she said, you know, as an American, you've got to vote, you know, and many people here were talking about how they gave their lives so that we could vote.

Um, and yet the people that are here understand that, but are we talking to our children, our neighbors about these things? That's where times. Thank you so much. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening everybody. My name is Benito Barios, lifelong resident of the second ward and candidate for city council. I want to applaud and comment and uh commend everybody that came out to speak. We've heard plenty of different former elected officials. We had our maja come out represent Eloise, our our senator's office. Um, shout out to my alma mater, those Pacific High School students that were here, alma moater from San Bernardino Valley College that were here that are still here tonight. The unions that were here, everybody that came, the the community came. They came strong and they laid the gauntlet. They laid the gauntlet on you guys. I've been in your seat. I know what it is to be in the hot seat, but this one's like, "Wow." Yeah. And they put they drew the line in the sand. You're going to cross it or not. Crossing it. I was told once you're going to commit political suicide. This is nothing about compared to what I was facing. This is like political murder that that you're going to commit to yourself um in voting for this. And I know some of you had just made up your minds. You're going to go with what you believe in or what you know. And it just makes me question where is it all coming from? It makes me question, are you guys being threatened somehow? Because I'm just trying to justify in my mind how is it that this is justifiable for our city without no backup, without going through the proper process. Why all this? Why all these hy jinks? Sandra Juan, I'm like have some hope in you guys that you make a bold move and say no. The community has come to talk and voice their their opinions. You have a again huge opportunity to

display your leadership, display that you care about your community, what they say, and um commend you guys for doing the job that you got to do. Sometimes it's hard and today's one of those tough days, but you guys have opportunity to to be part of one or the other on the other side of history tonight, you know, and I pray for you guys that you guys make the right decision. Somebody breaks out and just says no to to break up this whole entire thing tonight. Um because it's of course I'm opposed to everything that's being opposed tonight. And um Fred, we voted for the primaries because when I I know when I got elected, I didn't have any and then we voted for them. But before I go, as my time ends, just want to make a clear statement to everybody. I do not support our administration and ICE needs to be out. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Thank you, madam city clerk. That concludes the speakers for public comments. Were there any online or anything that you have to I'm sorry. We did actually receive written public comments. We received about 31 and those are those are available online. 31 emails. Yes. Thank you. Before we council, are there any comments before? Yes. Council member Ortiz.

Yes, Mayor. Um, in light of receiving 141 public comments on this issue, I'd like to make a motion to reject moving forward with these amendments and instead um ask that WE and instead ask that we direct the city manager to convene the charter committee um to meet um soon, very soon, and so that we can set up workshops with the community to um discuss what the council is looking at as well as any other revisions or additions that the public would like to see in our charter.

There's a motion. Is there a second to that motion? Second. Council member Ibara.

Yes. I want to thank the whole community to come out uh because when the whole charter change was happening, I opposed it for the same same reason that we were removing elected city clerk and elected city treasurer citywide. Um I um I would like to add if it if my um colleagues here are okay with um trying to think of my Sorry, I just I just blanked out. But let me let me come back, mayor. But I do want to thank the whole community for coming out because I was a a strong opposer to that charter change. Um, for those who don't know, I've tried so hard to get a commissioner and I did finally and shortly after he was removed from the committee, not by us, but by the chairperson. Um, I didn't have a representative at the charter review committee. He wasn't allowed to speak and time and this is and for me to find out that the charter review committee has not met since November 2023rd is very troubling because this is coming to us because we have not had any meetings from the charter review um committee itself and um if my colleagues would be amendable to reinstate my commissioner into the charter review committee I'll I'll also support and that commissioner is Scott Olsson.

Okay. Thank you. So would the council member who motion um amend to include that? Yeah. No, that's fine. A seconder. Um okay. Now, council member Sanchez. Uh yes. First of all, I want to thank our police officers who are sitting there in the back who uh provide us a a semblance of uh security here. Please allow please. Council member speaking.

Okay. I just cl clarification. Uh did this council remove Scott Olsson from the charter committee? I I didn't believe he was removed by this city by the uh by this council. So he hasn't been removed. He's still part of that charter committee as far as I know. The the issue at hand would be that the charter committee has not convened. Madame Mayor. Okay. Council member, is that all? No. No. I'd like to hear from

Okay, Mr. I was just going to add that I don't know the circumstances of um that committee member being removed or not. However, it is not on the agenda tonight to appoint any commissioners. So even if that happened and even if council member Ibara wants to reappoint him to the committee, it can't happen tonight because it was not on the agenda. Okay. Thank you. Council Sanchez, can you will you councilwoman? Will you bring that forward at the next meeting as a recommendation? If we need to reinstate council, one at a time, please. Council member Ibar, would you like to bring it forward at the next meeting to reappoint him? Yes. Scott, you got it. Okay. Thank you.

Council member Sanchez. Yes. I'd like to make a substitute motion that we direct staff to prepare the amendment to the city charter for the June 2nd, 2026 primary election. to set term limits for city council, eliminate the primary election, and eliminate the directly elected mayor, the directly elected office of the mayor. There's a substitute motion. Is there a second to that? Seeing none, we go back to the original motion and the second. Please call for the votes. Please call for the vote. Mayor, I'm Would you,

Council Member hear all that was going on? Were you trying to council member Sanchez? I'd like to hear exactly what it was. I wasn't able to hear all of that with a lot of motion that's going on. Please, we please do not disrupt the meeting or else you're going to be asked to escort it out. Please. Okay. Council member Sharet. Council Sharette, you would like to hear council member Sanchez's second um amended motion, substitute motion and there were people talking over one another is all I'm So you would like to hear it again? Okay. I also noticed that we've lost a council member and I don't think we should have any votes right now until we have

council. Can you guys order please stop? Council Sheret, just because the council walked out doesn't mean we can't continue to um uh to hear the substitute motion. So, do you want to hear it? I'd like to hear it. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Council son, just repeat your substitute motion.

So, I'd like for my substitute motion uh to be to consider this item at the next regularly scheduled meeting, which is this Wednesday. I know that with um I'm seeing that uh my colleague is very invested in making sure that her commissioner is appointed and I think with this late breaking item I think we can uh take that into consideration at the next meeting. So I'd like us to uh to continue this item to Wednesday. What would that be? Council member Sanchez, the item the agenda I'm just clarifying what you're asking for because the next regular meeting on Wednesday, the agenda's already posted. So it would be the next

So what your what is your motion is to substitute to go through with this what is your motion? So my motion the point of order he made a motion and it's been asked to be repeated and now it's being changed. So are we repeating the original motion or are we changing it Mr. City attorney? Council, please. Please. Council member Sheret asked for the substitute motion to be repeated, to be read. However, any maker of a motion has the right to amend their motion. So, so we're we're not repeating it, we're amending it is what you're saying. That's up to Council Member Sanchez. I'm not the maker of the motion.

Council member Sanchez, please be very clear and repeat what your substitute motion. So then that way council member Shereet can hear you please.

So um you know hearing hearing my colleagues concerns Mayor Potm Iber Ibara uh I believe that uh the council should be considering this uh appointing Scott Olsson to the charter committee. Um we can call for a special meeting. a special meeting is only a 24-hour notice and that will suffice that will give enough time for us to consider both appointing Scott Olson to the charter committee as well as continue the discussion of this item to the regularly scheduled so wait to a special meeting to to uh to start directly before the regular scheduled meeting for Wednesday. Council member Sheret, please please. Council Sharette, did you want to second that?

Yes, I will. Okay, there's a substitute motion. Can we call for the vote so we know where we're at? Mayor, yes. I I do have There are obviously I'd like to hear from legal on on if this is going to work. Mr. City and if it can be done appropriately. Thank you, Mr. City. Legally.

Thank you, mayor. Um, we have conferred with the city clerk's office advising whether this proposal can be placed on the June primary ballot. With the initial research that we have done at this time, we believe that it can. Um, as to the proposal to call a special meeting for Wednesday, uh, for for this item to be taken up, then um, it can. Um, I will tell you that I need a little bit of a of clarification whether that motion was to continue this discussion this discussion to Wednesday or to consider a resolution to place the matter on the ballot at this Wednesday's meeting. I also need some clarification on what that substitute motion was.

Mr. San Council Sanchez, what was the what was the distinction between those two? Tonight to tonight's proposal is asking for staff direction to work up the charter amendment. That would be that would be what I would like to discuss at Wednesday's meeting. Okay. So, you want to continue the discussion and and and discuss giving staff direction at this upcoming uh Wednesday. call another special meeting. There is enough time. You only need 24 hours notice to do that. Does that answer your question, Council Member Sheret? I That's the way I I think that's the way I'm understanding it. Yes.

And that would allow that would allow the council to also consider um the appointment of Scott Olsen to the charter committee if in fact he has been taken off. Mayor, if I also may add the, you know, the drop dead date to place an item on the June primary ballot is March 6th. Okay? So, between now and March 6, you have Wednesday's regular meeting, you have another regular meeting two weeks after that, and you have another regular meeting on March the 4th. Thank you, Council Member Artis.

Yeah. Um, so it's completely disingenuous to say that the appointment of Scott Olsson, which won't be agendaized for Wednesday, uh, because it's not bring brought forward, uh, would be on this because your plan is not to convene the charter committee. It is to pass these amendments. And so the charter committee is null and void by moving forward. So the substitute motion is what allows the charter committee to come forward. It gives councilwoman Abara adequate adequate time to reinstate her person on the set on the 18th meeting and move away from putting this at any primary so that we can have proper discussion. So the two things uh just like the approach to this uh is just shoving a bunch of stuff at one time. So Councilwoman Nabaro doesn't need to move forward to Wednesday so that you can get these amendments passed because then Scott Olsson has no purpose on the committee. So I just want to make sure that's super clear. Thank you, council member. Council member Sanchez.

Yes. So, the direction right now is to direct staff to prepare those amendments. The the time lapse between when staff prepares those amendments and they can convene the charter committee would allow sufficient time for the charter committee to then convene, gather recommendations and submit those to the city. And those can be okay. Please, please, please or else we're going to be escorted out. If you can keep going, we are going to be escorted out of this room. Please, please. Council member Sanchez, are you done with your um um substitute motion?

I'm not. No, I'm done with the substitute motion. I wanted to my I haven't finished with my rebuttal on this. So with with bringing back Scott Olsson's appointment at a special meeting to directly proceed the uh the regular meeting on Wednesday as well as moving forward with directing staff to move forward with these charter amendments. The time lapse would allow sufficient time for the the charter committee to convene and make any recommendations it might have to the council before final approval by the council to move this charter amendment to the June 2nd primary.

That would allow us that would allow us to do both get community input as well as move forward with this amendment. Please, again, please do not disrupt this meeting. If you continue, we're going to ask the police officer to just escort you out, please. So, Council Member Sanchez, your substitute motion seconded by Council Member Sheret, are you clear? Okay, last comment before we call the votes. Council member Ortiz,

that is absolute crap. So, you care nothing about the charter committee moving forward because you don't need their recommendation. You want to approve it irregardless of the fact that the charter committee was here tonight and 144 people told you not to do this. So, why lie? I think we're four and a half hours past that point. So, you don't care. You think Councilwoman Abara is just oblivious to what's going on. That to me is absolutely rude and disrespectful, but at least let's put it on the record. So, I mean, it is what it is. You still want to move forward regardless of the fact that the community is not educated in what we're doing. They're not in favor of it, and you're going to do what you want to do. But to say anything else and pretend like getting people on the commission, and you have less than 30 days, not only to educate the public, but to educate yourselves on what this truly means. Because if you can't get 14 pages of a charter correct in 10 years, what makes you think you're going to be able to establish a paragraph or two in 30 days, regardless of how many special meetings you are willing to call? So, just say it is what it is because everybody is extremely tired of this nonsense that goes on in this city.

Thank you. Please call for the votes for the substitute motion. Council member Sanchez. Yes. Can you please madam city clerk repeat before you call for the votes? Repeat the motion so that way we're clear on the substitute motion and then call for the votes. The sub sorry the substitute motion made by council member Sanchez is to uh prepare to direct staff to prepare to reinstate Scott Olsen and continue this item to well sorry direct staff to prepare the amendments uh to be held at a special meeting on to run concurrent with the regular meeting on uh February 4th. Mayor I have another comment. Sorry Council Mar

the other comment is Mr. Mr. City Manager, can we assure that we're going to have staff to help run that meeting because it's been since November 2023 that for some reason they weren't having meetings anymore, whether it was because they didn't meet quum or there was no staffing available for them. Can you can you check into that? Yeah, we'll work on having staff. Thank you, Council Member. We'll have work on having staff do a do a meeting to include legal council member. Okay, are we good? Are we good to continue? Can we call the vote votes? Yes. Council member Sanchez? Yes. Council member Bar, no.

Council member Fero. So, can you repeat that so Council Foy understands?

Madame Mayor, just to clarify again what that substitute motion is. It's to do again what you did tonight to consider whether to give staff direction. So, it's calling a new special meeting on Wednesday to further discuss whether to give staff to direction to prepare a charter amendment. Okay. One, and two, to reappoint Scott Olsen to the charter committee.

Yes, it's fine. Council member Sheret. Mayor Pro Tim. Yes. Council member Flores. No. Council member Ortiz. No. Motion passes 4 to three.

And as the atlarge mayor, per the charter, I can veto 43. I am vetoing this action and this is the power of the people. I'm exercising the right that you have called us to do. Now we go back to the original motion. Council member Sanchez. No. Council member Barara. Yes. Council member Figareroa. Uh yes. Council member Sheret. This is the Please uh council please the council's having a hard time hearing so please respect

the council. Madam city clerk can repeat motion please. Yes. This was a motion made by council member Ortiz second by council member Flores to direct this city manager to do what? direct the city manager to reconvene the chart, sorry, the charter review committee to allow for them to discuss items of concern for the council and the community.

Mayor Proin, yes. Council member Flores, yes. Council member Ortiz,

yes. Motion passes 5 to two with council member Sanchez and Sheret voting in opposition. Thank you council. Thank you to the people of the city of San Bernardino. You showed up strong because we work for you. Tonight, the people of Sanino were heard. This council, please. This council made a clear choice. The majority of the council made a clear choice to respect the voters, to honor the city charter, and to protect the right of the residents, to choose their own mayor, to honor the city charter. I want to thank the council members who stood with the voters. Sanine belongs to the people. Tonight, that principle was affirmed. Thank you and good night. The next the meeting is adjourned at 10:08 p.m. The next regular joint regular meeting of the mayor and city council council. I need a quorum on here. Do not leave. and the mayor and city council acting as the successor agency to the redevelopment agency and the mayor and city council acting as the San Bernardino city housing authority and the mayor and city council of the city of Sanino acting acting as the Sanino Joint Powers Finance Authority will join to the regular meeting to be held on Wednesday February 4th 26 at the Feltime Central Library located at 555 West 6th Street San Bernardino California 92410 close session will begin at 3:30 and open session 5:00 p.m. Thank you. Good night. Get home safely.