City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon, everybody. It is now 03:01PM, so we will get started with our city council meeting for 04/14/2026. Today, we have an afternoon and an evening session. And, this is the council we have to deal with today. I know council member Condor and councilor Roblard are out on business, and council member Cervantes is very ill today. She's not able to participate. She's gonna try to see if she can participate virtually a little later, so we will see. But I will go ahead. I'm mayor Patricia Hakdausen. I will call our meeting to order, and, we will open public comment. This is our general public comment.

Public comment is now open for this item, available in both English and Spanish. Call (951) 826-8686 and follow the prompts to access the meeting in either language. To request to speak, press 9. Can also join via Zoom. The meeting ID for both languages can be found on the agenda. Alright.

I know we have a couple requests to speak in chambers, so we'll start with those. Errol Koschevitz.

Hi. Can I use the overhead projector, Patricia?

Sure.

I know it's hard to read, but I'm gonna read it. I've sent public records into the city forever now. I requested public records. Basically, I wanted to get a consultant list from the city of Riverside. I'll read it I'll read it off right now.

I'm Merrill Kozowitz, an American taxpayer union representative asked the city for a consultant list. I'm requesting today copies of every purchase order the city of Riverside has in their possession as of 04/11/2026. The city of Riverside has no right to dictate to me, the public, when and what they can release in funding or purchase orders or copies of anything. I'm requesting who you're hiring as a consultant. I have requested this for over a year.

You're giving me a little bit at a time. I want everything you have in your possession. Can you flip to the second page? Thank you very much. Now I do have some purchase orders back and I wanna go through touch bases with you on a few of them because I don't really understand them. Now this one, can you push it down a little bit? There you go. Now we provided $204,000 to UCR campus. Now I don't understand what we're paying them for, 204,000 for physical and economic impact analysis. What does that mean?

I don't know either, but I'm gonna be asking that question why we're providing these funds to UCR campus. Now, what I feel like, you're just money laundering, committing fraud all over the place. Now, that thirty day payment, I don't know what that is. Is that 30 times I'm gonna be asking questions on this too? I don't know. Can you flip the page? I wanna go through another one. Now increases funds. Now this one's kind of it of discouraging right now, increased funds per agenda item. Dollars 85,000 to Charlotte, North Carolina for a consulting firm.

Now we're paying a consultant firm to Charlotte, North Carolina. I have pages of this stuff right now. Now like I said before, you guys have committed so much fraud it just makes me sick right now. But attention Jennifer Tabalone. Now better not say this right now, but I'm gonna see who that Tavilloni is because I I really think she's related to somebody that I know forever. I'm gonna find out. I think we have to have some accountability of our money, you guys. Where it goes to, you guys should be in jail. What are you up there smiling for, all you guys? You should be in jail. You know, you guys keep stealing too much money, and it's just crazy.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Koshaphat.

I didn't get them all.

Thank you. I have Jasmine Penn. Thank you. Next. Welcome, Ms. Penn. Thank you.

Good afternoon, members of the city council. My name is Jasmine Penn, I am a student at California State University San Bernardino Bachelor of Social Work program. I'm here today with my group members representing our community advocacy project, which focuses on addressing basic needs among vulnerable populations in the city of Riverside, specifically unhoused women. Through our research and community engagement, we found that unhoused women face significant barriers when it comes to accessing basic hygiene and sanitary products. These are not luxuries.

They are essential for health, dignity and overall well-being. Yet they are often the most overlooked. In response, response, our team has partnered with University Women's Homeless Shelter to create a hygiene shelf. This shelf will provide free access to essential items such as hygiene products, sanitary supplies, and other daily necessities. It is designed as a community supportive give and take model where individuals and organizations can contribute items to help keep the shelves stocked over time.

As part of our project, we are not only donating the initial supplies but also working organizations to build partnerships that will support the sustainability of this effort beyond our involvement. We are here today to inform you of this initiative and to invite the city's guidance and support. Specifically, we are interested in learning how we might connect with existing city resources, community programs, or partnerships that can help sustain donations and expand this effort. If successful, we believe this model could replicated in other locations throughout the city to further support those in need. Our goal is simple, to create a small but meaningful system of support that promotes dignity, health, and community care.

Thank you for your time, and we appreciate any guidance on direction you can provide from Helping Hands of Riverside Cal State San Bernardino.

Great. Thank you, miss Penn. And you can connect with somebody in our leadership team here who's back there. I see Michelle Davis is our housing and human services director. So, make sure you get her card. She's right in the back there, and she'll follow-up with you.

Thank you so much.

Mhmm. Thank you. All right. I have Kat Mance and then followed by Ruben So to. Welcome Ms. Mates.

Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon mayor, city council, community members. So my name is Kat and I am honored to be here representing One Legacy, our local organ procurement organization serving Riverside County. On behalf of our entire community, I want to sincerely thank the city of Riverside for your continued support of organ eye and tissue donation and for recognizing this important cause through your proclamation again this year.

Your leadership helps raise awareness, encourages meaningful conversations and ultimately saves lives. There are currently over a 107,000 people waiting for a lifesaving organ. 20% of them live here in California. For me, this mission is deeply personal. My 11 year old son Christopher became an organ donor.

In the midst of our unimaginable loss, our family made the decision to say yes to donation, and because of that donation, lives were not only saved, but families were given hope in moments where there once was none. I have had the incredible honor to meet all three, to meet all three of the individuals who received his kidneys, his pancreas, and his liver. To stand in front of them, to see their smiles, to meet their families, and to witness the lives that they are now able to live is something that I will carry with me forever. In those moments, you realize that donation doesn't just save lives, it connects them. My son's legacy is still living on through each of them and every milestone they reach and every memory they continue to make.

That is the true power of organ eye and tissue donation. Because of communities like Riverside, more people are learning about the importance of registering to be donors and have those important conversations with their loved ones. Thank you again for your continued partnership, your compassion and for helping families like mine turn loss into life and legacy. Thank you.

Thank you, miss Mantz. Thank you for the work you do on behalf of the organization. Thank you. Ruben So to followed by Brian McGrath.

Mayor and city council, you know my stories. I'm 11 liter clean now. Meth, cocaine, marijuana, and liquor and especially stupidity like a lot of you people are but don't see it. Now, this is a YouTube video I did and if you notice my fear, this is how I feel I've been screwed by your police, your DAs, and your public defenders. Maria Moreno Myers.

Maria Myers never told me to stop. Fred never told me to stop. My sister Brenda told me never to stop. So you're gonna eat the shit off my ass.

Sorry. This that's on YouTube, and I've been doing this forever, and I will shame you till you get it right. All these churches and all these idiots, what they do to me, I'm an American. I fight for America. I don't care about your god or your church. Now hot smog. I got my car towed from Robert Boss Auto again the second time, and what they do is they hot smog these fast and furious idiots like that movie. They wanna be a hot rodder, so they get illegally smogged. Why aren't the cops doing that shit instead of messing with me? I ain't doing nothing illegal. They just don't like me. I don't like them either. They can burn in hell. Thank you.

Thank you, mister So to. Alright. I have Brian McGrath followed by Michael Feinstein.

Yeah. I just wanna say I made a complaint to Cervantes. I don't know if she's on a nondisclosure. She can't talk to me or whatever, but she's involved somehow. I gave you the same letter and I got banned from the 7th Floor from doing a records request. I don't know if that's from your office or whoever. And why are we I don't understand why your daughters are in my complex and what is your connection to the path of life? How much is there? You have crimes being conducted here in the city, and you have corrupt police like workers, or what call it. I can't even do a police work in this fucking town. The chief's cool as hell. You know, I just had to subpoena them. But I gave a letter to you. You don't do shit. And I gave a letter to her. She doesn't do shit. She's supposed to be the homeless advocate or whatever. And your daughters were my complex all the time. You know, that was an aftermath. I don't know if your daughter dates to Bianca.

Bianca's a piece of shit. So you said, oh, and I don't know if is your dad a real estate corona guy? I don't know. I saw Perry Lights picture. My your why were your daughters in my complex? 2021. You don't know? But then your husband too the other night, he had a little say. He told me there is no police commission review. He doesn't know how to get stuff on the agenda. Is he, like, a short guy with, what, gray hair? His last name was Dawson. Don't where it was. But how come when I gave you it's her a letter? No one nothing ever gets done. I know this is a vent box. You guys probably have it this way, so you don't have to question and But no one can actually I get a records request from the city clerk and I can't get one. I know you guys can't answer that because you guys can sit there and whether it's a vent box.

Thank you and just to clarify my daughter's not dating a Bianco you did not speak with my husband and I would appreciate if you leave my family out of this I'm the one who's elected you can address me not my family thank you. Alright Mr. Feinstein thank you.

Thank you Michael Feinstein I'm a former Santa Monica mayor and city council member co founder of the Green Party of California and a candidate for California Secretary of State I'm here to talk about improved representation for the city of Riverside in the state legislature. And to start it off, think back a couple months ago to the fight we had, Texas versus California, Republicans versus Democrats, that resulted in prop 50 here in California, where we were fighting over how we draw single seat winner take all districts, which we use not only for Congress, but for the state legislature. And what we learned from that fight was that depending on how you draw district lines determines who gets representation and who doesn't, because we have winner take all single seat districts. The answer for California should have been in my opinion, moving to how we elect our state legislature by using proportional representation. Proportional representation elects many seats at the same time from a geographical area.

One party gets 30% of the vote, they get 30% of the seats. Another party 40%, 40%, etcetera. What I am recommending and what is on this chart is a larger state legislature that has both smaller single seat legislative districts and larger regional multi county districts at the same time. Now, if we had a 500 seat state legislature, for example, you could have single seat districts that essentially Riverside would have two seats in the state legislature just coming out of the city of Riverside, but the point about having, as in this map, these multi county districts and electing them by proportional representation is that we are a nation state and a state of regions, and a lot of the policies that we have, housing and transportation, economic development are really regional, but we don't send people to Sacramento based out of a regional public policy discussion. You're called the Inland Empire, and you do participate through SCAG, lobbying the state legislators through the SCAG process, but there is no regional process, so half the seats would come out of proportion representation, and what would that do for representation?

Instead of having people just from one party win and everybody else not get representation in a geographic area, you'd have some Republicans, you'd have some Democrats, you'd have some Greens like me, some Libertarians, all coming from the same geographic area, and you'd have a broader representation of the public in the legislature. Then you still have majority rule, but now you have everybody at the table, and unless I end up getting elected to Secretary of State, I'm not sure that that's gonna happen, but it would be wonderful if your city ultimately had your lobbyists talk to Sacramento and have them look at that, and one of the reasons why is that there is good reason to suggest that there's gonna be a ballot measure to get rid of top two in the next year or two, in part because of what's happened in the governor's race. Looking at better alternatives than just going back to the old system Thank you, would be Thank you.

I appreciate that. Alright, and best of luck. Brendan, it looks like it's Corielle.

Alright. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Brendan, and I'm a BASW student of social work at Cal State San Bernardino. I wanna take up this moment today to highlight our community advocacy project with the city. We did our due diligence to study the needs posed to us in this current time.

Our mission was to increase awareness of available resources for individuals experiencing homelessness in Riverside. We began a few months ago. We published a survey and began conducting conversations and observations with a target demographic and partnering with our local resources to get accurate data. We found that one of the recurring needs we were finding in our assessment was that the public was expressing a lack of knowledge or confidence in local aid of this community being funded. That is to say many have reported to be unaware of resources available to them, wait list shelters were full, and access to basic needs such as provisions in health care remains a challenge to them.

It is with this data we've begun to take action by creating pamphlets that act as resource distribution guides providing care to and providing care kit excuse me, care kits through donation and partnering with Riverside's local Salvation Army to better understand and share the available resources. We are here today to ask guidance for potential collaboration. We would appreciate support in sharing accurate up to date information, opportunities to partner with the city's led outreach efforts, and any direction to a department or program we can connect with to expand our impact. Our goal is bridging the gap between our friends in a pinch and the resources of those who need them most. Thank you for your time. We appreciate what you do with the sit for the city and any guidance you can support thereafter. Thank you.

Thank you. As I, mentioned to your colleague from Cal State San Bernardino as well, our housing and human services director is in the back. She can give you her card and you can follow-up with her regarding your question.

Alright. You.

Alright. I have Kevin Burnout, who I believe needs a little extra time. So, we will set his time at six minutes. Is that correct?

Good afternoon, mayor. Good afternoon, members and staff. My name is Kevin Brandt, and I'm deaf and disabled community member of the city of Riverside. And I just wanna inform you that the Riverside Commission of the Deaf is in coordination with the commission of the disability, and we would like to have a proposal with the city of Riverside to potentially discuss a proposal to create the mayor's office on disability for deaf and support, o d d ODSS, for twenty twenty six, twenty seven starting 07/01/2026. And we're requesting that the office be created at this in the same office level as the mayor's office of sustainability and have the commitment to have full community participation and with the neighborhood.

Riverside is home of the largest deaf community in America that use sign language in The United States And it's was from this from the excuse me, the interpreter. And it's anchored by the California School of Riverside. And we have disability advocates for community organizations. And what's important is the city is lacking the dedication with authority for staff and budget coordination accessibility compliance to provide direct services for the disabled and deaf community in all of the city departments. It's lacking and miss it has we have a missed opportunity for a structured inequity, and we believe the city can address this.

Mayor Dawson, I respectfully request for you to submit to send mister Futrell, the city manager, to the next session for both the commissions to answer any questions on that agenda item. They've already adopted it on their agenda, and so we would like it if miss if mister Futrell can show up to these next meetings to possibly have it formally turn into a, support for the deaf and disability ODSS, which means the next session of the commission on the disability schedule is gonna be this Thursday which is two days from now at 05:30. So it's coming up pretty quick. I'm hoping that the city manager is able to show up and answer the questions. We can have a discussion with commission of the deaf.

I know it's last minute, and the next session is for the commission of the deaf. And that's the May. I believe May. I think they both have it on their item agenda. So we can discuss it, this this proposal, and it would be nice to have the city manager there to answer any questions, for the process and the budget require requirements and the work plan organizations to answer any questions that is part of this proposal. And that way we can make this happen for the community members like me and for the commission and for the people who service the city, you know, in a professional level. So I thank you for your time and your attention.

Thank you, mister Burnett. Thank you. Alright. We have a caller online, so we will take our caller, please.

Yes. Hello. What I'm gonna share with you is something that the mayor and the city council will not share with you. Why? I don't know.

Maybe it's because it's not in their job description. These climate these climate action policies that the city of Riverside is implementing comes directly from United Nations agenda 2030. These policies come from people that don't even live in the city. Most of them don't even live in the country. They meet in New York at the UN office.

They meet in Davos, Switzerland. They fly in their jet, in their yacht. These are the people that are pushing agenda twenty thirty. The climate action the climate change policy is number 13 of the sustainable development goal. There are 17 sustainable development goals that they are pushing all the countries in the world, including this country, because our representatives at the federal level signed on to agenda twenty thirty in 2015.

It was Obama who signed on, but this is not a partisan issue because both parties, the Republican and Democrat, they know what's going on, but they're not talking about it. Do the research. Civil agenda 2030, and you'll find actually puts government in control of everything. It's a slow process. One of the major ways is climate change, which the city of Riverside is implementing their climate action policy.

For more information, I would ask you to YouTube Whitney Webb. She has done much research on this issue, or you could go to her website at unlimitedhangout.com. That's unlimitedhangout.com. Thank you.

Thank you. That was the only caller we had, so we'll close public comment. I don't believe we have any other requests in chambers. Close public comment and move on on our agenda. We are now at item number two. This is our mayor and council member communications, and I'll start with council member Falcone, Ward 1.

Thank you, mayor. I'm I'm way down here. You might y'all might need some binoculars to see me down on this end of an empty dais. Hard to follow all that. I will just say I've never been to the United Nations in New York City. I've never been to Switzerland. Never been on a yacht and never been on a jet. So to clear the record on any of that. Where I have been is here working at City Hall on behalf of the people. A couple things from this week and a couple things looking ahead. I want to congratulate the mayor on a great conference. I'm sure you can share some more. Wonderful getting to meet mayors and others from across the country here. But the favorite comment that we heard was someone said, thought I was coming to Riverside, California. Didn't realize I was gonna be in Europe with all your architecture and history.

And I say, yes, welcome to the most beautiful Southern California city architecturally. You can share more on that, Mayor, and what occurred, but it was wonderful to see so many people exploring and getting to experience Riverside this week. The Tamale Fest is this coming weekend at White Park, so please come and join us there just down the street here from City Hall. Twenty first, Tuesday the twenty first at one p. M. At Fire Station 1 is our Tim Strack Street renaming ceremony. All are welcome to come and join us there. And just always many ways to get involved. Tons of neighborhood group meetings, Downtown Neighbor Alliance, Northside Neighborhood. Check out social media to find ways to get involved in Ward 1 happenings.

Very excited to bring people in and hear their input on different topics. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you, councilmember McConaughey, and thank you for being a tour guide yesterday. I told them you would be the better tour guide, so I think they were all

very impressed. I kept them laughing, and that's a good thing.

That's good. Appreciate it. Councilmember Mill.

Thank you, Mayor. Okay. Yeah, again, kudos on this, as Councilmember Falcone mentioned, kudos on the event. I had an opportunity to sit down on a couple of sessions there yesterday. And then connected with the Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, and I'm actually going to be connecting with him. He's going to give me a tour of Montgomery, Alabama here in a couple of weeks. It was just exciting to see all those people, the energy in the room, so kudos to you and your staff. I know your staff worked real hard to put it together. Thank you for doing that. A couple of events just passed.

Last week, the eighth, I had the honor of swearing in the new Community Action Group Board at in the Casablanca community. Very active group, been around for a long time. And it's always great to see the folks that are willing to step up and serve the community. And then the same evening, left there and went over to the chamber, the one hundred and twenty sixth Annual Inaugural Chamber Celebration. One hundred and twenty six years, that's a long time.

I think maybe Councilmember Condor was there, but it is a long time. And it was a great event. Great to see all the businesses celebrated and also the folks in our community that work not only with our businesses but excited And

we're at

the

next

a next think Coachella Week when we're traveling. Coming up that's this week at Good Morning Riverside, I will be presenting about Ward 5. And then later in the month, I'm going up to Sacramento with leaders from across the state for League of Cities. Also, our Chief of Police will be joining us there to be giving he's going to be a panelist on an immigration panel, which will be there to support our Chief.

Thank you. I appreciate your representation on the public safety committee on that. It's really important that Riverside have a voice at the table. So, thank you. Thank you, Mary. Council member Perry.

Thank you, Mary. Just one item. Later this week, Thursday night is gonna be the first of four community meetings regarding the, Measure z tax extension and proposed sales tax for the June. So, that will be Thursday night, actually in Ward 7. We're actually doing a joint community meeting. That'll be Thursday night at 06:00 at the Los Sierra Senior Center. So, all are welcome.

Alright. Thank you. Councilmember Himmerman.

Well, even with the short runway, almost everything was covered.

So,

chamber inaugural, busy week. Chamber inaugural, the Albert Spirit Run, councilmember Perry and I got to count them off as they took off and, you know, they ran. We watched. But it was good. And then, of course, the event that you had on Sunday and Monday. Well well done to you and your team.

Thank you.

And then, the measures of informational session coming up this Thursday. All has been covered. Easy for me. Thanks. He ran before he came, you know, because five k was just too short for his daily run.

Thank you, councilor Henry. Thanks for being there on Sunday with our event. A couple comments were made about the conference we had over the weekend. It's an organization called Accelerator for America. I sit on the advisory board for that group. They've done an awful lot for us in the city. I won't go into it right now but they underwrite a lot of our good work here and we welcomed mayors from across the country as well as industry leaders and philanthropists, they came to discuss topics affecting municipalities and what resources we can bring to bear. I love it. They call themselves a do tank, not a think tank, which I love. So they this is right up my alley, which is why I love this organization.

But thanks to my staff for putting it together and, just staff in general. Know Caitlin's shop and, you helped enormously with all the branding and we just had so many positive comments about Mayor Phoenix said she wanted to copy our branding because she she said it was so consistent and so good. And Mayor Turk from Allentown, Pennsylvania got a rain cross tattoo. He loved our city so much.

So Mayor, what is your Pennsylvania tattoo that you're

gonna get?

Didn't know.

Is that like a Hershey bar or something or what?

I could not believe that. Yeah. We had them at the Fox Theater. We had them at the Culver Center, at Mission Inn, at the Citrus Park, at where were we yesterday? We were at the Culver Center, I guess. And then we went to the Cheech and then we did the tour, the architectural tour, Carb. So, yeah, it was a it was a great weekend. So, wanna thank thank you for being there. One thing that did not get mentioned was the Walk With The Animals this weekend. The various Roberts is doing that in Fairmont Park. Excited for that. So, stay tuned. That's a great fundraiser and then it will roll right over to Tamale Festival. There's a joke in there somewhere but I don't know what it is. And then, have a couple of committee meetings coming up.

We've got our safety, wellness and youth committee at one p. M. On Wednesday, April 15. And we've got the finance committee special meeting at one p. M. On Monday, April 20. Alright. We're moving on on our agenda to our city manager, mister Futrell. Do you have any updates you would like to share?

Yes, madam mayor. We have a legislative update today.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. I'm pleased to provide a brief update on the city's intergovernmental relations activities for the 2026. Over the past three months, the IGR division continued advancing Riverside's priorities at the state, federal and regional levels. We work closely with our departments, legislative offices and regional partners to support key policy, regulatory and funding efforts. First on funding, in the first quarter we submitted more than 12,300,000.0 in federal and state earmark requests for major city projects including the Riverside Community Animal Welfare Initiative, Northside Ag Innovation Center and the Janet Goskie Senior Center renovation.

I'm also pleased to share that congressman Takano selected two Riverside projects for federal funding consideration, the Riverside Public Utilities Backflow Upgrade and the Riverside Accelerated Placemaking Districts. On the legislative engagement, we partnered with Assembly Member Johnson to jointly sponsor AB sixteen thirty two, which strengthens the city ability to manage trespass related issues. That bill is currently pending, on the assembly floor. We also issued 12 letters of support and opposition on legislation that impacts the city as well as we facilitated 30 letters of support for city and partner grant applications. Overall, we're actively tracking more than eight fifty bills including many that were introduced this year related to housing, transportation, land use, behavioral health and public safety.

Regionally, we continue to coordinate monthly with our county partners, the Governor's Office of External Affairs, our UC and CSU partners. Also participated in our Regional Homelessness Forum, the Riverside Growth Conference, W. R. Cox Sustainability Summit and multiple Cal Cities Roundtables on items including housing, water, fire services and new legislation. At the state level, the legislature is deep into spring policy committee hearings and budget subcommittees are now reviewing items from the governor's January budget ahead of the May revise.

At the federal level, Congress returned from recess yesterday, April 13 and members are expected to focus on Department of Homeland Security funding amid negotiations between the House Appropriators are also preparing to review top line spending levels in the President's FY twenty seven budget. Looking ahead for April, policy committees, face an April 24 deadline to hear fiscal bills. Budget subcommittees are meeting throughout the month. And as council member Mill mentioned, Cal Cities will be hosting their city leaders summit next week.

That's the end of my report.

Thank you, Gilliam. There was a couple bills that I'm interested in. Shared one with our city manager but I didn't know if was on our list. Senator Richardson has a bill to fund some of the county fire. There will be money that will go to only 10 counties in the state. Yes. Are we are we tracking that one?

Yes.

Okay. Cool.

I think it's SB ten seventy five but that sounds

to you. That sounds right. Right. Yeah. I I I saw that one. And then the other one was senator Cabaldon. I mean, we're tracking a whole bunch of them but he's got one dealing with AI use in public comment which I thought was really interesting and

Yes.

After a couple spoofs that had happened in some public meetings with AI so

I don't recall the bill number but we're checking that as well.

Yeah. Okay. That's interesting. Alright. Thank you very much. Anything else, city manager? Okay. Thank you. Alright. Council declaration of conflicts of interest in ex parte communications. Anybody? No. I'm not seeing anybody jumping up. Alright. We're at item number five now. We've got a series of presentations. Our first step is our Community and Economic Development Department overview and employee recognition. And we have our Interim Economic Development Director, Economic development and community

SWIT. Yes. Community and economic development. Thank you.

I'm I'm all about the ED, so I always forget the community part. Community economic development.

That's right.

Miranda Evans, thank you. I will turn it over to you. Thank you.

Thank you so much, mayor. And we will cover both today. So thank you for that segue. Good afternoon, honorable mayor Lock Dawson, members of the city council, city leadership, staff, and community members. It is my honor to be before you today as interim director to provide the department overview for the community and economic development department.

We will be celebrating a few of our key wins from 2025, sharing goals from our book of work for 2026, and announcing our three amazing employees of the year at the end of today's presentation. Community and economic development is really about what makes a city thrive, and our work touches everything. From growing our economy and generating the revenue that gets reinvested right back into the community, to protecting public safety and quality of life, to keeping property values strong and neighborhood stable, and making sure we're driving smart, sustainable economic growth for the future. We are the revenue generating engine behind so many of the services people rely on every day in Riverside, and the return investment from our work is real, measurable, and something this community benefits from every single day. We are driving today's urgent priorities while building Riverside's future, powering essential services through measurable economic impact and transforming our community with every job created, every company launched, every building built, and every home created.

But what really makes our department special is how collaborative we are. None of this impactful work can happen alone, and none of it can happen in silos. It takes all of us working together. So this year, I wanted to shake things up a bit. Instead of just hearing from me, I've invited our division managers to join as part of the presentation today.

We're going to keep this interactive, engaging, and even a little fun, all while being mindful of our limited time. I told my team I'll slowly start inching closer to them as we need to transition slides. Slides. So just a very quick overview, we have seven different divisions that comprise the community and economic development team. We are all working in close coordination every day to keep our efforts moving forward effectively.

We have our administration division who really is the backbone and core of all operations, our building and safety team, our code enforcement team, the one stop shop that really lives at the heart of our permitting and development services processes, economic development, planning, and real property services. We do have a few of our staff in attendance today viewing online and also those who are currently working at the front counter and out serving in the community. So I'd like to ask right now if you are a member of our CED team, please stand to quickly be recognized. And thank you for the work you do every day. Amazing.

Thank you so much for joining. Now I'm quickly going to turn it over to Oscar Mancias who is not only our outstanding building officials, and I have worked with several building officials in my career, but who has recently stepped up to wear an additional hat and serve us as interim deputy director in addition to his building official duties. I will quickly turn it over to Oscar.

Good afternoon, mayor, city council, city manager, and everyone else that's here present. It's always nice to see you guys. I begin, I do wanna take a moment to recognize our amazing team. They are truly amazing. There are 11 different divisions that are involved in the development process.

I can't name them all but some of them are here. Admin, code enforcement, building and safety, public works, fire prevention, you know on and on and on. But they really, one of the biggest reasons why we continue to progress and improve our services. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine that's also in local government and we were discussing public service. What's your definition of public service?

Or what does it look like from your end, from your point of view. But in my line of work and I think regardless of your role in local government, I think the definition is are we improving the quality of life of our residents? I mean, we making their life easier? I'm very passionate about that and that's what I'm always driving and my goal is to continue doing that with her support and your support. But anyways, I know we're limited on time so I wanna keep going.

Over the past year, our approach has delivered measurable standards like she said. More than 300,000,000 in construction investment, more than 5,500 permits issued and nearly 48,000 inspections completed. More than 7,800 plan checks with 85% through ePlans and 91% completed on time. Also more than 3,000 customers served with 65 using virtual tools, making it easier for people to do it from their house. They don't have to take time off of work.

So that's some of the things. Or they don't have to travel to City Hall which is even better. Know. I enjoy that part. Next slide. These are not just numbers. They represent people. People that are building homes, ADUs, businesses that are opening doors. And just making things work and enjoying their life. Looking ahead, our focus remains the same.

Consistency, equity, transparency, and expediency. Our goal is to reduce friction in the development process while keeping safety at the forefront. And of course we don't do that in isolation. And next I'm going to let Chris Paulin from Code Enforcement tell you about all the great things that they're doing in Code Enforcement.

Good

afternoon. 2025 was a busy and productive year for enforcement. As you can see, over 10,000 new cases were opened and more than 18,000 inspections were conducted resulting in approximately 9,500 cases being closed. Additionally, more than 15,000 unpermitted signs were removed from the public right of way. The top photos give an example of a property that required cleanup efforts.

Our officers often work with the city attorney's office to obtain inspection and abatement warrants to address cases where property owners are unable or unwilling to correct issues on the property. Last year, approximately 20 warrants were obtained for these types of cases. The figures and photos show examples of work done by our officers, but I would also like to take give recognition to our office staff, Alma Morales, Rochelle Hurst, Claudine Sunga. They provide invaluable service behind the scenes to help attain these numbers. This is a total team effort, and I'm grateful for the hard work provided by our officers and office staff.

Going forward, code enforcement officer Ruth Mendoza has worked closely with the city attorney's office to address several complex and problem cases. Going forward, we'll continue working with the city attorney's office regarding properties with chronic issues to improve living conditions in our neighborhoods. We also aim to be more visible in the community, educating residents, providing and quality customer service. This partnership with the community will help us reach our goals and improve the quality of life for our residents. I'll now pass it on to Edgardo Caldera to discuss achievements of the Planning Division.

Honorable mayor, members of the council. In 2025, the Planning Division continued to support growth, housing production, and long range planning. I just want to highlight a few accomplishments. And so in 2025, we approved two twenty one entitlements, including 3,300 over 3,100 housing units and saw more than 1,800 units completed. These numbers reflect continued progress in addressing housing demand and moving projects from entitlement to construction.

We also advanced several major planning efforts, including the general plan update, climate action work plan. These efforts are critical in continued economic growth as well as ensuring alignment with city's goals and objectives. On the service side, we handle over 3,004 public counter visits and reviewed more than 1,200 plan checks. Continued historic preservation efforts, added three landmark designations and supported major projects, balancing preservation with growth. And then finally, the general plan outreach, we hosted 13 pop ups and workshops and received 4,300 public comments through that process.

2,026 goals, we're focusing on implementation, efficiency, and key plans. A top priority is advancing the general plan update and climate action plans. Related to that, our next public workshop for the general plan update will be on May 2 at 11AM at the Salvation Army on 1st Street. And for more on that, you can visit riverside250.com. We're also improving development review timelines. That's a key goal as well. And also supporting code enforcement efforts in downtown and completing key historic preservation projects. And with that, I'll turn it back over to Miranda.

Thank you, Edgardo. And I'd be remiss if I didn't thank Edgardo for his service as our interim city planner right now. We are counting down the days until May 8 when our new city planner will officially join us. So transitioning over to economic development, the mayor teed us off, 2025, I am so proud. It really was a breakthrough year for our economic development efforts driven by historic investment, significant business attraction wins, and a growing global presence for Riverside Riverside through our successful international trade mission and several foreign direct investment efforts.

Wow. Let me just tell you, my colleagues in other communities only dream about this type of success and the work we are doing here in Riverside and we are making these things happen every single day, moving the needle in a significant way. This success is a direct reflection of your supportive leadership and also our continued growth and relentless dedication of our new team. Together, we have built an award winning economic development team, all striving to be the very best at what we do. I'm incredibly proud of our team and the way we've elevated Riverside's economic profile and our new brand.

We've made remarkable progress, but we are still just getting started, and I'm confident in saying our greatest achievements are still ahead. To cover this information and more, we've completed and published an annual report. This is available as an internal tracking tool for accountability and communication and is available on our economic development intranet page along with additional resources that support our value proposition. In economic development, we move with strategic urgency and a sense of purpose. We have an extensive implementation plan, Riverside Realized, which is also now award winning and a statewide example.

Our team has been working relentlessly to execute on our 89 identified strategic actions in this plan. I'm excited to share with you of those 89 strategic actions, 75% are currently more than 50% complete and 31% are completed. We have not only set big goals for ourselves, we are accomplishing them. One key highlight is our pursuit of an accreditation from the International Economic Development Council, which recently completed a rigorous three day site visit to evaluate our operations, strategy, partnerships, and impact. If successful, Riverside will join an elite group of fewer than 100 accredited economic development organizations worldwide and only two in California recognized as the gold standard in the field.

This AEDO designation affirms that our work meets the highest professional benchmarks and strengthens our ability to attract additional investment, compete and thrive globally, and deliver measurable results for our community and our businesses. I look forward to sharing an update with you in about a month. Thank you for your continued support and for championing this important work. Now I will turn it over to Ben Morales, our Real Property Services Manager.

Good afternoon, mayor and council members. I'm here to talk about Real Property Services. This division is responsible for managing and leveraging the value of the city's real estate assets. Our team oversees property acquisitions, dispositions, negotiations, leases, licenses, and right of entry agreements. Staff is committed to providing excellent customer service while strategically supporting community needs.

This team works diligently to balance complex transactions and meet regulatory requirements. On the current slide are some of our 2025 accomplishments. Some sales that we've completed, some license and lease revenue that we've secured, and over 500 property inspections that we've finalized. We're particularly proud of our efforts securing right of way certification for the 3rd Street Great separation project in support of public works efforts there. Which I think is gonna start construction this summer and we're all very excited about.

And then next next is our upcoming years for 2026. The coming year we aim to tackle this following actions. Cal Tower transfer and Ground Floor activation. Finalize property interest needs supporting RRP RPU's RTRP project, dispose of city and successor agency properties, and update the marketing of development opportunities using professional photography and drone footage highlighting property details available in the city of Riverside. That concludes my portion of this. I'm gonna kick it over to Miranda.

Cannot wait for the marketing refresh. So big picture and in summation of what you've heard from our division managers today, our overall goals are really summed up here as council is familiar with from our book of work session together back in February. We are advancing our streamline Riverside two point o effort, continuing to keep efficiency and streamlining processes top of mind to reduce timelines and make Riverside the most development and investment friendly city in California. We are implementing place based strategies in advancing our citywide planning efforts by leading the 2026 general plan and climate action and adaptation plan. And, of course, we are continuing our great work to strengthen economic development and elevating our city's economic profile.

Overall, in community and economic development, our approach is that we must win the day, every day, securing talent, supporting our companies, and building a resilient future ready economy, one job, one project, and one permit at a time. Because the actions we take today will define Riverside's future for decades to come. Now this is the part I've really been looking forward to. It is my joy and my honor to recognize our employees of the year for 2025. These are employees that exemplify our values, have a heart for service, and are dedicated to continuous improvement.

They are all making a positive lasting impact on Riverside's future. As I mentioned, our leadership team could not choose one. We chose three employees of the year and as I announce your name, please make your way to join me at the podium. Let's see what's next. This is a complete surprise for them.

Okay, here's the surprise. First, surprise, Judy. Judy, if you could please join me. Judy just made it back right in time and I I could not be happier to have you join me. Judy, one of our amazing senior planners exemplifies resilience, leadership, and unwavering dedication, making her a truly deserving employee of the year.

Over the past year, Judy has not only continued to perform at an exceptional level, but has done so while courageously battling cancer, a challenge she has met with remarkable strength, grace, and determination. Despite personal adversity, Judy has remained a driving force behind several of our most complex and high profile projects, including the $912,000,000 Riverside Community Hospital expansion and multiple complex mixed use and multifamily developments throughout the city. Her ability to stay focused, organized, and forward thinking under such circumstances speaks volumes about her professionalism and commitment to excellence. Beyond her technical expertise, Judy brings a consistently positive attitude and an authentic passion for planning that inspires everyone around her. She approaches challenges with optimism, supports her colleagues with generosity, and leads by example in both her work ethic and her character.

Judy's perseverance, leadership, and love for her profession of planning make her an invaluable member of the team. Her contributions this year go far beyond project success. They reflect courage, heart, and a commitment to making a true impact. She truly embodies the spirit of employee of the year. Congratulations to Judy.

Okay. It's hard to start with. Okay. Our next employee of the year, we are so pleased to honor Ed Torres, our senior code enforcement officer. Way to go, Ed.

Ed exemplifies leadership, reliability, and a strong commitment to public service, making him a truly deserving employee of the year. Since joining the Riverside team in 2017, Ed has consistently demonstrated professionalism and dedication. And over the past year, his impact has been especially significant. Amid a period of organizational change and considerable staffing shortages within code, Ed provided a much needed stabilizing presence. He stepped up to ensure continuity of operations, taking initiative to schedule and attend meetings with council and executive management, and has played a key role in advancing city's goals.

His ability to navigate challenges while maintaining focus reflects both his expertise and commitment to the community. Ed's dedication, professionalism, and ability to lead through challenging truly embody the spirit of employee of the year. Congratulations Ed and thank you.

Congratulations. You're here. We'll take a photo. You're not done

Last but certainly not least, it is my pleasure to honor Steve Kim, our amazing assistant building official. Well done, Steve. Steve exemplifies leadership, dependability, and a commitment to excellence, making him a truly deserving employee of the year. Since joining the team as a senior plan check engineer and advancing now into his current role as ABO, Steve has consistently demonstrated growth, initiative, and a strong dedication to his profession. Over the past year, Steve achieved a significant professional milestone by earning his structural engineer credential, an accomplishment that reflects both his technical expertise and his commitment to continuous improvement.

In his role, he's become a trusted leader who can always be relied upon to step up when needed, ensuring that critical functions of the building and safety division are carried out effectively and efficiently. His leadership and commitment to continuous improvement truly embody the spirit of employee of the year. Congratulations to Steve, and thank you. So with that, we ask that the city council receive and file our department overview and join us in celebrating our three employees of the year. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Miranda. Do you want to do a picture with your with your employees of the year or your entire department? I don't know. You got a lot of them out there.

Why don't you bring your why don't you bring your employees of the year up into the well? At least we can

do that.

You bet all the way back. Yeah. Is it okay to come in here?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

So, I'm sorry, before I move on to the next agenda item, I just have a question, hopefully. I think it might be directed at Ben maybe. But first, I wanna congratulate Miranda on doing a great job with her team and also I think I didn't get a chance to give you a shout out for your help with AFA over the weekend. I appreciate that. It was you were extremely helpful so thank you very much. I when we were on the tour yesterday with our folks, we went up University Avenue and there's a whole bunch of, I think, city owned properties going up there. I'm guessing these are successor agency properties.

Yes. That's correct. Well, not all of them. That is one of the things that we'd like point out is there are several privately owned parcels as well, but there is a handful of city owned successor agency parcels.

And that whole quarter's an opportunity zone. Is it not?

Yes. Is that correct?

Okay. Maybe it's Miranda Vanilla.

That's correct, Mayor. And we have a new toolkit we're bringing forward for your consideration next week as a sneak preview for the Speak Council agenda, a density transfer program. As we speak with many developers who are interested in developing along University Avenue, they simply need additional density to allow their performance to pencil. We have it. That's a sneak preview for next week's council item, but we're exploring a new marketing program, the density transfer program, and additional tools where we can incentivize those sites to become developed.

Yeah. I just I mean, it's about time we got rid of our successor agency properties. We really gotta, I think, get a little more aggressive with that. It's been, what, fourteen years, I think, now? And then, also, I I just love the way economic development has to be done differently these days and I love the creative and resourceful approach you're taking to try to get stuff into the city and brought it in, bring it in. But I'm happy to chat with you later, Miranda, about opportunity zones and some resources that we might have. But some cities have done it well. Know San Francisco has done a pretty good job with OZ. So, anyway, I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, guys. Councilmember Falcone?

Thank you, mayor. I just wanted to tackle this because I get a we get lot of questions from the community about this particular topic, and it was a discussion on the on the I know you were on one bus, Mayor. I was on the other bus yesterday. They were sharing that. And so, yes, we need to sell off a lot of these properties. The flip side is in a lot of the ones in downtown at least, maybe not along University Avenue, that we have sold in some cases. The city's done everything that we need to do to get a developer to get shovels in the ground. And a lot of times, not always, but a lot of times, we've done everything on our part. We just can't get these developers to move to invest that money. And so there's sometimes some of that as well.

So striking that balance I think will be a great challenge for us to figure out how do we not only, of course, do all that we need to do on our end in economic development, in particular in real property, and then getting the developers to uphold their end of the deal.

Yeah. Understood. I mean, I think that's why I'm saying about doing things differently because we do getting the capital to work out in pencil for some of these folks is tough. So what can we do? Right? What are the tools that we have? So I appreciate you bringing that up. Thank you, councilmember. And thank you. Thank you, department. Great, guys. Alright. We are on to item number six. And this is, an update on all the planned special events and installations. I'm going slow while everybody empties out.

All these planned special events and installations in honor of America two fifty, the semi quincentennial for our country. And city of Riverside is doing lots of stuff as is the country, and council member Falcone has been sort of leading the charge on that. So you are going to give us a presentation. Council member.

Thank you, mayor. I appreciate that. Yes. So we're gonna go ahead and get started. I just want them to run the clock because I wanna make sure I stay within my time my ten minute time to respect the agenda. So I want to begin by just sharing a little bit of background. So Mayor, you said it. I think that there was a point in time maybe about six months ago that you, Councilor Macondre, myself, we were all talking to the city manager separately about what is the city doing in honor of America two fifty. And so this really is a compilation of those things. I think I've kind of become the anniversary guy, so I kind of spearhead the effort unintentionally.

And I wanted to share a quick background. Riverside did a lot for the American bicentennial. We authored a whole book on the Bicentennial in 1976, and we were an official Bicentennial city. So this really respects that great tradition from fifty years ago, and a great opportunity really for all of us to just focus on and reminisce and reflect on and uphold the ideals that this country was founded upon. And yes, semi quincentennial.

Semi means a half, quin means five, and centennial means 100 of course, so this is celebrating half of 500 is the breakdown for that there. So we'll just be sharing. We won't be going line item by line item but wanted to just share a lot of what is happening across the whole city. Not specific just toward one. So every department is doing a little bit of something.

And so throughout the next slides, I'm just going to pick a couple here and there to highlight, and folks can review this at their leisure. It's available, of course, online, part of the agenda. But I think what most people I'm hearing are most excited about is both at the La Park and Fairmont Park this year to have a concert and a drone show, which is the first we've ever had in the city of Riverside to have that drone show. So that will be fun. We're kick starting it out in La Sierra Park on June 17, and then we'll come to Fairmont on July 1.

And then of course the ongoing tradition of our fireworks spectacular again at La Sierra as well as at Mount Rubidou. The Museum of Riverside is doing a lot. What I'm most excited about is the partnership between the Ward 1 office and the Mission Inn Foundation will be doing a specific exhibit on the semi quincentennial and that opens Friday May 1 at the Mission Foundation's gallery on Main Street. We'll focus on Mission Inn artifacts of American significance as well as all the various presidential visits to Riverside throughout time. There's been many of them, so come and enjoy that.

Other things here throughout the city as well as in Ward 5 at the Heritage House. No surprise the museum's doing a lot. This is the museum's jam, and we love that. So more here of what is happening. Everything from those that are interested in environmental and ecology as well to native lands and native Americans. And my personal favorite, reflecting on nineteen seventy six Bicentennial. Then of course, there's just general community events or ways for people to get involved. The Great American Clean Up coming up here next weekend as well as various Memorial Day events. Concert for Heroes at Riverside National Cemetery is always a favorite. And all of this is free and welcome, open to the public.

Additional community events kind of wrap up our year here. So we'll be celebrating really from 05/01/2026 till the end of the calendar year. So more here, Military Affairs Appreciation Picnic, our Civil Rights Walk will have its grand opening in the fall, as well as other events for people to partake in. We'll wrap up the whole year. What's not on the screen here, but the final thing will be in Fairmont Park, the Rose Garden Rededication in honor of America two fifty will be in December 2026.

And then we're doing a few things just on city buildings and as well as some other fun stuff across the wards and in Ward 5 here, just glancing at the screen. So various landmarks throughout the downtown will be uplit in red, white and blue, City Hall, the Cheech, the Miss Walledatorium, Main Library, other buildings are participating in that, both public and privately owned. Some of our private partners like Tilden Coyle and others will be eliminating their buildings. Out in Presidential Park in Ward 5, we'll be having some presidential history on the signal box. Signal box wraps there near the different schools that are named after presidents.

We'll get to see that. Trees all across the city. The mayor was a big advocate of that, planting trees across Riverside 250. And of course as we've done in the past, American flags lining our streets. We'll be doing more of those this year in honor of two fifty. Final thing I'll share on this slide is there's also a city art program, city art contest that goes until April 26 that's open to all ages. And there are cash prizes or monetary prizes for those. So more information on the city's social media page on that. Beautify Riverside funded an America two fifty mural on the Main Street Mall. That one's up.

As well as we have the Riverside Magazine did an article on the municipal auditorium, which is a soldiers memorial, as well as the Explorer Magazine, which will be hitting mailboxes soon, is also on America 250. So this is just to give you a snapshot of what's being done, touching every ward, all kinds of programming touching many departments. And just want to give a special shout to Gil Hernandez who has been leading this effort as well as Margie Haupt, Lee Withers, Caitlin Ryerson, Nathan Mustafa. You're seeing all the team coming together, the different departments coming together that all play a role in this to commemorate this special occasion. And the final thing I'll share is that I think this really is a great opportunity.

When I was seeing an exhibit on America two fifty at the Nixon Library this past January, was reading things on the American bicentennial. And it was such a difficult time in our country's history at that time, on the tail of Watergate, Vietnam War, civil rights movement, great tensions happening in our country. And I think in this day and age, we also feel great tensions and political polarization. And I think despite that, there's still a great opportunity to come together and celebrate and commemorate the ideals of the founding of this country, as was done in 1976, so can be done in 2026. So a lot happening, mayor. More, but this is just a little snapshot. So there you go. And in six minutes. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you, councilor Falcone. I'm so, happy you're leading the charge on this. This is one of those things that is is is not a may do in my book. It's a must do, and and it's something that we're gonna be making history here this year. I just two things I wanted to mention. Council member Hemingway is a really good tree planter.

I remember that from back in the back when I was working for your your team.

Okay. Can dig a good dig a good

tree. Oh, wow. Okay. Is he

is good

at that.

Well, there'll be there'll be, I think it's about 30 or so trees going in every ward if you do that math. Two fifty divided by seven thirty five perhaps. Council member Hemmway is also the math guy, so he can do that. And

the other thing, council member Falcone, you mentioned the city has an art contest. The US Conference of Mayors also has an art contest that I'm running out of my office and this is a national contest. And so if you're interested, go to my website or my Instagram account or Facebook. Look it up. The winners will be showcased at a US Conference of Mayors National Meeting. So we would love to see some of your delightful art. Alright. Thank you, council member. Alright. Council, we are now going to adjourn into closed session, and we will return at 06:15 for our evening session. And I will call on our city attorney, please, to announce our closed session items.

Thank you, mayor. We will now proceed into closed session pursuant to items seven through 12 on the published agenda. All information can be found on the published agenda.

Alright. See you at 06:15. Thank you. Good evening, and welcome to the City Council meeting for 04/14/2026. I am mayor Patricia Lock Dawson, and I will now call the evening portion of our agenda to order.

And I will start our meeting by calling on council member Hemingway to please lead us in the invocation.

Thank you, mayor. If it's meaningful to you, please bow your heads for the invocation. God, creator and sustainer of life, we invite your presence into this space tonight. As we deliberate and do the work before us, may your spirit of love, life, and hope guide our conversations and our decisions. This we pray. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, council member. Will you lead us in the pledge, please? Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, council member Hemenway.

Council member Condor and council member Robillard are out this week on business, And councilmember Cervantes is going to be joining us if she hasn't already. She is home ill so she can use a special dispensation to to participate via Zoom. So we will start our meeting by opening public comment.

Public comment is now open for this item, available in both English and Spanish. Call (951) 826-8686 and follow the prompts to access the meeting in either language. To request to speak, press 9. You can also join via Zoom. The meeting ID for both languages can be found on the agenda.

Alright. We have a few requests to speak in house here. So I'll call on Errol Koschowicz, followed by Adam Whitaking, and then Dan Hoxworth.

Yeah. I'm gonna use the overhead bridge checker. I don't know you. Okay. Look. I wanted to say something to the city of Riverside, California today. You can bring it down just a little bit. Okay? Boss? There you go.

The city of Riverside, California is in violation of California Public Records Act, CPR. The city of Riverside is not providing the public information where billions of dollars are going to. I have requested all spending to be put on the city of Riverside's website so the public can see how much money you're money laundering or you're interfering with elections or buying up property, whatever you're doing. I I don't know. It's so much money. It's just it's just amazing. Can you flip the page?

Thank you

very much.

This, I just got back today. Can you make it a little bit bigger if you can? Thank you. Now this is a payment to an apartment complex that Mike can sign and provide 7,000 to the rental assistant when somebody's behind in payments. We need some accountability.

I have files of files of just money laundered money that's not even I don't even know where it goes to. The name on there that he that is provided is blocked out. So I don't even know if you guys actually put somebody in the rental rental apartment, the rental space, whatever, at at the apartment complex. I actually live by that apartment complex, so $7,000 I know is is quite a bit of money, And OneSignature should not have that power to give somebody else $7,000 It's just insanity. I can go on for days and months up here.

Can you go to the next page? Thanks. Now this is another purchase order that we provided $2,100 like I got pages of this stuff. We need some accountability. This is the 3,900 apartment complex off of La Sierra, I drive by it every day. So we provided that one $2,000 also. I I believe it's like 18 POs right now I gotta go through, I gotta look at it. Can you go to the next page because I'm gonna run out of time. Like I said, I can be up here for days. Can you turn it sideways?

Okay now this is the county I got a lot of records from the county of Riverside. Now I'm gonna say something Patricia about you but now this is the county of Parks division. I understand it was the county providing you funds the year 2020 before you were elected mayor But to provide you $7,000 I think that's a problem too. Even if you're consulting for a park of the county in Riverside, I don't know. But we need some accountability here, and I think people have to actually see what you guys are providing the funds for. I really think even I I oh, thanks.

Thank you, mister Kasowitz. Alright. I have Adam Wediking followed by Dan Hoxworth and Ash Davis. And folks, I'm gonna say this again this week. Pardon me, mister Wediking, before you get started. I have got my interpreters until 08:00, and I we have an agenda item that somebody has specifically requested. I do not wanna cut off our speakers. I would like you to please be as succinct as you can, though, so I can get to that agenda item before we lose our interpreters. Thank you. Mister Wedeking, go ahead.

Good evening, mayor, city council, city staff. My name is Adam. I'm board president of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Riverside. I've been here before on University Terrace, and I'm here again tonight because the stakes have not gone away. They've grown. Later tonight, you will proclaim April as older Americans awareness month. I wanna receive that proclamation in the spirit it's intended. Older Americans deserve to be seen, honored, and protected. I believe that, and our congregation believes that. And so I have to name what's sitting in the room with us tonight.

Adults 50 are the fastest growing demographic experiencing homelessness in Riverside. University Terrace, which consists of a 114 units of permanent supportive housing, was designed to prioritize older, low income residents. This initiative was fully funded without any cost to the city's general fund and was a direct response to this critical situation. However, this council chose to reject it. This morning, the ACLU of Southern California filed a formal civil rights complaint with the civil with the California Civil Rights Department against the city of Riverside.

This is a complaint that initiates a state investigation into whether the council's vote violated fair housing law and disability discrimination protections. At its heart is a documented record of statements made by four council members in this chamber and in committees that the complaint characterizes as evidence of discriminatory animus towards the people university terrorists would have served. I've read those statements. I was in the room when none of them were made. Unhoused people were called criminals.

The housing first model, which the city's own housing element of firms, was dismissed as a failure. Older veterans were described as too traumatizing to house their families. These are not policy disagreements. They are expressions of contempt for human beings in crisis. Tonight, you will honor older Americans. I'm asking you to mean it. The state has kept the grant window open. There is still a path forward. One vote can open that path. The civil rights complaint filed this morning makes clear what history will say about this decision. I'm asking this council to choose a different story. One where Riverside is a city that keeps its promises to its most vulnerable neighbors. Please reconsider.

Thank you. Dan Hawksworth followed by Ash Davis and then Ugochi Annabary Nicholson.

Good evening, honorable mayor and city council. I am a proud political activist. I'm here to give voice to the homeless seniors, veterans, and other homeless who were denied housing by the city council decision to not accept the $20,000,000 Homekey grant. In the city of Riverside, we have over two fifty homeless residents that are seeking housing through the coordinated entry program. Being on the street taxes these individuals physically, mentally, and leads to great demands on our police, our emergency services, and our emergency rooms at great expense to taxpayers and leads to quality of life issues for all Riversiders.

Indeed, studies show the cost of a homeless person on the street is $35,378 whereas it costs $12,800 to house them in permanent supportive housing. Unfortunately, four of you council members voted down the Homekey grant to house these 94 seniors veterans and other homeless riversiders by transforming the problematic Quality Inn into a very attractive, safe, secure gated apartment complex for them, thereby improving University Avenue. You did so without any alternative plan to house these individuals. Riversideers need to understand that it is your preference that our city tax dollars be spent on supporting the homeless on the streets with police and emergency services, plus additional emergency room and other costs rather than housing them with state and federal funding. Further, your decision is likely to significantly reduce state funding opportunities in the future.

So we, the tax payers of Riverside, will be on tap for footing the bill for housing and policing. Your lame excuses are many. The project was two years in the making. This was not this was in the presentation by city staff. It was not spraying on you unless you were sleeping on the dais.

Despite your lies to the contrary, there was extensive outreach to the community by your own city staff and council members Cervantes. Neighborhood groups and churches were supportive of the project. We know UCR students are supportive of the project. A few property owners, particularly the very vocal and wealthy owners of the Farmhouse Collective and Arcade Roasters were opposed. Their opposition was the very definition of not in my backyard, nimbyism. We support affordable housing, just not here. Finally, project has always had a priority for seniors and veterans. It would

you, mister Hawksworth. I have Ash Davis followed by Ugochi, Anna Barry Nicholson, and then Allen Vegas.

I will be continuing a statement. There was no devious attempt by staff to mislead you, which is in and of itself a misleading thing to say on your part. If I were a staff person, I would be livid with the allegation that you have made. This project does not require only seniors and veterans because if less than 94 seniors and veterans qualified and needed the housing, the units would not sit vacant and would house other homeless individuals removing them from our streets, giving people a fresh start in life. As we see today, the decision has also created an enormous legal liability.

Due to the discrimination against these 94 homeless individuals with mental health and substance use disorders, part of protected classes, the city council violated the terms of civil rights protections. Thus, it is a fiscally irresponsible and morally irresponsible decision. Further, the civil rights complaint is just the beginning of the repercussions felt by the city of Riverside and liability that you have created. We know this to be a fact. It's in paper.

Paper. The State of California Housing and Community Development Department has set a letter to the city advising that the city council action immediately raises concerns about, among other things, implementations of the city's obligations in its adopted housing element, commitments as a pro housing designation jurisdiction, and responsibilities to affirmatively further fair housing. Moreover, HCD notes the city is far behind in meeting its regional housing needs allocation, having permitted 0% of its very low income housing and more than 31% of its above moderate. The lack of progress is completely unacceptable. When staff bring forward a project that took two years to develop and met all guidelines and secures only one of five state grants, have a local nonprofit developer with a stellar reputation, Riverside Housing Development Corporation, overseen by a voluntary board of directors composed of former mayor Rusty Bailey, Rose Mays, founder and executive director of the Fair Housing Council, and Pete Benavides, executive director of Blindness Support Services, expert testimony, and overwhelming public support.

One would expect council to ratify those recommendations, yet the four councils members, two of whom are not here today, have placed our city at great risk financially and legally and end our hopes of significantly reducing homelessness. Fortunately, we can't avoid this nightmare scenario. Given the threat of lawsuits and loss of funding, there are material changes to the project to allow it to be put on a future city council agenda. It does not have to be brought back. It can be brought forward anew, by the way.

So whether or not the time to revisit the decision has passed, that is irrespective of your ability to bring forward a new project. Let us house 94 disabled seniors, veterans, homeless riversiders and literally save their lives. I don't want to remind us, but I will, how many people died on the street last year and that there's a death toll this year already. We can improve the quality of life of people. We can satisfy our requirements with the state. And we can avoid potential further litigation that devastates our city's finances and everybody's morale.

Thank you.

You. I have Iguchi, Anna Vera Nicholson, and Allen Vegas, and then Nancy Melendez.

Good evening. Mayor Log Dawson and members of the Riverside City Council, my name is Ugochi and I'm Berra Nicholson. I'm an attorney with the Public Interest Law Project and I'm a resident of Ward 1. I'm here to speak about the University Terrace Project and again to urge the city to reverse its decision to reject funding that would have helped the city dent its rising numbers of residents who are living here without shelter. In response to our concerns, the city has repeatedly said that the time for reconsideration is over.

Although the procedural window for that time has passed, it does not as you've heard tonight prevent this city from taking new action especially where information raises compliance concerns under state and federal anti discrimination, affordable housing, and fair housing laws. Regarding this project, the record is clear. Dissenting council members that day made the decision to reject previously applied for home key funds for this project after receipt of community opposition rooted in stereotypical and discriminatory bias against the proposed residents who would have lived at this project. Consequently, along with the ACLU, SoCal and Inland County's legal services, we raised those concerns that the city's actions conflict with its mandatory duties to comply with federal and state laws that prohibited anti discrimination and fair housing violations under government code sections 889.5, one two nine two six, one two nine five five, 65,008, 65,583 and federal protections against disability discrimination. The complaint filed earlier today with the Civil Rights Division raises these same concerns, that the Riverside City Council members' comments to reject funding for this project demonstrate unlawful discrimination and that the council's decision will disproportionately and negatively impact individuals with disabilities who would have benefited from permanent supportive housing.

In sum, we ask that the city again reverse course and take action to work with everyone who is involved in this project to get it from paper to fruition. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. Alright. I'm gonna take these next two and then, I think what we're gonna do I'm gonna talk to council about this. But, I've got Alan Vegas and Nancy Melendez.

Is there an Alan here? Nope. Okay. Nancy, Melendez, are you here? Don't see her. Okay. So, counsel, we are gonna lose our interpreter at 08:00. We've got business items to get through. So I wanna know, is there anybody in the audience that is not just doing general public comment? Is anybody wanting to speak to item 16 through 30 that is not just general public comment?

Okay. So counsel, what I think we're gonna have to do is move general public comment until after the business items because we've had a request for the interpreter for the budget item. So we need to get through that item first and then we can do our, we can take public comment after the budget item. But what I'd like to do is our presentations first so we can let these folks go. We'll go through those quickly then we'll move on to budget and then we'll do we'll finish up with our public comment. Is that fine with y'all? Okay. Thank you. Alright. So we're so folks, you're gonna have to be patient.

I apologize, but we're gonna try to get this interpreter issue worked out next week, hopefully. I have a proclamation recognizing April as Older Americans Awareness Month. I think I have Danielle here from the Gosky Center. And as far as I know, Danielle, you're the only one that's going to be receiving, right, from because I do have ones also for the Dale Senior Center as well as last year. Okay.

Thank you. It's okay. Right?

They'd like to come up

and stand. Yeah. They can stand there if you'd I'll just read a little bit of the proclamation, and then we'll you have a few moments to say something. Alright. Whereas older adults are vital members of our community, bringing wisdom, experience, and lifelong contributions that enrich the city of Riverside.

Whereas the city of Riverside is committed to honoring the dignity, independence, and well-being of older residents. Whereas we acknowledge dedicated caregivers, service providers, advocates, and community organizations. Whereas this year's observance encourages us to celebrate the strength, resilience, and ongoing contributions of older Americans. Now, therefore, I, Patricia Lac Dawson, mayor of the City Of Riverside, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as Older Americans Awareness Month in the city of Riverside. Danielle. Good

evening, mayor, city council, city staff. On behalf of the Janikoski Foundation, our board, staff, volunteers, and the seniors with us here tonight, thank you for recognizing March as Older American Awareness Month. We're honored to accept this proclamation. This recognition highlights the ongoing work happening across our city to support older adults. Our senior centers and community partners are doing meaningful work every day, and we're proud to stand alongside them in strengthening services and expanding opportunities for seniors.

Older adults play a vital role in our community. They're volunteers, caregivers, mentors, and leaders, and they deserve to be seen, valued, and supported. At our centers, we see every day how powerful connection is When seniors have access to programs, resources, and a place to belong, they thrive. And our entire community is stronger because of it. Thank you for your continued leadership and support of our senior community. We appreciate this recognition and look forward to continuing this work together. Thank you.

Alright. Thank you. So what we'd like

to have

you do is come up into the well, and we can take a photo.

Hi.

All of you. We're doing it. We're doing it. We're doing it. Yes. We're doing doing it. It.

We're way too far, but can we get you guys kinda push together. Push together. Alright. Next up, we have another presentation. And tonight, we have another presentation that we are going to present to Charles Anderson and Amy Futi because this week, we're gonna celebrate the proclamation to board president Charles Anderson and board recording secretary Amy Foudi recognizing the Riverside concert band a hundred and fiftieth anniversary.

Okay thank you and thank you for allowing us to come and to speak to the city council this evening and to share a little bit about our band. This band if you can see the picture up there, started one hundred and fifty years ago. We're the oldest all volunteer band in America. Basically assembled together for the centennial in 1876. Did we flip that thing or Okay. Thanks Amy. By the way I should mention I am Charles Anderson. I am the president of the Riverside Concert Band. This is Amy Foudy. She is the recording secretary for the Riverside Concert Band.

And we are very happy to be here tonight. So in the beginning basically this is eleven years after the civil war and you can imagine what was going on at that time as families had been torn apart by this horrible war that took place. And Grant actually made an announcement, a national announcement that he wanted the states and the cities to try to bring the spirit of the country back together again. This is just eleven years after the civil war. And basically challenged them to have a centennial and to bring the spirit back to the cities, back to the states, and to help to rebuild this nation that was basically tore apart.

And so Riverside as always they stood up and they took on the challenge as many other cities did across the country and states. And at that time part of the celebration was forming a band that would play during the celebration. And it was an all volunteer band. The band members got together for several weeks before the big event. They became very close, very good friends and they decided they wanted to continue that all volunteer status and to just celebrate and give back to the community wherever they could. And we've kept that spirit today. And that's kind of how that goes. I'm going to give some time here to Amy. Want to take that?

So there's a lot of history with the band with Riverside. One of them is the Fairmont Bandshell. It was built and dedicated to the band we're able to

we're

refurbished. Make Our hope is as we're looking at doing that again that the band will still be part of that band shell and it will be a prominent group to play there. Throughout the years, there have been many, many historic dedications. More than we could put on the page, but we just put a few up here to show how the Riverside concert band has really important part of Riverside. Funded by the city and we represented the city at the Nixon Library, played at many many openings here with in the city of Riverside. And you can see a lot of them up there.

Okay. One of the big one that's this thing that goes on every year is the biggest, you know, celebration up on Mount Rubidou with the Easter celebration, the sunrise service. That first one that was put on back in nineteen o nine, the person playing the trumpet, you could see him in that picture, was the director of the Riverside concert band at the time. And that was Augustus Halvirkas, a German man who immigrated over here and was the director for many years, maybe the longest director we had in the band. Many other things on the list.

You can see the world's fairs that we've been at. The nineteen fifteen San Diego World's Fair was the big celebration of the Panama Canal when it opened. So that was the whole emphasis on that fair down there and of course the Riverside concert band played at that time. And then we have other things on here that you can see, the Ramona Summer Bowl concert series. The concert series were actually started by the Riverside concert band in the 1800s and they would play at White Park and also later moved to Fairmont because of the audience, the size that became necessary to have a bigger area.

Oh I'm sorry I'll take this one. Okay we've also had some major media events back before television was a thing in the homes. Radio was a big thing and people would gather around the radio and listen to the different programs that were broadcast. And the concert band actually had a program on nine to ten on Wednesday, 04/01/1925. Because of the reaction to the KSI's audience they invited us back a month later in May on May 12 and that was in the 08:00 slot.

So if you tuned in during those hours at that night you would hear the band performing. Also with KFXB which is affiliated with KFWB, I don't believe that the KFXB is still around but they've been absorbed into KFWB radio. Okay.

So meet us today. The Riverside concert band is alive and well. We have 60 members, 45 very active members. We're multi generational. My mother and I both play and she's 85.

We have members who we have members who are high school age all the way up to in their nineties. We have some members that have been with the band for forty years. So they know a lot of the history. We play approximately 12 concerts a year now. For the city, we've played one recently at White Park with the Arts and Music Festival.

We play locally at a lot of other venues and if anybody would like to join us it's open to anyone who can read music, has played for a while, loves music, wants to come back to music. I personally didn't play for thirty years and came back. Moving forward the Riverside concert band really really wants to thank the city of Riverside Parks and Rec for the grant that we just received so we could put on the wonderful festival that's coming up on April 25 to celebrate this hundred and fiftieth anniversary. Going forward we hope to be a very integral part the city, city celebrations. Every year, we play at the National Cemetery.

So those are all free concerts. So if you're around, come down to National Cemetery on Memorial Day. If you can't be there for the festival on the twenty fifth, we also play there for Veterans Day. Thank you, city council, Patricia Lockjawson, and Parks and Rec. Thank you, Philip. And I know Steve Robolar and Chuck Kanyev said they'll be attending. Hopefully, if anybody else has time, please stop by. Go

ahead and have you come on in and we can take a picture. Thank you. This

latest slide, by the way, is an invitation to everyone in here today. Fairmont Park, this will be on April 25, so next not next Saturday, but the following Saturday.

Got it.

And, mayor, just what I was gonna share is as as as Amy and and, is walking away here, we have we just this afternoon discussed all that we're doing to commemorate America's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary. And we mentioned this concert in that presentation, but looking forward to working with all of you moving forward on other ways as we celebrate America two fifty that you all can be part of that celebration as well. Thank you.

Thank you. Thanks, guys. Alright. Council, we are at our consent calendar. Let's go through this quickly. I'll ask our city manager if you have any items you wish to pull.

No items, madam mayor.

Alright. Ward 1? Pass. Ward 5? Pass. Ward 6? Pass. Ward 7? I I'm going to. So I will let I will call on her. Okay. Ward 7? Pass. Alright. Thank you. I've got council member Cervantes?

Yes. May I have to recuse from item number 23 due to, living within a thousand feet of the item listed, and I will pass on the

rest. Alright. Thank you.

Move to approve. Second.

Alright. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Ward 1?

Yes.

Ward 2?

Yes.

Ward 5?

Yes.

Ward 6?

Yes.

Ward 7?

Yes.

Motion carries unanimous.

Alright. Thank you. Let's see. Hopefully, we can get this done in the next hour. We've got our now, I we're at our discussion calendar. Item number 31. This is our second quarter financial report, and this is our revenue adjustments. We will open public comment for item 31.

Public comment is now open for this item, available in both English and Spanish. Call (951) 826-8686 and follow the prompts to access the meeting in either language. To request to speak, press 9. You can also join via Zoom. The meeting ID for both languages can be found on the agenda.

Thank you. And I'd like to ask Sergio Aguilar to please give us a staff report. Thank you.

Good evening, honorable mayor and city council members. Sergio Aguilar, deputy finance director. So this presentation will cover the fiscal year twenty five twenty twenty six second quarter update and also mid year adjustments. So starting off at a high level before we get into some of the details. Overall, the city continues to maintain a strong fiscal position with record level reserves.

Now even though we are in a strong fiscal position now, there are continued fiscal uncertainties that cloud the financial outlook and most recently, the uncertainty from the potential impacts of the military activity in The Middle East and also other evolving federal policies. There's also growing concerns that the ongoing expenditures will continue to outpace ongoing revenue, which we are actively monitoring. And therefore, staff do continue to recommend restraint on unallocated spending, and we will, of course continue to monitor economic conditions and also expenditure and revenue growth trends and report out in future reports. Moving on to the reserve balances to the earlier point, we do maintain strong reserve balance levels when looking at the general fund, about $76,300,000 in general fund policy reserves that aligns with that 20% reserve policy. In addition to the policy reserves, about $161,800,000 in other general fund reserves, most of which are connected to ongoing pension obligations for a total of about $238,000,000 in general fund reserves.

On the Measures E side, about $29,300,000 in total reserves when including the $5,000,000 in policy reserve but that would be anticipated to be drawn down over the next several years. So this slide provides a very high level overview of the General Fund and Measures E budget and also the recommended mid year adjustments. So for the General Fund, we are recommending revenue adjustments that would net about 4,570,000 positive and then expenditure adjustments that would account for an additional $3,400,000 in expenditures. So when accounting for what council had already approved to date, which is that second column and the recommended adjustments in midyear, which is the third column, you'll get to the final adjusted budget. You'll see that the general fund budget is still balanced across revenues and expenditures.

Now for Measure Z, we are recommending revenue adjustments netting $220,000 to the negative and expenditure adjustments reflecting $3,960,000 in savings and that's mostly tied to a delay in anticipated police headquarter debt service that was budgeted in the current year. So overall, if you look at that last column for Measure Z, these adjustments would actually result in drawing less on the Measure Z balance now than what we were projecting as part of the adopted budget. So going on to general fund revenues and specifically the proposed midyear adjustments, increase in property tax that's mostly tied to the successor agency property tax receipts and those have continued an upward trend that we have seen in the past couple of years. Sales tax is also anticipated to increase primarily due to one time allocation corrections that were noted by our consultant. In terms of cannabis business tax, we are recommending a decrease of about $750,000 to the revenue estimate.

At this point, only one cannabis retail business has opened. So we are going to start getting some business tax for cannabis in this fourth quarter. And then there might be a couple of others that opened before the end of the fiscal year. For user utility tax and also franchise decrease there and that's primarily due to a decline in cable TV revenue tied to both of those revenue sources. For business license tax, we are recommending an increase there and that's mostly tied to one time settlements in the business license tax program.

Development fees and charges that has continued the declining trend as we saw last year and that's basically as of the midpoint of the year, about 34% of budgeted revenue has been received for development fees and charges. On the GFT side, basically this accounts for a true up as RPU finished their final assessment of actual gross operating revenues in fiscal year 'twenty four-'twenty five. So this aligns with the final GFT allocation. And then some changes in other revenues, mostly interest income came in higher, so $4,570,000 to the good on on the revenue side. Then moving on to percent of budget and specifically talking about expenditures, actual expenditures are about 48.7% of budget as of the second quarter and that is generally trending in line with where we were at this point last fiscal year.

Now it's important to note on the expenditure side, many expenditures cannot really be kind of tied quarterly just given the fluctuation, especially when thinking about the non personnel related items. The second quarter analysis did identify some increased over time trends. Similar to last year, the police department overtime cost is trending higher than budget. And that's due to a combination of increased overtime related to protest, to trainings, to after hour homicides, increased operations in the Magnolia Corridor and also recent salary increases. So we are recommending a supplemental related to the police department over time of about 2,600,000 in the current year.

Moving on to Measure Z, the adopted budget for Measure Z totaled $107,300,000 and that included a net drawdown of $23,200,000 and that would have had an ending balance of 12,700,000.0 As of the second quarter, the Measure Z is projected to end the fiscal year with $24,000,000 in fund balance and the total net drawdown of $64,500,000 and that is inclusive of the carryovers coverances that were included in the fourth quarter report last year. In terms of the revenues, as of the second quarter, revenues are continuing to slightly underperform budget expectations. And although the second quarter results show a 1% increase in revenue over the previous year, this growth rate is lower than the budgeted growth rate. So staff are recommending a 1,420,000 reduction in our Measure Z sales tax projection. However, this is partially offset by increased interest earnings off of the Measure Z fund balance.

So the total recommendation is $220,000 negative when you net both interest and also sales tax. Now in terms of the expenditures for Measure Z, it includes many projects and one time expenditures, so that causes the quarterly percent to date to significantly fluctuate. But generally, it is going as planned according to appropriation limits. So moving on to the electric fund. As of the end of the second quarter, electric fund revenue stand at 54.5% of budget projections, and they are generally expected to meet the budgeted amounts with the exception of transmission revenues, and those specifically are projected to perform below budget by about 7.6%.

Electric expenditures are 49.9 of total budget as of the end of second quarter. Electric fund, there's a vacancy rate of 12.7%, and so we do anticipate some personnel savings from that normal attrition. And within some of the non personnel budgets, overall costs are trending in line with the adopted budget. In terms of the Water Fund, at the end of second quarter, total revenues in the Water Fund were about 76% of budget and projected retail sales are expected to be 0.6% higher than budgeted. Water Fund expenditures are at about 44.7% of budget.

Water Fund has a vacancy rate of 13.3%. So there is some anticipated personnel savings from normal attrition and the non personnel expenditures are trending in line with where we were at this point in time last fiscal year. The Refuse Fund, at the end of the second quarter, total revenues for the Refuse Fund were about 51.9% of budget, and they're generally trending in line with the same percent that we received at this point in time last year. And revenues are generally expected to meet budgeted projections. On the expenditure side, about 43.4% of expenditures to date as of the end of the second quarter.

Now the Refuse Fund does have a 13.4% vacancy rate, so there are going to be some personnel savings there. But there were some new vehicle purchases that occurred from carryovers from last year, so that's partially offsetting some of the savings there that you'll see through the second quarter. In terms of the Steward Fund, at the end of second quarter, total revenues were about 40.4%, which is 4.8% lower than the revenues received at the second quarter of last fiscal year. And our analysis indicates that Sewer Fund will slightly underperform in revenue, and that's due to a continued decline in sewer connection fees, and that's tied to development. So similar to what we're seeing in the general fund with lower development fees and charges, just general lower development.

So it's also impacting some of the revenues on the sewer fund side. Expansures are 51.5% of total budget at the end of the second quarter. And during this period, sewer fund had a vacancy rate of 13.2%. However, some of the savings from the vacancies are going to be offset by increased overtime to meet operational needs. And then lastly, the Public Parking Fund overall revenues are about 46.6%, and they are expected to meet projected revenue projections.

Revenues are increasing due to nightly flat rate and monthly parking rate, but that increase is partially being offset by lower volume. So revenues for three suites being there are expected to operate a little bit under by about 11% compared to the budget. In terms of expenditures, they're about 37.7% of budget as of the end of the second quarter. And during this period, poly parking plan had about 8.7% vacancy rate, but there are extended hours of operation and overtime, so that's offsetting some of the savings from the personnel. So closing, recommending the city council receive and provide input on the second quarter financial update.

And then with at least five affirmative votes, record an overall increase in revenue in the general fund of about $4,570,000 across various revenue categories and then an overall net decrease in revenue in Measure Z of $220,000 a supplemental appropriation in the amount of $2,630,000 in the general fund across multiple programs, designating about $774,009 to the water GFT escrow, and then also a supplemental appropriation in Measures Z of about 250,000. A supplemental appropriation and interfund transfer of about 781,500.0 from the general fund infrastructure Reserve and that's tied to the Bordwell Park project. I will note that this amount is within the approved contingency amount that council approved when this project came forward to council. Then various interdepartmental transfers of a little over $2,000,000 And then lastly, supplemental appropriation, transfers, revenue adjustments and other accounting entries of about $426,400 and that's connected to a receivable in redevelopment fund tied to a former CFD. So these will ultimately be paid for by CFD bond proceeds.

It will be net zero. It's just cleaning up an old receivable. So with that, open it up for any questions.

Alright. I don't think we have any public comment for this item that I've seen, so we will close public comment on this item and come to counsel. Counsel, do you have questions? Yes. Go ahead.

There is a, in there under item e, mentions Riverwalk Vista. Can you identify the property? Because I actually live in Riverwalk Vista, I'm not sure if it's the one that I live in or if it's the one in council member Hemingway's work.

So this was really a technical cleanup of an old expenditure back from, like, five years ago. So what happened is there was a CFD expenditure related to a project related to this older Riverwalk Vista. I don't know exactly what ward it falls under because it was like six years ago expenditure. But in essence, there was remaining bond proceeds in an RDA bond fund and then we did some shifts. But from an accounting perspective, we counted a receivable, which is pending revenue. So we're just trying to clean that up, ultimately net zero to the general fund. But it's in essence, it's not a new project. It's a cleanup of an old expansion from several years ago.

So city attorney, just to confirm, I mean, if it's the Riverwalk Vista in which I reside in, is there a conflict?

Generally, there would not be a conflict if there was a sufficient amount of people that were similarly affected as you. And I think it's a very high number.

So

my recommendation would be we take this particular item regarding Riverwalk separately to to vote upon maybe

we can do that neck can we do that, like, at the next meeting? Just that piece?

Continue that to the next meeting. And you would leave the diocese while it's being discussed.

Okay.

Or or if it's taken off entirely.

Okay. Alright. Because we need five votes if I get up today. We don't move forward with this. If we can

Correct.

So if we can just take this piece

I thought she just said if there were a number of people that

And there's gonna be several.

I was I would say just make a recommendation on all items, exempt item e, and move that to a future agenda. Correct. There you go. There's a motion.

Alright.

And I'll second that.

Okay. Anybody have any other questions or comments for Sergio? No. I already closed public comment because we didn't have any comments. Sure. Anybody? Okay. So we had a motion and a second. Council member Cervantes, no questions?

No, mayor.

Alright. Thank you. Okay. Clerk, can you please call the roll? Thank you, madam. Call the vote.

Ward 1?

Yes. Ward 2?

Yes. Ward 5?

Yes.

Ward 6?

Yes.

Ward 7?

Yes.

Motion carries unanimous as amended. Alright. Thank you. Thank you, counsel. Now we're gonna go back to general public comment. So we will be returning to item number 13, and we'll continue with our request to speak for public comment. Alright. Cool. Alright. So I have Irving Cross followed by Maribel Nunez and then Kayla Booker.

Alright. No Irving Cross. Okay. Maribel noon alright. Well, Maribel Nunez? Kayla Booker? Okay, I've got Kayla Booker. All right. Welcome, Doctor. Booker.

Hi, Mayor, City Council. I'm here to address several different issues regarding City Council's code of conduct. Before I begin, I'm gonna ask all community organizers, activists, community leader, advocates in this room to please stand with me, because not only is this about me, but it's about them as well. So please all stand. You.

Now code of conduct matters not only in a professional setting but how you're training yourself and your city staff. Expecting these standards are not only for the city staff but also for public officials and should be held for them even higher. So let's talk about what this looks like. First, disrespecting public during meetings. This was Philip Falcone last week when he decided to laugh mock and dismiss several different residents during public comment.

This behavior that we saw towards community members are serious, like housing towards public safety, and they all deserve respect. That's the kind of conduct that undermines our public trust and validates the spirit of the council. Second, using the position of personal and political gain. This includes supporting projects and personal relationships to use during platforms for campaigning purposes. Sean Mill, you have done this several times on City Council, on Facebook, and we are asking you to stop.

We have seen your actions, and these are raising concerns about our city officials and how you're promoting political candidates. Furthermore, our city is now facing consequences because of the harmful reticule and public comments that you guys are saying on Facebook on and on city council suggesting that certain people don't deserve to live in our city. It's not only is it unacceptable, but it's dangerous, and it's dehumanizing. Lastly, I want to address this statement of political activists and organizers don't belong at the table. Let me be clear.

Community organizer, activists are the often reason why you're sitting in your seats today. And on that, that is people power. We put you in these seats, and we will take you out. And Philip, next time you decide to go in a public restaurant and ask who does Kayla Booker think she is, remember that I'm the person that your endorsements are asking to take your seat. Thank you.

Thank you, doctor Booker. I have Joseph. I can't read your writing. I apologize. Anastair. Anastain. Derek also cannot read your writing. Marcival. Pamela Betsk. Pronounce your last name for me. I'm sorry. I can't read your writing.

Yeah. Sorry. It's pronounced Anastasio.

Okay. Thank you. Awesome. Sorry about that.

And then, quick question before I start. Is it okay if I leave this to be submitted into the minutes?

Sure. Alright,

thank you. My name is Joseph Anastasio. I serve as the legislative director representing the Associated Students of UC Riverside. I'm gonna just read a press statement that we released on April 7. The Associated Students of the University of California Riverside has formally passed a resolution expressing strong support for the University Terrace Home Project and affirming the needs for authentic undergraduate student representation in local housing policy decisions.

The resolution approved on 03/11/2026 comes in response to the Riverside City Council's January 2026 decision to reject funding for the University Terrace Homes project, a proposed development that would have had converted a local property into 114 units of affordable and permanent supportive housing. ASUCR leaders as well as student leaders across campus have emphasized that housing affordability remains one of the most urgent issues facing UC Riverside students. Survey data and student feedback consistently show that access to affordable housing and rent stabilization are top concerns. With housing insecurity disproportionately impacting first generation, low income and racially marginalized students. The University Terrace Home Projects proposed under the California's Project Home Heat program would have added 94 units of permanent supportive housing 20 affordable housing units with close proximity to campus directly.

Evidence from similar projects across California demonstrates that housing first approaches are effective in reducing homelessness and improving community stability. Through this resolution, the Associated Students of UC Riverside representing over 22,000 current undergraduate students formally support the University Terrace Homes Project and Housing First initiatives. We affirm that affordable housing expansion aligns with student needs and well-being. It encourages that students participate in the local civic process, especially that upcoming this election. Calls on Riverside City Council to refrain from misrepresenting student perspectives and we incur we urge city leaders to reconsider and approve the project.

Thank you.

Thank you, mister Anastasio. All right, first name is Derek, last name, M A R S?

Yes, it's Derek Marshall. Good evening, counsel. I just wanted to really quickly paint this in a broader picture. I think right now, one of the great moral crises that we face here in the state of California is housing. And look, I have been to 80 countries. I speak five languages. I have traveled around quite a bit. I lived in Germany for quite a long time. Spent a lot of time in London and different cities. And I think that a lot of the moral panic that we have about putting up different types of housing, God forbid housing that's going to help disabled folks, senior citizens, homeless, a lot of times we take this and we have a moral panic about it.

And the reality is if we take a look and we travel in the cities where they have eradicated homelessness or ended homelessness, what we find are neighborhoods that are near the Champs Elysees, that are near very wealthy part of town that has the mixed housing. And so I wanna advocate tonight that we re agendize this this point. I think it's within the the rights of of city council to re agendize the Homekey Plus project. And and I think that we should support it. The state of California has opened up a budget for getting folks housed.

It was quite a significant budget. And the city council and city government, it is our responsibility as officials within the cities to be able to make sure that that funding gets applied so that we can start to build the housing. I fear that if that doesn't happen, there's a lot of people that are getting very angry. There's an entire generation, two, three generations of millennials, Gen Z, that are beginning to organize with great fervor. And I think that that organizing will lead to the reality where we do get these projects passed with or without the representation of the current makeup of City Council.

And so I would strongly encourage that you look, you find with the city attorney, city manager, city clerk, a way to make this project happen. Thank you very much.

Thank you, mister Marshall. Just wanna clarify that the the time for the city council to reconsider that particular project has passed. It cannot be reconsidered. However, we are working with the HCV, the state agency, to try to reprogram that money into different projects. So that's those are ongoing discussions right now. K. I have Pamela Basque, Hayes Duenal, and Amvita Paramuka Kishore. Okay. Well, let me have these guys go first, and then I'll I'll have you come up. Pamela Bask. Welcome, miss Bask.

Yeah. I'm I'm that's Pamela Bash. Sorry. My handwriting

That's okay.

Very clear.

I was close. Okay.

I I was

Can you pull your mic in? Thank you.

Is that better? Yes.

Okay. Now we can hear you.

Alright. I would like to question the city council in regards to our lack of action for the Statue Of Liberty for the statue of Cesar Chavez on our city Mall. This article article on Cesar Chavez came out on March 18. The New York Times broke this article. The New York Times is a very reputable newspaper.

I understand I read once where we were going to study the situation. In the meantime, we've had a whole month go by and that statue is still there. It's not covered up and I find this deplorable for the position that women have. I understand, Phil Foucault was the one that decided that we should study the issue before any action be taken on it and it's time for action to be taken.

Thank you, miss Bash. I appreciate that. Just to be clear too, the statue is not owned by the city. We do not own it, which is why it requires us to have conversations with the owners of the statue. It is on city property, so it's a little complicated of

an issue. And and, mayor, those meetings are actually happening this week. It's we can't unilaterally make a decision like that. So we are in we're engaged with the people who own the statue.

Thank you. Alright. Thank you, miss Besh. Thank you for bringing that to our attention. Appreciate that.

Thank you for clarifying it.

Okay. Thank you. We'll keep you posted.

Okay.

Alright. I have Hayes Duanal and then Amvita Panamukhav Keishore?

Good evening, mayor Loch Dawson and city council members. My name is Hayes Duno, and I'm an undergraduate student at UC Riverside. In January, this council rejected the Homekey Fund citing a grave risk to the safety of UC Riverside students. As a student, I am here to urge you to support the University Terrace Homekey project and not use my safety as an excuse to reject an opportunity for affordable housing. Housing insecurity at UC Riverside is a real crisis affecting roughly seven to 8% of our undergraduate classes.

These are my classmates. By rejecting the Homekey Grant, you are not protecting us. You are actively making it harder for students and our neighbors to survive in Riverside. We've seen this model work. When the city of Redlands accepted their Homekey Grant, they saw a 31% decrease in unsheltered homelessness. As students, we are residents who want to live in a city that reflects our values. Rejecting this would be a step backward for the families and individuals who call Riverside their home. As a student, I would feel proud to pursue my education in a city that prioritizes the needs of all citizens and treats housing as a right, not a privilege. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Alright, I have Amvita Panamkuthat Kishore, and then we'll go back to Maribel Nunez.

Welcome. Thank you. Hello, mayor Locke Dawson and city council members. My name is Amrita Kishore. I'm a student at UCR, and I urge you to pass the funding bill for the Terrace Home Key project. It is important to me that I live in a city that provides affordable housing and resources like housing to our most vulnerable. That is all.

Thank you. Alright. I've got Maribel Nunez followed by Rohan Vig and then Vir Sinha.

Hello, everyone. Maribel Nunez, World One constituent. And yeah, this is for a non agenda item. And I wanted to bring up an item that's not on the agenda and I think everyone that's coming up to speak about the Quality Inn we understand that procedure the procedural window of reconsideration has passed. So what we're talking is bringing the agenda item so we are clear about that it's not reconsideration.

I want to thank again Michelle Davis from the city staff. I do believe there's information in the candidate forums and other places that are saying that Michelle and her team didn't do community input for the Quality Inn. So we know that that community input did happen along with this project. So those gossips or whatever you want to call it is inaccurate information. I did want to mention that we're very much close to the issues of affordable housing.

We are one of the groups, Inland Empire Tenant Union and ICLT. And so permanent supportive housing, permanent affordable housing, like community land trust, all those things are so important. We are working with ACLU and ICLS and PIP on the issue of the Civil Rights Department complaint. We did send out a press release to the Press Enterprise, to the Riverside Record, KBCR, and their stories coming out. So the committee will get more information about all of this.

So please, I don't want to lose hope. There's a lot of folks here that supported you all in your campaigns. We have done candidate forums to make sure that the community makes the right decision of who they want to vote for. So as it was said, we work really hard to get you in office and for us it's not a privilege. It's something that once we help you get in, we can help you get out.

I don't want to have our city be sued at the federal level, state level. I was very proud working on the housing element during COVID. I commend your staff in getting us through all of that, getting the community input. All those different beautiful meetings that you had, that was great. And then doing the pro housing designation. I know we attempted to do inclusion housing. So there's so much beautiful work that we could continue doing. I just don't want us to be on the bottom of the list. We were always on top of the list. So please, let's get through and hopefully we can get quality in project again to bring an agenda item into. And it just takes one of the nay votes to bring this item back as a new agenda item. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Nunez. All right. I have Rohan Vig Vir Sinha and Alex Atalano Roscoe.

Good evening, city council. My name is Rohan Vig, and I'm a student at UC Riverside. I've seen how difficult it is already for students to find stable and affordable housing in the area. A lot of us are first to balance school with the stress of paying rent, commuting, and planning future housing in an affordable housing market. Students are a major part of Riverside's community, but it can feel like our perspectives aren't fully represented or represented accurately in these conversations, and that is not just a student issue as it reflects a broader housing challenge across Riverside.

Programs like the university tariffs housing under project Homekey were designed to address the issue by creating more affordable housing more affordable housing assess accessible to students in a faster and more cost effective way. When housing instability is reduced, it benefits the entire community. It benefits students who are trying to live and contribute to the Riverside community, especially post grad. If you're truly looking out for the best interest in of supporting local stakeholders in this community, include UCR students, and prioritize bringing affordable housing and not folding to business interest. Thank you.

Thank you. Alright. I have Veer Sinha, Alex Atalana Orozco, and Kevin Dawson.

Welcome.

Good evening, city council and mayor. My name is Veer Sinha, and I'm a student at UC Riverside. And I am here as well to speak on the university terror Solis project. I first wanna give a huge shout out to all my lovely fellow students who took time out of their busy schedules to come down here tonight and speak on this issue. As you're hearing, we have a litany of reasons for being down here tonight.

What underlies all of these reasons is a very essential value that we all share as students, which is empathy. We share a love for humanity that it seems as though some of you have lost. The University Terrorist Homes Project was an opportunity for some of you to extend empathy empathy to the most vulnerable members of our community. All of you, particularly Philip Falcone, your decisions have failed demonstrably to live up to the values you once claimed to uphold. Students at UCR are committed to upholding a democracy that represents all people by pursuing equitable outcomes in housing and all other relevant basic needs. Thank you.

Thank you. Alex Atulano Orozco followed by Kevin Dawson and then Sammy Burgess.

Hello, everyone. My name is Alex Atulano Orozco. I am a fourth year public policy student at school no. At UC Riverside. I'm here today on behalf of the College Working Families Party at UC Riverside to submit a community petition titled UCR students for project Homekey.

It is directed to the Riverside City Council, and the statement of purpose is the following. The students of the University of California, Riverside are disgruntled by the fact that we have been looked over and have had words put in their mouths by the city council in regards to project home key. This petition has been formulated to show the student body support for development of the university terrace homes as supplemental supportive housing. I would like to submit this this community petition into public record. We have collected over 250 signatures from the student body over a short period of time during our busy schedules.

And we want to go ahead and demonstrate that the student body really does care about this issue and that we want to see this actually go ahead and get passed because it's really important to us knowing that we are right now entering into an economy and we are entering into a workplace where people are incredibly cost burdened and and wages aren't going up and that the cost of living is just continually increasing. And it's really disheartening to see that city council is not willing to put in those safety nets that are actually going to help the most vulnerable members of our community. Frankly, it seems to me that at the end of the day, you guys actually just love homeless people. You love seeing them on the streets. You love when they go ahead and they're just vagrant in the playgrounds and that they take up community spaces and then make it more difficult for people to actually go ahead and live their lives.

I, on the other hand, actually want to see these people get help and get off the streets and be in facilities where they're able to actually properly get taken care of in ways that are actually, like, economically sensible. The fact that this was a $20,100,000 grant that was rejected in order to protect business interests for people who have put money in your pocket pocket is absolutely insane, and it's something that is morally reprehensible. It is something that all of you should hopefully are going to go ahead and not sleep well at night for someday soon. Thank you very much for your time, and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Thank you, mister Orozco. Alright. I have Kevin Dawson followed by Sammy Burgess and then Nathan Valdivia. Welcome, mister Dawson.

Good evening, counsel. My name is Kevin Dawson. I live in Ward 2. I am the cochair of the University Neighborhood Association. I am a long time member of that community member of the university area. I am a UCR alum. I spent ten years working in different restaurants to put myself through UCR on University Avenue. I feel like I under I'm part of that fabric. I've I've lived it. I I I wanna speak in support of the quality and project and the Housing First.

Don't see why this project wouldn't fit on University Avenue. I I've read all the documents. I I believe this is a worthy project, and I'm dumbfounded that you guys rejected the state grant money that the city staff worked so hard to bring to our city. And I urge you all to bring it back to the council as a new agenda item, and, you know, let's let's try to work together to build upon the hard work of the city staff. Thank you much.

Thank you, mister Dawson. Alright. I have Sammy Burgess followed by Nathan Valdivia and Samantha Che.

Hello, mayor Lock Dawson and council members. I'm a student at UC Riverside and the cofounder of the Working Families Party Club at UCR. I'm here to support the University Terrace Homes project, and I condemn the rejection of the $20,100,000 grant from the state. I also condemn the blatant disregard for public comment that some city council members have displayed. How much re research needs to be done for you to believe that unaddressed homelessness is more expensive than housing projects like this?

How many more projects like this need to see success? How many times must your constituents tell you they support this project before you start reflecting that belief? Four c four council members voted against a project that is not in their ward, citing concerns for students they have not addressed in the name of a small handful of business owners. I ask you, how do your constituents rank? Clearly, some business owners, such as the Bailey family, stand at the top. Where are the smaller businesses on your list? Where are the families who struggle to make ends meet? Where are the students who sometimes have to choose between education and housing? And where do the unhoused fall on your list? Or do you think there are no unhoused people in your wards?

I'm not trying to pretend that homelessness is a simple issue to fix, but inaction will not lead to progress. Thank you, mayor Lock Dawson and council members for your time.

Thank you. Alright. I'm gonna take the next two cards, and then we have an online caller that's been waiting for some time. So I'm gonna take Nathan Valdivia and then Samantha Shay.

Good evening, council. I am a UCF first year student, and I would like to urge you, specifically four of you, to reconsider your your stance on the quality and project Homekey as a whole. We have seen other projects under the same name work across the state. Near here in Redlands, they're they have witnessed a 30% drop in homeless after their project Homekey. We we are we are expected to see a 15% of the unhoused finally have a roof over their head to further get their foot off the ground if this project had been built.

However, four of you voted against it improve that will four of you voted against it that would improve the quality life of our fellow riversiders. Four of you chose the interest of your donors. Four of you to four of you are not representing the interest of your constituents. Your job is to listen to and vote for the benefit of your constituents, not your billion billionaire donor daddies. Me, personally, I grew up in LA, and I've seen homelessness at its worst. Me, personally, I don't feel threatened by homelessness in general, but I know some do. Although, I do feel one thing when I see a homeless individual. I feel disappointed that you politicians aren't doing a thing to help them. They are human beings like you. We're supposedly a paralyzing city. What happened to that? And I'm glad I killed my time.

Thank you. Alright. I've got Samantha Che, and then I will go to my caller who's been waiting on line. Samantha?

Thank you.

Good evening, senior council. My name is Samantha Chay, and I am once again here to reaffirm the student body support of the University Terrace Project. Pardon my tone for a moment, but excuse me. Earlier, if I heard this right, you as a city council just admitted to the public, as you should have for transparency, thank you for that, we do appreciate transparency, that there are talks to spend the Homekey Fund on other projects. If I also heard the implications of that correctly, that even after multiple sessions of public comment that have reaffirmed that the public is on your case for this project.

Right? The ACLU is on your case for this project. The UCR student body is here tonight being on your case on this project. Like other organizers tonight have also pointed out, I also want to reaffirm what exactly you're preventing the city from growing and developing by choosing to listen to those that want to see this project burn to the ground. Especially in this current day and age, universities are enzymes for growth and development in a city, especially a campus like UCR.

When those with mental disabilities are left on the street, we all have an idea of what happens. What do you think the student body of VCR thinks when that is left to be the case? What do you think people that are visiting the city, visiting the campus think when they see all the tweakers hanging out on the street right next to campus wandering onto campus, etcetera. What happens when we deny them housing? What happens, like, to student safety? As I have said also right here before, you're the ones not choosing to sleep at night. Thank you.

Thank you, miss Jay. Alright. We have a caller. Let's take our caller, please.

Yes. Mister Falcone, I saw a short video of you online where you are claiming to be coordinated with the city to help house the unhoused, yet you voted against the University Terrace Home project. For you younger students that are here tonight at the meeting, my twenty six years of watching these meetings have taught me that there always is a big conflict between the big government versus the lower income of the city, the residents. And that's what's happening with that project. Big business, once you become a council member, you are incentivized to vote in favor of whatever the city wants to do.

You are incentivized to vote in favor of whatever the chamber of commerce wants you to do, big business. Not always do they do that, but in this issue instance, they did. It's, again, money versus the people. When you have the money, you can set policies, and that is what exactly is happening in this city. It's a battle between big government and, of course, the lower income of the city.

The lower income are always going to lose out, apparently. Thank you.

Thank you. Alright. We're gonna come back to chambers. I have Chris Ochoa followed by Mireya Murray and someone just named Derek. Welcome, mister Ochoa.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Chris Ochoa from the city of Hesperia. I'm a council member there where I moonlight by night, serving the public. I'm here not just as a fellow elected and a member of our Inland Empire region. By day, I support myself by working in enhanced care management where I supervise a team of health care workers that spans from as far as Needles and Trona all the way down here to Riverside as far as Blythe.

I manage a huge team and resources are limited and critical. I know that the time has passed for the Keyes program, and I know that you'll be getting creative with funding and finding new opportunities, hopefully, to serve our unhoused populations. People travel in the Inland Empire, unhoused populations from north to south and east to west, following the resources. And the resources are limited. I would not leave any money on the table.

I won't presume to tell you how or what to do in your council chambers. I'm just coming to you here as a health care worker to let you know that we we we are in danger in our region. And anything that we can do to help our people, especially our Inland Empire people, we need to take advantage of that. Thank you. I yield back any extra time.

Thank you, mister Ochoa. I appreciate your, respect. Alright. I have Mireya it looks like Murray or Monroy and then Derek.

Good evening. My name is Vireya Munroe. I am a constituent for Ward 6. So I also work in health care. I've worked in HIV prevention and HIV care in the past.

Housing, when it comes to our HIV and HIV prevention patients, typically, especially when they're seniors, is very important. It helps them, prevents them from going back onto the street, continuing with needle use. And rejecting a project like this just furthers the issue. It furthers them having to continue to do this because they don't have somewhere to be able to lay down, to be able to take care of themselves. People fall back into their habits because they don't feel supported.

And this is backed by science. This is backed specifically in like, the EMS systems, which are the electronic medical care systems that we use in clinic and hospital that show us that when someone meets one of these needs, specifically housing, that it does work. I understand that the reconsideration is over. But do we just need one person that said no to be able to bring it back? Thank you.

Thank you, miss Monroy. Alright. I have Derek and then Nathan Kemp and then Michelle O'Brien.

Okay. I'm gonna open with housing is for living, not for billionaire spreadsheets. The only other reason I've seen over multiple city council meetings is cruelty. Cruelty directed towards your fellow neighbor. Denying this grant makes no sense and every study, every experiment in every locality has been showing that housing is cheaper. Providing housing is cheaper and more effective for the communities they are running compared to any punitive measures. Stop wasting Riverside's time Riverside's time and stop wasting Riverside's money. Housing for all.

Thank you. Alright. I've got Nathan Kemp followed by Michelle O'Brien and then Becky Watley. Mister Kemp, is that you?

Good evening, mayor and council members. I'm Nathan Kemp. I'm the operations director at Starting Over Strong. Starting Over Strong advocates for Riverside County and the inland region's most vulnerable. People in the city's housing failures hit the hardest.

Saying we can't reagendize is not the same as saying we won't act. Any council member can bring a new item forward. HCD will consider re awarding the grant that needs a new vote, not reconsideration. Zero variable income permits have been issued since 2021. That's HCD's record of of Riverside.

Riverside just applied for 1,440,000.00 in per housing grants three months after turning down 20,000,000. That's not policy. That's damage control. 02/2019 Riverside residents are preapproved and waiting right now. Also, Wards 24, And 6 are on the ballot in less than five weeks. Voters are watching. And sorry we're strong. We'll do all that we can to make sure the people aligned with Housing First will be elected. Thank you.

Thank you, mister Kim. Alright. I have Michelle O' O'Brien followed by Becky Watley and Nancy Jimenez. Welcome, miss O'Brien.

Mayor and council members, thank you for allowing me to speak here today. I am a senior citizen and a US military veteran. And years ago, I experienced homelessness in the city of Riverside. And thanks to friends, I was able to sleep on their floor in order to improve my quality of life and get back into society, which should not have been necessary. I have witnessed the fact that the majority of homeless are not criminals, and they do have a desire to be employable, which is impossible in a homeless state in the their homelessness.

So I ask that you have compassion in considering the, what they call, the housing project and allow these, houseless individuals to become employable and be responsible and productive members of society, which will improve the conditions of our city. Thank you.

Thank you, mister Ryan. Alright. I have Becky Watley followed by Nancy Jimenez, and I don't see Becky Watley here. Nancy Jimenez? Where's Becky? Oh, Becky, you're up. Sorry, miss Jimenez. You did get up fast enough. I didn't see you. Welcome, miss Watley.

Becky Watley, Ward 1. I know that you are all thinking, oh my god. They're back again and why don't they just stop and this is over? So a couple of things I wanna remind you of. There was not one credible threat to the Farmhouse Collective from this project. They brought up mostly the UCR students in campus, which is just a straw man argument. It is not real. The students are here to tell you that. The leadership of UCR hasn't been here to say it's a threat. It wasn't a threat.

The businesses nearby, I spoke to them. I sat with the subway franchise owners, the grocery outlet owners, the managers of the Dollar Tree, the t shirt outlet, Castaneda's who I spoke to. He was Spanish speaking. His store manager sat with me. I explained what was going on. They all wanted a 114 new tenants to come and spend money. Most of these people, when they sit down with the case manager, the first thing that will happen is they will get some sort of stable income. 30% of their income would have went to housing. 70% would have been spent in the stores around there. How can you say that this is bad for our economy, bad for small business?

I talked to those small business owners. The Community Health Foundation wanted those patients. Their nearby clinics, I'm sure the library would have appreciated new people to come. This would have been a boon for the East Side. And you said no to that. Not just this project, but helping those those people. Now the last time I spoke, and I've heard it again today, you said, mayor, you said it's a done deal basically and it can't be brought back. But I would like to remind all of you that you hired a super smart city manager. He's highly educated. He's experienced.

He's a strategic thinker. If you said to him, hey Mike, I'm reconsidering my vote. Can you help us move this project forward? I guarantee that man would get together with his staff here at City Hall and they would make this happen. They would find that material need that needs to happen.

They would show how this can come back for a vote. Quit saying that it's a done deal. All these people want to bring it. And really, really if you look right at it, it was the Bailey's and their friends and family that were here in mass saying don't bring this. And most of them argued that it was a UCR issue because they didn't want to admit we just don't want it by our business. That's just greed, plain and simple, and you are enabling that. Please help the small businesses around there, the people that work for the Dollar Tree and Grocery Outlet. That's where the businesses are. University in Chicago, that's the kind of businesses there. That's what thrives on the East Side. Let's help them too.

Thank you, Watley. All right. I have Nancy Jimenez followed by Nathan Boylan Boisker.

Good evening mayor, council members. I'm Nancy Jimenez and the proudest highlander mom. My belief is that there is a definite disconnect to what you believe is good for the community and what community is asking of you and from you. In recent weeks there has such a public outcry and yet I see a few council members take a staunch stance. Not once are you wavering pausing to maybe consider the public sentiment publicly.

All I can say to you is as a governing body the optics are horrible. The public perception is that there is a definite battle of wills and that is simply unacceptable. An act of goodwill and showing grace would go a long way. You all set the tone and bringing the community together should not only be your priority but it should be the goal. The procedural window for reconsideration may have passed but that does not preclude the city of Riverside through the City Council from taking new action concerning the Quality Inn project, especially where new information arises have been raised about compliance concerns under state and federal, anti discrimination, affordable housing and fair housing laws.

The best case scenario, you have done right by the most vulnerable in your community and you could sleep at night knowing you have done God's work. At worst, you continue to ignore the vulnerable. You continue to garner the distrust of your constituency and you absolutely have motivated your constituents to make sure you lose your seat at the dais. Your governance is a privilege and that your constituents will at the ballot box. Good evening.

Thank you Ms. Sanders.

Alright. I have Nathan Boylan. Looks like Gouverneur. Nathan Boylan? Is there somebody? Okay.

Hello. Hello Riverside City Council members, mayor and city staff. I am here speaking as a UCR student and the co chair or one of the co chairs of the Young Democratic Socialists of America at UCR. I'm here in support of the Quality Inn project, Project Homekey. As a child of of parents who have both experienced homelessness during my life and one who is still couch or a parent who is still couch surfing and looking for affordable housing in the Inland Empire, I know how important it is that cities provide affordable housing options for its citizens.

Your rejection makes me even more appalled because the state is giving you this money for a statewide initiative, and you still reject it because of big businesses like the Farmhouse Collective. I think that it is time for the city council to start serving the people rather than moneyed interests. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Alright. I have a caller on the line. Let's have our caller, please. Let's have our caller please.

If you're on the line, you can speak.

Good evening. Thank you. Thank you for taking my call. I first would like to say thank you to our great mayor and our city council for your public service and leadership. I'd like to be clear because there's been tremendous amount of misinformation surrounding this issue, and I hope you people advocating for this project are listening because I realize you'd only hear the things that you want to.

The proposed Quality Inn project was not housing for UCR students. You UCR students that are there advocating, and I hope you're listening, it was not designated for families, it was not set aside for seniors, and it was not reserved for veterans. Those claims are not true. According to the city's own official report, this project was specifically designed as permanent supportive housing for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, many of whom are dealing with long term mental illness and substance abuse or drug addiction. That is not speculation.

That is what is written in the staff report and in the program requirements tied to the funding. Now that distinction matters because if we're going to have an honest conversation with riversiders, it needs to be based on facts and not talking points. Also, to the same 30 individuals showing up week after week, being rude, disrespectful, speaking loudly, trying to create the impression that they represent the entire city of Riverside, you absolutely do not. The silent majority in this city, hardworking residents, families, business owners, people who don't have the time or even care to go down every Tuesday night, who absolutely support the decision the city council's made. They're tired of seeing policies that do not address the root causes of what we are dealing with on our streets, and I'm actually one of those residents.

We're tired of watching millions of dollars flow into a system that often benefits what many now refer to as a homeless industrial complex rather than delivering real measurable outcomes for the people who are suffering. And that's really the core issue here. Housing alone without accountability, without treatment, without addressing addiction, mental illness is not a solution. It's a temporary relocation of the problem. This council made a decision to stand up, to ask tough questions, and to say that Riverside's going to pursue solutions that actually work, solutions that prioritize recovery, accountability, and long term stability.

That isn't a lack of compassion. That's responsible leadership. With that being said, I'd like to say thank you to Philip Falcone, Chuck Condor, Steven Robillard, and Sondra for your responsible no vote on this issue. Lastly, if Kayla Booker

Thank is the doctor you. Thank you. I have Elizabeth Ayala followed by Lucian Jenkins.

Hello. Good evening. My name Elizabeth Vallala. I have been a renter in half the wards of the city. Previously, you may recall I spoke about how being bipolar and having health episodes, manic episodes, housing was critical for my recovery.

And that it also doesn't make folks like myself who are mentally ill pests in our society. We're a part of the community. So I really do hope the city can take a much more aggressive approach to the housing needs in our region. If the median income is less than $80,000 in this region while it takes twice that amount to buy a single family three bedroom, one bath house in the city of Riverside, that is obviously a gap. We need a very aggressive approach when it comes to funding, regulations, when it comes to high density, when it comes to all these different needs.

So again, in addition to the University Terrace apartment project, I hope that there is a lot more in the pipeline since I know the city of Riverside is failing to meet our housing needs according to the Rina allocation assessment. So again, you are a public servant. Please service solutions. Please service results. Thank you.

Thank you Ms. Ayala. Alright I have Lucian Jenkins.

Hi my name is Lucian Jenkins. I'm a student and leader at UC Riverside and as a leader I know the importance of looking out for the people I represent. It's y'all's job to look out for the entirety of our community which is why I'm appalled by the rejection of this grant. Money set aside by the state purely for helping our vulnerable communities. The students of UC Riverside support project home key.

We all feel the weight of the unaffordability crisis, and we want our fellow residents to live with equity and dignity. You're essentially being handed money that doesn't cut into our city's budget to do something wildly popular with the people most affected by this, and yet y'all refuse. You're supposed to represent us, not a small minority, and if you continue to fail to do this, you will be voted out because we all believe housing is a human right. Thank you.

Thank you, mister Jenkins. Alright. That was our last request to speak. We will close public comment, and we will return back to our agenda where we left off. And we did it under 08:00. We got all our business done. So thank you to our interpreters. Appreciate that. I will call on our city attorney, please. Item number 32 to report out on our closed session.

Thank you, mayor. There is no reportable action.

Alright. Thank you. Council, any items for future agenda? No? Nobody? Okay. Alright. That is it for our council meeting tonight. Appreciate everybody for being here. Next council meeting is Tuesday, April 21. We will see you all then. Thank you. We're adjourned.