City Council - Regular Meeting

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tomorrow. All right. All right. Okay, welcome everyone to the Lancaster City Council meeting.

Roll call, please. City Council member, agency directors including housing. Hughes Leslie present. Molly, present. man present. Vice Mayor, Vice Chairman Chris present. Mayor, Chairman Paris, we have a quorum. He's absent. We have a quorum. You need a motion to excuse the I'll make a motion to excuse um Mayor Paris. I second. Go ahead. All in favor signify by saying I. I. I. Motion passes unanimously. The invocation. Henry, I see all kinds of people in here. I defer to Henry tonight. No, I think John, you, Chris Johnson, and Henry should all do it together.

Please stand for invocation.

Our father, we thank you so much for the privilege of being here tonight in America. Things are different, but you're always still God, and you continue to love us, and we thank you for it. Thank you for my brothers who are standing with me, and I thank you for our council, and for them looking ahead and making things to be where people can want to be in the city of Lancaster. Thank you, Lord. Bless us. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, Henry. My pledge, Chris, you want to do the pledge for us? All right, let's go. Let's say it together. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Okay. Presentations. Aquatic team. Who's doing the presentation on that? It'll be uh Jana Conrad, the supervisor for the aquatics program. How are you? [applause]

Good evening, vice mayor and council members. My name is Jana Conrad and I'm the aquatic supervisor and current secretary and exe executive board member of Scapoa. The Southern California Public Pool Operators Association is a 501c3 and represents more than 65 agencies across Southern California. The city of Lancaster's aquatics team competed and took first place in the fourth annual surf and turf scapoa's annual lifeguard competition. The competition evaluates participants speed, highintensity active rescue scenarios and coordinated multi-rescuer response operations. The team exceeded in all the core competencies established by the American Red Cross, demonstrating advanced skill, precision, and readiness through disciplined teamwork, clear communication, and exceptional professionalism. The aquatics team set the benchmark for life-saving excellence. Their achievement reflects extensive hours of training and unwavering dedication to public safety and a shared commitment to protecting the community. Congratulations to this exceptional group for representing Lancaster Aquatics with excellence, integrity, and heart. And for proving what true life-saving leadership looks like. I'd like to welcome Vice Mayor and City Council to take a picture with the following. Ashley Zavala, Selene Romo, Justin Torres, and Lincoln Robuk. [applause] [applause]

Can they come up here?

Yes. Definitely clap for this one. And I got a stack, so beware. Here it comes. Um, so good evening, Vice Mayor and Council. Tonight, I have the distinguished honor of bringing up many, many groups that made up the Love Your City Cleanup Campaign.

Do you need Raj down there to help you pass those out?

Yeah, I do. That'd be great. Um, you got a couple minutes, too, Raj. I I'm going to do We got a video, so come after the video, come down. Um, just a reminder of what the Love Your City program is and and is growing into even more as with every event that we do. But this was a an initiative actually put forth by the vice mayor. He challenged us probably six months ago to come up with a concept where we could go out into communities and really create a sense of community. Um, and what these were were these large cleanup efforts where we would clean up neighborhoods, we would clean up commercial areas, we would do homeless engagement and get them to the services that they need and get them moved out of the locations that they shouldn't be. And it was really all about showing and teaching our community what compassion means, what community pride means, and how to love our city again. Um, a bunch of different organizations came together to make this happen. Uh, I I think it's even growing bigger now. We had a meeting, what was it last Wednesday or Thursday where we were talking to additional organizations, talking about bringing them in, making these events even bigger. We even talked about expanding and going into our neighboring city in Palmdale. So, this thing is catching fire. It's it's it's an amazing event. Um, I'm excited to see it grow. And I think you wanted to touch on some stuff too, Vice Mayor, about this.

I just think that it's uh if we're going to solve some problems in our community, we have to touch along the lines of our faith-based community. If we don't ask our faith-based community to come in to help for the homeless, to clean up, uh and we're talking about uh doing it with dignity, respect, with everything. Uh there's several 501c3s that have been created throughout this. Uh we have mercy rides for people that want to go back home that are being transported here uh against their will. Um so I think it's it's all a good thing that's happening. Uh but the the best thing that happens is everybody is putting in once [clears throat] a quarter um their time on a Saturday. Put in three or four hours to help uh clean up the community and what it means to people is just it's it's a tremendous uh plus for our community when you can see uh the elderly people like Ken out there in the community and they're they they come out of the garage and they can't clean up their garage anymore. They can't uh lift the things that are in the garage. Uh all the people from the churches come in, they help them, they clean the backyards, they clean the front yards, they clean everything up, and it's a it's a sense of pride, and you see these uh elderly uh just showing respect for what they're doing and how they're doing, and it's uh I think it's a fantastic thing that the city is doing. So, thank you, Troy, and thank you for all the nonprofits that are out there.

So, to date, we've had three events. We had one in October, one in November, one in January. We have another one scheduled for April 25th. So that'll be the next one. And we have a video that summarizes those first three events. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Yeah, perfect. [applause] So, before we get into bringing up all the different groups and recognizing them, I did want to highlight one other thing that came out of this. Actually, uh consent item four tonight is council considering accepting $172,000 from the state. So, that's actually a grant that we were able to go out and

get that's going to help support funding more of exactly this. So, hats off to the work we're doing. We're we're getting recognized now. [applause] So, come on down now, Raj. You can help me pass these out. We're going to start with Grace Chapel. So, I think we have Jordan, Eric, and Pastor Chris Johnson here. [applause] I think that like Black's office is here or they I think that's for the next uh is it the next the next presentation? Yeah, they're gonna they're going to do the stuff for the Justice Sunday. Well, tell them they should have been here for this one.

Here you go. You can. And I know you wanted to say a couple words, so have at it.

First of all, I want to take a moment to appreciate Marv Christ. I know that you're coming toward the end of a lot of years of public service. It was a long time ago that you and I were on the criminal justice commission in this room. And um I want to publicly say how much you've done behind the scenes. I think I know that almost as well as anybody does. Whether it's the bike giveaways, whether it's the literally Marv, I was adding it up. I think the two of us has probably spent 200 hours in meetings over 20 years to help the homeless. And you have been a man who doesn't draw attention to yourself, who just continues to serve, to serve. And I know that when you go off the council, you're going to continue to do that. and you're still going to call me and give me things to do like you did tonight. Say the pledge of allegiance. And so I I don't ever mind answering your call and I don't ever mind because every time you call me it's it's with a regard to service. But I don't mind if I could just say a few words. Um I I just wanted to thank this city, all of you. What a what a tremendous city it is to live in, to be able to do ministry in. For me as a pastor, this this relationship goes back a long ways. But this is much more than just about cleanup days or just beautifying our city. But it it did do that. It improved appearances. But it really shows us, as you mentioned, Marv, what can happen when a city and churches and other nonprofit organizations work together with a shared purpose and we are seeing a huge impact. And so no single organization can carry the weight um that is needed in a community. It cannot. And we know that we live in a time where there's a particular great need. And so what I love is is when we come together and bring our strengths together, we are multiplying the impact. And you can see it in just a short period of of time most recently. And so I think these partnerships also show us that when people care for the place that they live and their neighbors around them, real change becomes possible. And I think we're on the front end of

significant change. I think we just have had a taste. And so for those of us in the faith-based community, um the the motivation for the spirit of cooperation, honestly, it is a a reflection of a deeper commitment to what we call the great commandment. What Jesus said was the great commandment. In fact, I love that it says in God we trust. And uh there's a song we sang in Sunday school and it was this. In God we trust and obey. And Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God supremely and to love people sacrificially. And so for us, we we can love anybody. We love everybody. It doesn't matter your ethnicity, your background. It doesn't even matter your religious affiliation or no affiliation. Um we are just out there to love. And so we're honored to kind of join the city in that expression of that love. And so as we continue to move toward now even the homeless and how can we better help the homeless and getting them to resources that are available to them and even creating some new ones. Um we all believe we all believe that everybody's made in God's image and has great worth and value. And so we want to we want to help people get to those solutions. And so we we like to live by these two simple phrases and that is constructive compassion. And that's the idea of like let's love people and not just let them stay out on the streets and die out in the cold or in the heat, but let's actually get them to real solutions. And then also comprehensive compassion. And that's all a part of this. This is all a part of a bigger effort to really help our fellow human beings and our neighbors. And that comprehensive compassion includes our kids in our community and our seniors in our community and our families in neighborhoods and and and I personally just disregard what what Marv said about you, Ken. I love you and I'm not sure you're that much difference in age, but whatever. But I, on the other hand, much younger, two years apart, I am much younger than both of you. He just had a birthday. I know that.

Oh, he's catching up.

He's catching up. he's gonna be closer next year than I don't know how that works. But I do but I do wanna I do want to say that we need to also remember our kids and to remember things like that the parks are for kids, the libraries for kids. And so as we seek to help the homeless, we're also I think showing compassion to our greater community. And Marv, you mentioned something called Mercy Rides. And that is a brand new nonprofit that literally just last Saturday they officially got their nonprofit status. So it is official now. And that came out of this effort just since last August all that's happened and they already are getting people to real solutions whether that's down below to uh the the hospital the county hospital all of you down below if it if it's getting them we got they were able to get a lady um down to LA yesterday to an embassy she had to get to so she could get home to her home country there's another man that grew up in our community they were able to get him to a rehab and and and so this is is a there's great things happening and Marva I just want to thank you for your continued support in that and I know that will continue and thank you to this whole council and to this community and so bless you all and it is a joy to serve with you to serve with fellow churches. This community is like none other in the way that we can work together and love each other. So bless you. Thank you. [applause]

Thank you Chris. And yeah, hand it out. I'm going to ask you guys to stay standing up here because I think when we all get up here and we show the presence, it shows just a fraction of what we actually saw out when we were doing the cleanup. Um, next I'm going to call many of our deputies up. We have Sergeant Robert Jensen, Sergeant Christopher May, Sergeant Michael Figureroa, Deputy Armando Lopez, Deputy Anthony Paresi, uh LD volunteer Terry Shanks Dyer, uh LD volunteer Joshua Styles, and LD volunteer ama Dawn.

[applause] Yeah, they should be in order, too.

And then we've got next up, Waste Management, Ashley Cortez, Quincy Little, and Michael Dudley. [applause] We've got Desert Vineyard, Pastor Keith McCart, Pastor Leah Teas, and Pastor Dano Mc Nathan Mcuarter. [applause] Management

right there. Quincy Next up, Desert Christian School, Harley Wiser, Josh D'vor, and Shannon Casease. That goes there. And then here's your next batch. garage. And next up, our landscape work. So, these these this group here actually volunteered some time to redo the yards on a few houses and trim some trees. So, it's Michael Ayala from Landscape Connection and Jim Luwendowski from Tiptop. [applause]

Here you go, Rash. That's the school right there. And then last we have Kaiser Permanente.

Is Mike. There you go sir. So Kaiser Permanente we have Teresa Marie Dea Cruz Radhiki Kumar Enus Valz andur no I'm sorry I'm messing this one up. Another Dr. Kumar, Carla Manassie just right over there. Uh Susie Ali and then Kota Kota. [applause] Yes. So this is the group. Let's give them a big round of applause. Thank you. [applause]

Wonderful. Wonderful. Wonderful. Can you get a whole Um, okay. You guys have a lot of resources out there.

This is the city of Lancaster, y'all. So again, my hats off to that group people. There's just it's just an honor to work with them and to accomplish what they do out there. So it's really good. The next one is for Justice Sunday. Nigel [applause] Hello. Hello. Hello. And hello

council. Pleasure. Thank you for having us out. This is our 10th year of doing just this Sunday since we converted to youth. [applause] That's 10 successful years of investing in our futures. And since this 10-year journey started, we've sent kids all across the country. NYU, Howard, Berkeley, Morehouse, so many went to UCLA, we won't even start talking about those guys. uh all over the country, all across the state, these kids have uh popped out of these programs and become very successful. Some of which have come back, as you know, and are pouring back into the youth that are coming behind them. Uh Justice Sunday started more than two and a half decades ago. It was brought to our valley by Bishop Henry Hearns um out of a national alliance of faith and justice to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King. From that we get things like the day of service which and hands hats off to you guys who came out and served the community to do the cleanups. from that we get things all across this country that don't necessarily reflect the current climate. And I'll just leave it at that. Um, but today we're here to celebrate some young people. So, I'm going to get out the way and let my mentor come up and say a few words and then we'll get to the main event which are our kids. Bishop parents. [applause]

to my I call him the mayor anyway while he's serving as mayor. Uh and to all of the council and to all of the staff, I want you all to know that we appreciate the opportunity to do the to do the kind of things that we do. Now to make mine short so that we can move on. I just uh had the wonderful opportunity I don't know it's been 30 years or so that I met Nigel uh Mr. Holly and at that time we were doing recognition basically led by us older people started out at Edwards while I was serving as the chief of the environmental office and all that stuff. But then he and I sat down across the street over here one day and were just eating. I said, "You know, we need to get the young people involved." And I haven't seen this end of it yet. And they took it over and all of us old people now are watching, not doing we're watching. And I just want you to know, Nigel, and to uh thank you so very much for allowing God to use you to reach out and touch young people. And I just said to him, to all the leaders here someday, and for me, I'll be 90 I'll be 93 in in next month. I'll be 93 years old. Now, [applause] I appreciate that. And I like to say this, and I don't mean for it to be morbid at all, but uh when you get close getting close to 100 years old, you don't expect to be around forever because that's not how it's set up. But what I do want to do is to say to Nigel and to all of the rest of you, when we do what we do, we ought to be

handing it handing off the trophy to somebody else who will grab that and run another mile while we move on to our next destination. So Nigel, thank you to all of the rest of you. Thank you so much for putting our young people up front and causing them to move on with a torch. God bless you and thank you. [applause]

So this year's Thank you, Bishop. One more hand. One more round of applause for Bishop. He's been our mayor. He's been our councilman. He's been our bishop for many of us. He's been a father. He's been so much to this valley. Um with that, this year we celebrated Justice Sunday by honoring Bishop Hearns and we told his life story. So, if you had an opportunity to get out there and see it, you you will agree with me. There was lots of laughs, lots of tears, lots of connection. It was a wonderful presentation. And that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for our Justice Sunday alumni. Uh so, with that, I'm going to invite India Smith up, which was our previous alumni president, and she will do the honors of inviting up the children. I want to first say thank you to all the kids, all the babies who did their thing. I mean, it was wonderful.

It was wonderful. [applause] Did you guys see me speedw walk across the back of the room? How'd you get here? Okay, before we get to anything, I just want to thank you guys again for inviting our students. It's an honor year after year to stand here and tell you all about the hard work that they're doing. I can't say it any better than Nigel. So, I'll just echo his sentiment. We've been doing this for 10 years. I personally been doing this for six of those 10 years. We have alumni who have been doing 10 of 10 years. We have students here today who have done four of those 10 years. So, the legacy just lives on and on and overlaps with every new group of kids that we come that we welcome into the program. And it warms my little heart every winter to see so many young people from our own community put so much time and hard work and dedication into the legacy of the program and the legacy of the city of Lancaster to contribute to something that doesn't just impact them or their schools or their city or even just California, but something that has an impact nationwide. Oh my goodness, I could not have imagined. I mean, I was a part of it in high school, but I think if I had found Justice Sunday sooner, it would have changed my life even more than it already has. So I also want to thank our students for having the dedication to come back year after year. But before I introduce you to them all, we have two students who are going to come up and say a little bit and tell you a little bit about their experience. We have Farooq, one of our high school seniors. [applause] I'm going to introduce them at the same time. And Patricia, one of our seventh graders this year. [applause] Tell them what college.

Welcome. Hello. No, he's going this year. He's his acceptance letter. [laughter] [clears throat]

Um, hello. I'm Farukq Alamine Stewart and for the last four years I participated in Justice Sunday and besides all the skills Justice Sunday has shown me as has introduced me to a lot of amazing people, a lot of amazing mentors that have definitely became family to me. But one of the most important things Justice Sunday has done for me was rekindle my love for dance. I've been dancing since I was a kid and I stopped because of lots of injuries and sports, but once I joined Justice Sunday as a freshman, it showed me again how much I love to dance and love to dance with my peers and learn new styles of dance. So along with dance and all the skills um Justice Sunday has taught me, it overall has been an amazing experience and I couldn't be more grateful for the thing that is called Justice Sunday.

[applause] Hi, my name is Patricia and in addition to what Farooq said, I'm like so thankful for Justice Sunday and all the skills that it has taught me such as research, writing, networking, communication, and not only that, but it has shown me like confidence on how to speak with a larger group of people. And I'm so thankful for the people that I've met along the way as well as what Justice Sunday itself stands for. [applause]

Thank you guys so much. You're so awesome. I love you. So F, which college are you going to? Which college? Which colleges are you you're looking at? Um, I haven't got accepted letters from all of them, but I'm looking at a H.B.CU. And my top three currently are Howard, North Carolina, ENT, and Morgan State. [applause]

Okay, I don't want to delay the excitement any further. So, um, to our lovely students sitting behind me, when you hear your name, feel free to join us. And Farooq is actually gonna turn it right back around because alphabetically he's first. [applause]

Okay, so we have Farooq, Aaliyah, Amariah, Josiah, John, Alana, Kaye, another Alana, Jayen, Nigel, Shaniah, Maziah, Malaya, Anita, Edwin, Somaya, Ruby, Valyria, Zoe, Nianne, Kiara, Baraca, Josiah, Trinity, Penota, Kayla, Liam, Patricia, Lea, Pretty, Sarah, Allayia, Jaylen, and Vanessa. [applause] Any of our graduates and alumni we have in the room, I would also like to invite you to join us. Come join the party,

Henry. Yeah.

Come on up, Nigel. Come on up. While our while all of our students gather, um I just want to take a second to share with you all and with them all of the certificates that will be receiving tonight um for all their hard work. So tonight our students are receiving recognition from of course the city of Lancaster, from LA County Supervisor Katherine Barger, Assemblyman Tom Lackey, Assemblyman Juan Co, and Senator Susette Valader. [applause] That is to say, young people,

you know, not

[applause]

Thank you guys. Thank you. I appreciate it.

Okay. Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. Welcome to the Lancaster City council meeting. The city council encourages public participation at its meetings. However, the right of the public to address the council must be balanced with the need to ensure that public participation does not interfere with the orderly course of public business. The city council follows the city's code of conduct and ethics and Robert's rules of order in the conduct of its meetings. And we respectfully request that all are reminded to abide by the following rules. As stated on the agenda for this meeting, any person who would like to address the city is requested to complete a speaker card for the city clerk. Please be sure to identify the agenda item you would like to discuss on your speaker card. Speaker cards must be filled out and submitted prior to the agenda item being called. You will be given an opportunity to address the council at the time the agenda item is discussed. Individual speakers are limited to 3 minutes unless a different time limit is announced. Speakers must cease speaking immediately when their time has ended. Public comment on agenda items must relate to the subject matter of that item. Public comment on non-aggendaized items is limited to subjects within the jurisdiction of the council. Please keep

in mind that state law prohibits the council from acting on items that are not on the agenda. The public's right to address the council does not include the right to engage in a dialogue with individual council members or staff. Please remain respectful of the forum and refrain from uttering, writing, or displaying profane or threatening statements towards the council, any member thereof, staff, or any other person. Any person engaging in conduct that disrupts the meeting is subject to being removed from the council meeting. If you disrupt the meeting, you will receive one warning. If you continue to disrupt the meeting, you will be escorted out of the meeting or the meeting will be recessed. Upon reconvening, if disruptions continue, the meeting room will be cleared in accordance with the provisions of the Brown Act. We ask that you now silence your cell phones as the meeting is about to begin. Thank you for your participation. Thank you everyone for being here. Uh we'll open it up with the housing authority. Um the consent calendar. I have no speaker cards. Need a motion. Second. I'll [clears throat] make the motion to to uh approve HACC1.

Second that. [clears throat] We have a motion and second. Let's vote. Passes with four yes votes. Uh the regular consent calendar. Anything to be removed? No. Okay. Then I'll make a motion to approve the consent calendar as comprised. I second. We have a motion. Second. Let's vote.

Passes with four yes votes. Okay. Council reports. Raj. Yes, sir.

Yeah. So I got to go to couple of those event last week. It was pretty cool. The Rotary Club they did a auction. So that was a pretty nice event to be part of. We were council member Kenman and Lauren was there too and myself. And uh is there a video on it? This is very very important to to support a Rotary Club because you know what this is all the local community members like get together, donate their time, raise the money and help others. So it is our responsibility to help them so they are helping others.

It's so important to support organizations like our Lancaster Rotary or organizations similar to this because it's an opportunity for our community to come together and to collaborate. $600. I got four right here. Front table in Sold the Front, ladies and gentlemen. Second actually was pretty interesting that I got to go with the Lancaster PD in the for survey and neighborhood we we did on Challenger and uh 11th Street um east southeast side. We got to like I think I don't know exactly how many houses we hit hit but there many houses people were not home but I got to talk to at least like three four different houses and uh I got to listen their concerns and if they had any issues they're dealing with over there. The the one guy was been living there since 1989 and he said I have no issue at all. So that was a good nice to hear that part. Uh but there's a couple other parents they had issues that because their school is just right around the corner and they used to their kid used to walk home and now they have to go pick them up because homelessness. So that was understandable shopping center but we also have a we do we have a video on that too.

It is very important to be there especially being a council member and you know the I got to talk to the firsthand with all the neighborhood and I spoke with like couple of them and uh it was a good experience the the the problem they're dealing with and if they have an issue you know all those things was very important to hear it's more uh than just engaging. It's going to the community, meeting the community where the community is and inviting the community to come meet us, but it's also dealing with the community, understanding the community, hearing the community. All of that comes into play. It's not really just about us just getting FaceTime. So, these events allow us to do all of that.

Sorry, I forgot to mention Cynthia also joined me with that, too. She was there. [applause] Do we have another one on the soccer? Yes, we have another one. It's Aviala season. You're awful busy, Raj. It's almost like you're up for election. [laughter]

I was busy. Um, yeah. So, if I get to we we got to go there and it was pretty fun actually. We we did the opening. So, I guess we have a video on that as well. We have a local team. We have such a great community and we love you all.

Congratulations on that Raj. You truly are a community hero. No doubt about it. Ken, anything from criminal justice? Um, yes, we're also very I was able to accompany um the council member to the Rotary, the Lancaster Rotary event. I was also able to accompany him on the survey. We had a really good opportunity to go with our Lancaster Police Department, speak to some of the neighbors, engage with them and their needs for the community. So, that was a very good opportunity to hear their voices and represent them here at our criminal justice commission. Yes. Thank you. Good. Ben, anything from planning?

So, [clears throat] I'm new to the planning, but it was cool at last council meeting watching what we pushed through with the planning commission get approved by the council. So, it's really, you know, interesting just to watch how the city works, how everyone works together, and what we're pushing through to make it better. It just doesn't happen all at once, does it? It's crazy. A lot of fingerpointing, but it takes a lot of work, and we all work together very well. So, when people come up and say, "This is the first I've ever heard of it." They just fallen off the turup truck. Lauren,

it's hard to follow all of that, Marvin, but I do want to just say a common theme throughout tonight and the different videos and the different updates is that it takes a lot of love to to be a part of the city, to be active in serving this city. And I just want to say thank you, like Pastor Chris Johnson said, thank you for loving our city. Thank you for showing us tough love when needed. But more importantly, thank you for investing us in us. Not just the city as a whole, but you're a multiplier. You're a force multiplier. There are books on it. You live it. So, thank you so much for investing in the city. Thank you for investing in me. I could say you've invested in every single person sitting up here. And the the visual of love your city. I want people to know that each person represents even more people. and and if we could go upstream and see where that source came from, the motivation, the leadership, it's it's you, vice mayor. So, thank you so much for loving us.

I appreciate that. Thank you, Ken. help [clears throat] improve our highways and we're working on another one. So, my intent is is to get our fair share up here.

Just so everybody knows how long this takes. In 2011, me and Ken got money to fix uh the off-ramp on Avenue K and uh 15th Street. It was we got different bundles of money, but it it was a total of $112 million to fix all the stuff along the freeway. None of that's being done right now, but um to fix was done 14 years ago

and it still hasn't broke ground. Still has nothing's happened. Nothing happens. They they work slower in other areas than we do. Uh but it's we received the money and got the money and uh CALR everybody has just held it up. So, as you can tell, Calran's not my favorite people, but we'll move on. Uh, nothing from finance, nothing from the power authority, nothing from the successor agency. City manager,

yes, a few quick updates. So, we do have a couple of events coming up. Um, Sunday, March 26, the bunny hop, and we had a briefing on that last week. It'll be bigger than ever before. They're expanding the footprint out there and they're adding an extra hour to make sure that kids have enough time to take partake in all the different things and events that are happening there. And then about a month later or couple weeks later, we have the Poppy Festival. Tickets are on sale. So get those now. That's April 17th through the 19th. Three days it'll have the carnival. Lots of family fun things to do. So come on out. And then don't forget the Love Your City event on April 25th. get registered and come out and and volunteer to help clean up this city. Thank it.

Thank you, city clerk. This is a time to address the city council agency authority on non-aggendaized matters. Speaker cards may be found on the back table of the council chambers. If you have completed one, please ensure you've given it to us so you may be recognized. Individual speakers are limited to three minutes each. Please keep in mind state law prohibits council from acting on items that are not on the agenda and your matter may be referred to the city manager. Thank you friend Sarah Sers. Welcome friend right there.

Okay. Thank you. Good afternoon, Vice Mayor Chris, Council members, and of course the staff of this beautiful city that we have that work very, very hard. And also for our people behind me, which are the residents and people of Lancaster, I wanted to say thank you. And Mayor Vice Mayor Chris, I want to thank you personally, [clears throat] personally, indirectly. You have helped me a whole bunch. I've learned a whole lot of stuff and uh you have given me the opportunity to grow as an individual, as a speaker because I when I first started, I didn't know what the heck I was doing. I didn't never had spoken in my whole life in public, but I have with the support of my city and I'm an advocate for my city. I'm a commissioner for my city and I've been doing it now. I'm on my second year my second uh um I'm getting all the term that's the word. And I'm enjoying it. And I just want to say thank you. And you know these kids, God bless them, that they realize and they have the heart and the ability to get out there and help the people of their city because with doing what they're doing, they're understanding what's going on with the city and what the city is accomplishing and what the capabilities are. And this way when they go out to college and then they'll realize what they're going to want to

learn when they do go to college, if they go to college, what avenues to take. And then they're going to come back here as grown-ups and going to help the city grow bigger and better. And I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. And God bless America and God bless you all. [applause] Thank you, Fran. Thank you, Elena Dixon.

Welcome.

Hi. Thank you. Um, I was coming in here and I noticed that they had a lot more people in the stands and I was just wondering, I know there's no obligation to have a dialogue with council members, but I was wondering about a couple things. Um, what would it take for the council meetings and regular like I guess city board meetings that are for the public to ever be moved until like after work hours so that more people could show up if they want to? And also, have there ever been before um meetings designed for engagement with council members like back and forth actual dialogue? Um, and a third thing I noticed was when the previous speaker was approaching the podium, the timer was already going. So, it would be nice if the timer could actually start when people start talking or once they've actually reached the podium. Thank you. [applause]

Let me explain a couple of those things for you so you can understand. We've had uh people that when we call their name, they do about a minute and a half dance that it takes them to come down here. So when we start the timer, it behooves them to we want to run it almost like the price is right. They come on running it down and you know they're here. Um we want we want to hear what they have to say, but we want want to take up everybody's time while they think they're on TV. That's the reasons behind that. We run the city at the meetings at 1:30 because that's when the majority of the business is being done. We made a decision several years ago to take this into a business city. So, we want to talk to the people and we have two of these five o'clock uh per year. We have one in December, first week in December and one in the first week of March that we do the presentations, we do all that. And this is the time for most people, but the majority of what you see from the council is not up here. The majority of business is not done here. It's done in other locations. It's done uh from 11 o'clock to 1:00 and it's running all the different boards, the AVTA, the AVA, QMB, the fair, all those are being done at 11, 12, 1:00. So we try to mirror that so everybody can so we get the business people here. That's the reason for it. We can't please any everybody. So we tried to do what we could to mitigate it. Sure.

We still have phones.

Okay. We'll take it under consideration. Thank you. Uh Caesar Vega. Good afternoon, Vice Mayor, uh, Council. I I always want to say, uh, how much I love Lancaster. I grew up here since 1993, and because of the opportunities I got to do, uh, to be exposed to and to receive because of my involvement in helping improve the city and being part of the city, I became a UCLA art historian. Uh, being an art historian from Lancaster is a very funny thing. Uh when I grew up, we didn't have a museum besides a very small regional museum that didn't exhibit world-class artworks. I went to the Museum of Art and History um whose staff and especially the curatoral staff have to be congratulated. If the council haven't been to the museum, please go. Uh when I went upstairs after seeing a wonderful exhibition downstairs, I was confronted with a Marie Casat. Marie Casat was an impressionist woman painter and she painted a portrait of her holding her daughter. That painting hangs in Lakma normally and you have to take an hour and a half car ride down the 14 to be able to see this work and it was hanging here in Lancaster. I teared up a little bit. I went to the current exhibition at MOA maybe four or five times and every time I go I see children. I see people who look like Lancaster, people who look like me enjoying artwork. I've there's currently artworks by Filipino American artists by an artist whose family comes from Bise and an all-American museum from an all-American city that looks like the community. Uh when I returned from uh Mexico, I came with a broken pelvis and lower back. I came with um history of alcohol and substance use that I am now happy to say I'm sober and healthy. I can walk again and I was able to walk and I was able to get better because I have opportunities like MOA where I can go and find recreation, find

stimulation and be part of a community again and the in the investment that the city has made in culture and recreation is to be congratulated but it's really possible because of the staff. Every time I go to Moab, the curation is fantastic. Everything is uh nothing. I as a someone from Wara, as someone who studied artist here at UCLA, I've been to a lot of museums and I can say this is a regional museum worth every single penny and that has everything to offer for the residents of the city. And I am so happy to say that I am healthy and happy and I have a museum here at home. I don't need to go down to LAMA to see a Marie Casat. I don't need to go down to Mocha to see a Bleian American artist make beautiful paintings about his family. I don't need to go to Jamama to see a Filipino American artist make museum artworks about Filipino Christmas ornaments and Filipino Christmas decorations. I can walk down date avenue down from my apartment to the museum in the city where I which I love and where I grew up. And I want to thank the council for the opportunity and I hope that you all go to the museum and so will people here and that we continue to have that opportunity. Thank you. Thank you, Caesar.

Mark Brit. Welcome, Mark.

Thank you, Marvin. Thank you, rest of the council. I wasn't going to speak, but after seeing that God, we trust and pastor Chris was here, um, I just kind of have to. And I wrote this when my whole world was being bulldozed. And so, kind of put yourself in those shoes. But what happens when a person loses housing and becomes homeless? Nothing. Nothing happens at all. There is just no longer a home. Bombs, bulldozers, or bull hockey can and will change our very comfortable lives in an instant, days, weeks, or years. At some point, everybody will. The important thing to remember is it doesn't matter at all. Before telling you why it doesn't matter at all, let me begin by saying thank you once again to Pastor Chris from Grace Chapel and to the city of Lancaster for putting on the community cleanup. If it weren't for that, I would have not have been invited to that church later the day. And verse after verse, song after song of um the church, I felt God like I had never had before. Then came the moment of tithing. Even though I had chump change on me at the time, something literally said to me, "It's time." And with that, I took off my favorite red, white, and blue Echo Drive watch and put it in the bowl and passed it on. The gentleman to the right of me literally tried to hand it back like I was nuts. I insisted it was time. So, back to why it doesn't matter when bombs, bulldozers, or bull honky completely rocks our world. because it happens to everybody somewhere every day, every week, every month, every year in some way, shape, or form. But God is still King of Kings and his son Jesus, who was sent to all of us to be born for us and die for our sins only to rise again to show us how powerful the light of the world can be. Maybe it's because Rex, Marvin, Raj, and Man are all getting older. Sorry, but at least you're younger now than you'll ever be. But seeing how the empathetic Marvin is

leaving, I felt it was time to show what staying prepared meant to the community and myself. So, I devoted everything in a preparedness park on private property that I bought for my son. I've learned so much about how the city operates and the community reacts to various scenarios. In addition to learning which council people were interested, I also learned tons of valuable lessons from friends and family. the most important ones that stand out. Our love always prevails. And the only one that loves us 100% unconditionally is God. So put your faith in him as I do 100% and everything else will work out the way it should. And all that we do each day we can always love more. So in closing, Lauren Hughes, always remember what you fought for. Some people don't want to live in a home. Marvin, we will always care for our own. Rex, Rex, make it better. And man, you don't say much, but I appreciate all you do. Raj, you should have checked it out. Thank you. [applause]

Thank you, Mark. Anita,

welcome.

Hi. Thank you. I'm back again. I loved tonight. It was really, really uplifting. Unfortunately, my situation is homelessness because of organized crime and businesses again stolen, worth money. Um, but my my reason to be here today is I'm hoping there's a solution to a problem. I owned a Lexus, a 2018 Lexus, and certain people didn't like my big mouth coming to city hall meetings. So, in January 2nd, 2025, they hit me. My car flipped. By the grace of God in Christ, I survived. There were two people in this white Honda that have been involved in organized crime for years against me. And Jacobia Myers is saying that it's only one person. I'm trying to find solutions so I can move on with my life. We all go through trials. I love seeing the children and the community. I really, really thank God that he is really moving. Jesus Christ is coming back soon to take his bride. And I know that I will will leave. But I I still have issues with this city. I was illegally prosecuted. My daughter was put in jail and then to prison. I have children with learning disabilities. Her name was was not Borla when she was arrested in 2016. Organized crime is still using her. Do you understand me? Her name was Keeler. Now, my issue is I hope you guys start doing something against movies like Jackass, that's the name of it, and and and industry producers who really believe and have gotten in my face that they can get away with anything because of Freemasonary and Satanism. It is alive today. I've been attacked in my car and I will continue to fight for my religious beliefs and the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I'm trying to find a a solution. I did hire a lawyer. I have

states evidence that could put people in prison and nobody wants to take it. And then when I leave the city hall meeting, I get attacked in my car and my eyes get cut. I mean, there's got to be a solution, you know? I mean, I I don't have the finances to move. And I'm not blaming anybody. We go through trials. But listen, the synagogue of of Satan prosecuted Jesus Christ. We all talk about the gospel. We should remember who prosecuted Jesus Christ. It was the false church. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else like to speak?

Okay, seeing none, we're going to move on. There's no close session. Um the adjournment, we're going to Raj, [clears throat] you have anything, Lauren? Okay, we're going to stand adjourned to Tuesday, March 24th at 1:30 p.m. Thank you everyone.