Town Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. I'm going to call this meeting of the Los Gatos Town Council to order, and we will begin with a roll call.

Council Member Enning?

Here.

Council Member Hudes?

Here.

Council Member Badami? Here. Vice Mayor Risto? Here. Mayor Moore?

Here. Thank you, and we'll begin with the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by Vice Mayor Risto.

States of America.

Thank you. And now we will begin with two wonderful recognitions of a community member and a small business. And so we'll begin with our recognition of our resident of the month, which this month is Joe Greiner. Give Joe a round of applause, absolutely. So I've known Joe for the last five years or so. And Joe, for those that don't know, anyone that has been involved in serving Los Gatos' homeless community is likely aware of Joe Greiner. She has been serving our homeless neighbors for, I think, about 30 years now. Just under. Just under. And I'm sure she wouldn't use this word, but I consider Jo a true saint. She works with St. Luke's. And pretty much every Tuesday, for those, every Tuesday, she spends her time serving Los Gatos' most vulnerable neighbors. And Jo has also been part of an effort that has been an effort across our several different faith communities that serve our homeless neighbors to bring them together to better serve the community. And so we have a wonderful network through the United Methodist Church, St. Luke's, St. Mary's, and others to do much more than anyone would be able to do alone. And when I talk to folks in neighboring communities about the work that Los Gatos has been able to do to serve our homeless neighbors and take better care of them, I always, always begin with giving the utmost kudos to folks like Joe. And so I'll read just a little bit about Joe. And so on behalf of the mayor, that's me, congratulations on being named Los Gatos' resident of the month. This recognition honors your extraordinary dedication as the head of St. Luke's Pantry Program, where for just under 30 years, you have served our homeless neighbors. Every Tuesday morning, you lead volunteers in providing a warm meal and checking on the welfare of Los Gatins who need it most, work that has helped house, feed, and clothe countless individuals. Along the way, you've built lasting partnerships with the other Los Gatos churches to strengthen our community's care for those in need, and your compassion was recognized by the diocese of El Camino Real with the Simple Servant Award. Thank you, Joe, for showing Los Gatos what it means to truly care for our most vulnerable neighbors.

I'll just be very brief, but I truly am so lucky to have such dedicated volunteers, old, young, student, past, present, and I'm very proud of the fact that we've never missed a Tuesday in all those years with a meal for our unhoused friends. And I want to especially thank Council and the town of Los Gatos because they are really supporting us in a very generous way on the St. Luke's Pantry Fund.

So thank you so much.

Thank you, Joe. And we'll take a quick picture. Yes, so we'll present this to you. And then if you want to have family and friends come up for a quick picture. All right, and now we're going to recognize our Business of the Month, which, keeping on our theme of serving our neighbors, is the Happy Dragon Thrift Shop. And we have Rob and anyone else from the team to receive the Business of the Month recognition. So I'm sure most folks in town know about Happy Dragon. Happy Dragon is one of Los Gatos' favorite thrift shops. And I am a frequent Happy Dragon shopper. I was there this past weekend. I shared with Rob, I think just yesterday, that I needed some bowls over the weekend, these very specific bowls that my fiance wanted for a special meal we were having with some friends. And I just had a feeling. I said, I think Happy Dragon is going to have these really particular bowls. And they did. Happy Dragon is not only a wonderful thrift shop that does a lot to ensure that things stay out of our landfills and that the community has access to secondhand affordable clothes, goods, and all kinds of things. They also, all of their profits, or a huge portion of that, goes to Pacific Clinics, which is amazing. Pacific Clinics serves our folks in our community with experiencing mental health challenges, and also families in foster care in between housing. And so truly a wonderful community asset. And so I'll read from your recognition as well, and then turn it over to you to talk a little bit about Happy Dragons. Congratulations on being named Los Gatos' Business of the Month. This recognition honors a shop powered by hundreds of volunteers who sort donations, curate finds, and create a warm, welcoming atmosphere for everyone who walks through the door. If you ever spent time there, it is truly a lovely place to be. Since 1958, when it began as a yard sale to support the Ming Quong Orphanage, Happy Dragon has grown into an award-winning nonprofit that has raised over $15 million for Pacific Clinics, funding mental health and family support programs across the county. Every purchase gives a pre-loved item a new life, keeping treasures out of the landfill while building a community where neighbors gather to shop, donate, and connect. Thank you to Happy Dragon for making it easy for Los Gatos to give back one visit at a time.

Thank you. I just wanted to first introduce Lise Wool, who is our volunteer board president this year. As Rob mentioned, we are only able to do what we do with the help of over 100 volunteers. And Lise has been one of the phenomenal ones to step up and serve in a higher capacity. So thank you, Lise.

Well, I think you said everything. A mother-daughter team started our store in 1957, and with the help of many, many volunteers and many loyal customers, we were able to donate a significant amount to Pacific Clinics, which I think is why we're all there. And if you haven't seen our refresh, a call out to Dawn Knight, a local realtor at Coldwell Banker, I couldn't resist, who actually just had the entire store painted for us as a gift. So stop by and see us. Thank you.

With other community connections that we've built over the years, we're now open seven days a week. So if you're unfamiliar with that, we have two evenings, Tuesdays and Thursdays, that we're open until 7 as well. I have some business cards and flyers that we'll have out in the foyer on your way out if you'd like to pick one up. And thank you again to the council and to Rob for this wonderful honor. Thank you so much.

Absolutely. And I forgot to add, so sorry, both Happy Dragon and St. Luke's are always looking for volunteers. And so if you're looking for a way to get involved in the community, consider volunteering with Happy Dragon. And of course, always donate before you throw anything away to Happy Dragon. So thank you, Happy Dragon.

Thank you.

All right, we are clearly a very fortunate community. Okay, so we will now get to the business of tonight's meeting. And I'll begin with a few announcements. But first we will get to our consent calendar. Our consent calendar is for items that are considered routine and non-controversial. And if you'd like to speak on the consent calendar, please fill out a speaker card. We would be happy to hear from you. Right now I just have one card on consent. Are there any members of the council wanting to pull an item from consent? Okay, seeing none, we will call up a member of the public. You'll have three minutes to address the council.

Okay, I sent you an email and stuff like that, but I'm doing number two. Oops, I don't have my glasses. Two and seven, mostly, three and four. Two is about this contract for, you know, dukage, and it's the fire prevention. We have a... It's all fire related and we have a emergency town manager that we're paying a lot of money for and and this is just another you know ripoff that you know, it's a $379,000 and 142 cents and this is page 24 that I gave you Out of 2164 24 in the the little supplemental package or whatever and And it just, it's all about field management, which is like 100,000, 110,000. They're just overseeing everybody. And that's what the, you would think that's what the emergency manager is for. So if you pull it, because, you know, I read something about a whistleblower, and I could be a whistleblower and turn you all in because it's like a 50-50. They're applying for grants, 50% of the grant, and we're to pay the other 50. And property taxes go to, part of our property, everybody's property taxes go to the Central Fire District, and we shouldn't even be paying that. That should be the Central, the Santa Clara Valley property tax. Another thing was I forgot, I didn't bring my glasses. Three and four, I just had a couple questions on the finance stuff. They just didn't, the numbers didn't add up, and I'll talk about that later. And then, let's see, seven was the system, the upgrade on, or $330,000 for surveying, or not, to share data and stuff like that. And I guess it was 24 we just did this, but I know that the police department is trying to do something with Saratoga, and it seems like this one is going also. Saratoga should, you know, they're trying to upgrade the system now, but Los Gatos residents are gonna be paying for this, and it's quite a lot of money there. So if you pull it and maybe wait a whole year, and then make sure that Saratoga pays their share, because it just seems like we're doing things that is costing us, the residents, money, and Saratoga's not gonna pay their fair share. Thank you. Any questions? No.

Thank you. I have no other speaker cards for consent. And so, and I have no hands raised on Zoom for consent. So I will look to my council colleagues for a motion. Yes, Council Member Badami.

I move to approve items one through seven on the consent calendar.

Vice Mayor Aristo.

Second.

Great. Any other comment? Seeing none, I'll call the question. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? None. Passes unanimously. Okay. We will now move to verbal communications, which is the time for members of the public to address the council on any items that are not on the agenda. We have a number of speakers for verbal communications. We'll begin with Rick Newell, and Rick will be followed by Tim O'Rourke.

Good evening. My name is Rick Newell. I live on Loma Street.

Rick, can I ask you to pull the mic down just a little bit? Thank you.

You want to see my face. I'm here today to make the council aware of an ongoing situation with San Jose Water Company that I believe has an implications on every resident within the town. On October 16th, 2025, a large diameter, reportedly 50 plus year old asbestos cement water main that was owned and operated by San Jose Water Company ruptured underneath our street. Massive uncontrolled water discharge lasting more than two hours flooded our homes and our properties. Four of us families had significant losses that occurred. what has followed in the ten months after this rupture has been equally troubling starting with the assignment and then reassignment of three different claims adjusters that was just in the first three months alone prolonged periods of no communication and unresponsiveness a wrongful denial of liability and then subsequent reversal and a law firm that entered without even indicating who they represented and it took us two months of repeated and direct questioning before they confirmed they did not even represent San Jose Water Company, the entity whose infrastructure had failed. To this day, two of us families have received no offer whatsoever to reimburse our documented losses, and the other two families have received offers a fraction of their documented losses. I raised this situation for two reasons this evening. First, so the council understands what its constituents face when San Jose Water Company's infrastructure fails. Not just the physical damage, but the 10 month battle for accountability that follows. In this regard, I would welcome the opportunity to provide the council with any documentation, including videos of the incident and the aftermath, pictures, and the countless amounts of correspondence that's also there if the council would find that to be useful. The second reason I raise this issue this evening is the California Public Utilities Commission approved effective January of last year $450 million in rate payer funds for San Jose Water Company to replace their aging infrastructure. The council may wish to inquire if and how those funds are being deployed within the town of Los Gatos. Given that we've now had at least two recent water main ruptures, ours on Loma Street in October of last year, And then earlier this year on Jacaranda Way, both suggest a pattern of aging infrastructure that warrants attention. The question is not if another San Jose Water Company water main will rupture, but when. And how those that have been affected will also be treated at that time.

Thank you. We'll go to Tim O'Rourke. Him will be followed by Bobcat.

Mayor, vice mayor, council members and staff. I'm Tim O'Rourke, president of the Los Gatos St. Vincent de Paul Conference. And I'm here before you today to express my appreciation and gratitude for our Los Gatos rental assistance program. since St. Vincent de Paul uses these funds to provide rental assistance to Los Gatos residents who are at risk for displacement. One recent example that happened in March this year, being a hardworking divorced mother living in Los Gatos with three children under 18 years old. With no child support, working three jobs, getting ill, having no childcare, and falling behind on her rent, who, thanks to the Los Gatos Rental Assistance Program, was able to keep her housed. So on behalf of the Los Gatos St. Vincent DePaul Conference, I want to thank those who make this rental assistance program possible. you, the Town Council, West Valley Community Services, Los Gatos Anti-Racism Coalition, and those behind the scenes, Katie Nomura, Ryan Baker, and most especially, all the Los Gatos residents who have supported this program. Thank you. I would like to express my thanks also to Joe Greiner of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, and Marna Tyler from the Los Gatos United Methodist Church for their partnership in community service. So in conclusion, the Los Gatos St. Vincent de Paul Conference believes in the power of magnifying our impact and others through community partnerships and collaboration with folks like you. So thank you very much.

Thank you. Question from Council Member Hudes.

Yeah, thank you for the work that you're doing for our residents on the rental assistance program and other things. I wanted to ask about how many families does your organization directly give grants to in a year. I was reading an article about the very effective program in San Francisco, and there was a case of a family that received, I think, $2,600 per month to cover their rent. And so I think, you know, so it was seven or $8,000. But I'm interested if you don't mind just saying how many families your organization directly helps.

Yeah, we haven't done our reporting for this year yet, so I can't parse it into families. I know approximately we've done 80 to 100 calls and individuals, something of that sort. And we do Los Gatos, and then we also do all the other calls that aren't covered under the assistance program. So we're quite busy.

Yeah, thank you. Yes, Vice Mayor Risto.

Thank you, Mr. O'Rourke. Thank you for being here, for the work that you're doing, and your collaboration with our other organizations. I'm hearing all the time from council members in other cities wondering how we do our program, how can they start it, and I point out that it's our faith-based and volunteer communities that actually do this work, and we've been able to leverage town dollars through all volunteer organizations. So, To Council Member Hide's question, what he's talking about sounds like kind of sustaining rental assistance. Can you explain to me how differently St. Vincent de Paul does it? I mean, you're not giving money monthly to families.

No, no, no, of course. It's one-time assistance. That means one time every 12 months.

Okay, and then of the $10,000 that you were allocated last year from the town, how much more money, I know that's not the extent, and I know that is restricted only to Los Gatos, but about how much money did you spend in rental assistance last year?

Again, I'm not our accountant, so I don't have the exact numbers. I can tell you it's a lot and it's significant and we really depend on the money, the funding that we get from the rental assistance program from the town because we're doing so much more work in addition to that.

Okay, and then one final question. In your organization, and I've been to some of the meetings just to see the work you're doing, how many people do you have kind of working as caseworkers or doing the outreach and determining the validity of the request?

Doing work? Yeah. Or number of caseworkers? Coming in and meeting with people. It's about a dozen, yeah, 12.

About 12 people? Yeah. Okay, thank you.

Sure.

Thank you very much. All right, we will go to Bobcat, who will be followed by Jeff Suzuki. All right.

Bobcat here, anonymously. First of all, a lot of residents probably don't know this, but the soccer field, I was into soccer, so that's my number one thing. I've been saying it for a while now. Soccer field is closed, the sports complex. We had somebody out here on 5526 that we paid $27,690 to keep it open. And I am giving you a picture of a GMAX test, G-M-A-X test, which is $15,000 to buy. And if we, you know, there's some false, a lot of times false readings, but... You know, I played soccer out there and stuff like that, and at lunchtime, we don't, you know, we're not physically, it can stay open until we, you know, it shouldn't be closed is what I'm trying to say. Don't make competitive sports, but there's 3,500 kids that are out of a field to play. They're searching forever. You know that was that's one of my big things on a You know I have a couple topics that I was to bring up the water I've been coming here for now two three years, and I've been watered You know the water bills and the valley water and even VT The valley water you know I'm saying hey, you know you know I I already filed a class action on Valley Water, but I'm willing to go in on a class action, and I'm filing, and I have filed a class action on number eight. I'm not to speak on it, but there's a lot of stuff like that, and I'm still in the process, but I do have a number for... The out of San Francisco, and I'll give you the community, the number 26 dash C. V. 08282 S. K. And it's a Gus who versus town of Los Gatos. It's not it can't be. It's not. It's still being worked on because I have to resubmit forms and stuff like that. But I think this is gonna just go sideways on us. And I think that I'm just trying to give everybody, it's not for money right now, but it's something that we should, as a town, been able to sit down and do it, and it's just costing the town. There's a lot of people here that are gonna speak and stuff like that, and I think it's just more and more waste of the town money, and I think it belongs in the federal court, and it's because of the legal arguments, and some of them outweigh the others, and I think both sides say the town's at more fault than either side, so that's all I'm saying, bye, thank you.

Any questions? No.

Thank you. We'll go to Jeff Suzuki, who will be followed by Lee Quintana.

Good evening council members 1st, I would like to make a few disclosures before starting my comment. I am not speaking in my capacity as a complete streets and transportation commissioner, but as a private resident. And the president of the anti racism coalition, we are in all volunteer organization, and none of us are paid to do what we do. Uh, race rental assistance case management included. And also, for your information, I will also disclose that I am a board member at West Valley community services serving on its finance committee. Although I am not speaking in that capacity either. The low status anti racism coalition received a request to produce audit reports on its expenditures for the last three years, which we produced. The audited reports we sent were by our library directors account. Considered quite good to be. Even considered as an example for other organizations to follow in the community grant program. However, I noticed that there were still concerns that were independent from the contents of our audit report. So I came tonight to provide clarity about our rental assistance program and that they'll hopefully be of use to you tonight and the public. ONE CONCERN RAISED WAS INEFFICIENCY BECAUSE THE TOWN CURRENTLY FUNDS THREE ORGANIZATIONS THAT PROVIDE RENTAL ASSISTANCE IN LOS GATOS, THE ASSUMPTION BEING THAT THESE PROGRAMS ARE INTERCHANGEABLE, PROVIDING THE SAME SERVICE TO THE SAME POPULATIONS. After all, why not just scrap two and keep one? As someone who works as an economic analyst in my day job, I understand where this viewpoint is coming from. We want to streamline, centralize, and simplify to reduce redundancy and increase efficiency. But unfortunately, this assumption does not survive contact with how these programs actually operate. For example, let's take households who have rent arrears, that is, they owe rent to the landlord, but have not yet received an eviction notice, or they can credibly demonstrate that they are unable to pay for this month's rent due to recent financial difficulties. West Valley Community Services does not review applications unless the person has, or the household has, an eviction notice. For that reason, its employees often refer applicants to our rental assistance programs because they cannot provide assistance to these potential clients but otherwise believe that they need help. This is where more flexible volunteer programs like St. Vincent DePaul's and the Coalition's excel. We are able to provide assistance to households that currently aren't covered under West Valley Community Services rental assistance program. I also wanted to take a moment to share what this program is really about. It's about helping people. Sort of cases that I've reviewed personally are quite difficult to explain with 10 seconds, but we're talking about single mothers, we're talking about elderly people who can't make the rent, who have $5 left in their bank account. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Hudas.

Yeah, thank you. And thank you for the work that you're doing on the rental assistance. And I've been supportive of that program. And I think that the article that I referred to about San Francisco was about the case of a woman who was being evicted and her family and it was $2,600, not sustaining for the whole year, it was for three months so that she could get another place to stay. Could I just ask you how many fam, same question, how many families does your program serve?

So in Los Gatos specifically, because our program covers Santa Clara County at large, but I'll talk about Los Gatos as a service area. In our grant report reported six families, but that's just covered by the grant. We've served more families than that, a total of 13 families. our share of the grant funds that are allotted to us after the split with saint vincent de paul ten thousand dollars each in a grant of a total of twenty thousand dollars we provided over twenty three thousand dollars so we exceeded the amount of money that we received from the town thank you and how many families total have you served in santa clara county In the last three years, we have served, I believe, around, the last time I checked, it was about 110 households.

Vice Mayor Risto.

Thank you, and similar to St. Vincent de Paul, is this assistance to families that have structural issues, or how do you decide who to fund, or is it a one-off situation to keep someone in their house?

It is a one-off situation to keep somebody in their house. We are willing to revisit an application after some period of time has passed. Usually it's about six months or 12 months, depending on the resources that we currently have available. We do have something called a reasonable chance criteria within our team, which basically asks whether a family is able to be self-sustaining after we provide assistance to them. So for example, if somebody has $7,000 of rent arrears, also known as back rent, to their landlord and they don't have a job and they're not looking for a job, that's a case that we probably could not help because that is not an efficient use of funds. Our program is ultimately geared for keeping these families in their existing housing unit. And they need to have a reasonable chance to be able to do that.

Thank you.

Of course. Thank you. We'll go to Lee Quintana, who will be followed by Nigel Chandler.

Again, I have to disclose that I am not speaking as a member of the Historic Preservation Committee, but on my own and as a member of the Los Gatos Anti-Racism Coalition. I've been on vacation for a month, and when I'm on vacation, I ignore the internet and everything else about it. And I was surprised when I came home and read the article in the... Mercury News East Side Edition. I was surprised for several reasons. One, I joined this group because I think they are a very caring and efficient group. Not all their money comes from grants from the town of Los Gatos. They have individual people who donate, so they have other sources of income. They also serve with that source of income, not necessarily for Los Gatos residents if it doesn't meet the criteria for the Los Gatos grant, but they serve other people residents of the county in different ways. One of the reasons I like what they do is they're trying to figure out how best to apply funds to make it effective to prevent homelessness. After all, that is the reason for a rental assistance program, but sometimes other types of assistance might have even more impact than just simply For instance, I think one of the issues that came up was renting lockers for their possessions if somebody had been already kicked out of their apartment. From personal experience, I know how difficult it is to lose everything and then have to start over. I didn't get kicked out of an apartment, but I had another problem. By allowing money to be used for rental of lockers, it means that it makes it easier for people to return to the rental market without having the added burden of all of a sudden having to replace all their possessions. And I'd be glad to give you an example, my example, if you wish. I only have 20... So I'm not going to start on that. But it was very, very important to me at age 20 when this happened.

Thank you. Yes, question from Council Member Badami.

Thank you, Ms. Quintana. And I agree that rental assistance can be a very noble cause. But you mentioned you're a member of the Anti-Racist Coalition. How does one become a member?

What applies?

Pardon me?

What applies and or shows interest to the various activities which they carry on?

So there's a roster then that you keep a track of all the members? Or one can just say I'm a member?

You know, I don't know the ins and outs that way. I'm sorry. I don't know the ins and outs of how other organizations keep their records either. So I think that's not an appropriate question.

I have the right to ask questions, and there are people here in the audience that might want to become a member, so it's helpful for the whole community.

Well, they could get in contact with the coalition and find out.

Okay, and I see the president there, so thank you.

Thank you. We'll go to Nigel Chandler, who will be followed by Joe Enns.

Hello, council members. My name is Nigel Chandler. I'm not speaking in my capacity as a Complete Streets and Transportation Commissioner, but as a volunteer case manager with the Los Gatos Anti-Racism Coalition's Rental Assistance Program. To speak on our council member Badami's point real quick, the process for becoming a member, what happens is you show interest in becoming a member, you attend one of our meetings, and there is a process by which people that are already in the coalition can vote you in if you've shown that you are able to volunteer and become somewhat effective in doing what we do. There's a difference between someone who's a team member and somebody who is simply interested in the coalition who signs up to our mailing list, etc., So, that aside, I am one of the team members who interacts with our applicants directly. Typically that's via email, but also over the phone for the most urgent cases. To start off, I think I'd like to begin with one of Council Member Dabdami's questions during the last council meeting. What rental assistance is being provided exactly? What does that look like? Rental assistance is aid provided for the purpose of assisting someone with their rent, with the purpose of maintaining their existing housing unit. These housing units are owned by people, landlords, and lived in by people, tenants. Speaking to council member Hudis's concern regarding cash disbursements to individuals, that we are not sending money to family and friends, I would like to assure the council that none of the case managers on our team have ever helped someone familiar to them, Additionally, there is no such thing as rental assistance that does not provide cash aid to an individual person or entity, which includes St. Vincent de Paul and West Philly Community Services rental assistance programs, which also provide cash aid. Speaking to my role as a case manager, I'll just tell a story about A fixed income senior with health issues, for example, who ended up receiving a rent increase notice. They found a new, cheaper, affordable housing unit that they could move into, but they have no financial means to come up with a security deposit. For vulnerable people, the cost of living crisis doesn't simply mean less money in savings or in their retirement accounts. It means that they get to watch as their windows of opportunity begin to close on them. There comes a point after your credit score is ruined, you've been evicted from your home, you've gotten the very last miles out of your car, that it begins to feel like you'll never open those windows of opportunity again. The Coalition's Rental Assistance Program is designed to be the wedge that keeps that opportunity from shutting by spending $500 to pay off a landlord for a unit that costs $2,500 to rent, and out of the $2,500 in secure deposit, you've saved $5,000. As an all-volunteer force, we have virtually no staffing costs whatsoever, and virtually every dollar goes to applicants. Because of that, it is one of the most effective organizations for this kind of work.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you. And again, I'm very appreciative of the work that's being done on rental assistance for our residents. You mentioned that you're a case manager and that there are potentially other people who are. Are you or the other folks in any way credentialed or licensed as case managers?

I do not believe that there is a licensing or credentialing process to be a case manager for any organization of this variety. What happens is we sign an NDA, a non-disclosure agreement, so that the information of our applicants stays private, and then we volunteer to assist. There's a very rigorous, I can tell you, vetting process to make sure that we are recruiting people who are dedicated and have the time to do it and that we're meeting our standards for getting back to people. Typically, that's one to two days after the documents are received. Thank you.

I was just asking about the case manager. Thank you. Yeah.

Mayor? Yes. If there is a desire for extended discussion on this topic, the council could schedule this for a future town council agenda for discussion.

Great, thank you. Any other comments for the speaker or questions for the speaker? Thank you. Thank you. All right, we'll go to Joe Enns, and that's our last speaker card in the room. on public comment.

I always get up here and stumble, and that's why I read a lot of it.

But I thought it was important at this time. I want to thank the town manager for working on the problem at the gate and getting that taken care of. Something positive. I didn't get anything negative about the people at the end of Miles Avenue. Everybody lives down there that's on meth. And I'm sure our police are handling it quite well. Thank you, Jamie. Hello, humor. Okay. Friends of Los Gatos Creek. It's an organization. I don't know anybody that belongs to me to it, and I used it, and I care about the creek very much and the waterways, obviously. I can't support a lot of the... I can't be a liaison to the homeless anymore like I said I was because they have to stand up. I feel sorry for the homeless. I've done well. I'm doing pretty well, and... You know, thank you for this great town. Thank you, Mr. Moore. You guys are all great, too. By the way, I stepped down from Town Council Run. Somebody came up and introduced me at Terry's Jazz on the Plaza. They're running, and I'm going, good, because the person that told me they're stepping down isn't stepping down. So somebody's coming with red hair and a show of cards made up. Thank you, Ronnie. That's great, and I'm really glad people are getting interested here. Thank you, town manager's staff, for helping me with my little run there. I just decided against doing it, and I can do more for the town. That's the next city of Santa Cruz. Parks worker who works at the police department over there. Blah, blah, blah, blah. And then at 18, okay, well, that's basically, God, you said a lot. I want to say kudos to a girl I knew. I haven't mentioned her in a long time. But I wouldn't be changing anything in my life if it wasn't for her. Thank you, Nellie Rodriguez. That's embarrassing. I got to go. Bye. Thank you.

All right. We have a hand raised on Zoom from Austin.

Good evening, Council. I'm calling in to express my dissatisfaction with the recent change to the Park Avenue parking lot. This lot is designated on the town's website as unlimited parking, but it was recently re-striped and now it is overwhelmingly designated downtown employee parking. This is or was the closest unlimited lot close to the library, high school, and civic center, where otherwise the limits are 90 minutes. For those of us who unfortunately can't walk or bike to that area, it was really helpful to have a lot there that we didn't have to worry about getting ticketed. So unfortunately, now I'll have to park on the opposite side of downtown if I need to spend any amount of time in that area. And I wish you could find a better solution. If you don't, at minimum, just update the website, update the documentation, make sure that it doesn't inaccurately report it as being unlimited when it is very much restricted to a very small subset of people. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, that is all of our speakers for verbal communications, and we will move to our public hearing for this evening, item eight, which is to consider a request to continue the public hearing for appeals or hear the appeals of the Planning Commission decision to approve a request for modification of an existing conditional use permit, to expand the hours of operation to 16769 Farley Road, the West Valley Muslim Association. So before we begin, I'm going to give a little bit of context on the structure of this hearing. First, I want to acknowledge that this is a complex and sensitive matter and I recognize there are a number of legitimate and important perspectives involved. I want to assure everyone that the town council understands the importance of hearing from those, all of those affected by this matter. Each person's input and perspective is important, and I want to be mindful and respectful of those different viewpoints as we consider this item. One piece of that that is important is that regardless of if you agree or disagree with a comment, no matter how you feel, please do not, if you're in the audience, make any comments, noise, clapping, in opposition, in support of any speaker's comment. If you would like to show support for a particular comment, you're welcome to raise your hands. My goal this evening is to ensure that we have a fair and thoughtful process and that everyone has an opportunity to be heard. In keeping with that goal, I want to make sure that the council and the public are aware that we received additional public comments after 11 a.m. that were not included in the original packet. Town staff has made all of the comments available on the town's website for the public and council MEMBERS TO REVIEW. BEFORE US TODAY ARE TWO APPEALS OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION'S DECISION REGARDING THE WEST VALLEY MUSLIM ASSOCIATION'S CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT MODIFICATION. BEFORE WE BEGIN CONSIDERATIONS OF THE APPEALS, THE APPLICANT HAS REQUESTED THAT THIS MATTER BE CONTINUED TO A FUTURE MEETING. THE FARLEY ROAD NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION, THE OTHER APPEALANT, DOES NOT OBJECT TO THIS REQUEST. I would like to first open the public hearing for the limited purpose of considering the request for that continuance. To be clear, that is not to hear comments on the merits of the CUP. That is just on the merits of the continuance. We will begin by hearing from the applicant regarding the reasons for the requested continuance. Then we will hear from the Farley Road Neighborhood Association regarding their request. Following those comments, we will open the floor to public comment. At that time, public comment will be limited to whether the council should continue this item. Comments regarding the merits of the appeals, as I said, will be heard later if the council decides to proceed with the item today and it will be re-noticed if it is rescheduled in the future. After all public comments regarding the continuance have been received, I'll bring the matter back to the council to determine whether there is a motion to continue the item or whether the council wants to hear it this evening. And I will look to my council colleagues. Yes, Councilmember Hudis.

Yeah, I just had a question for the town attorney. Will there be an opportunity for the public to provide their perspective on the merits of the permit application at a future meeting should it be continued?

Yes, if the hearing is continued at that point, there'll be presentations by both appellants followed by a public comment on the merits of the application.

Thank you. Great, thank you. So at this point, I will look to my council colleagues to see if there is a motion to continue the item. Okay, I'll look to the town attorney on process.

THE MOTION WILL ONLY BE REQUIRED BEFORE COUNCIL DELIBERATION. AT THIS POINT, THE MAYOR CAN OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING TO HEAR COMMENTS ON WHETHER OR NOT THE ITEM SHOULD BE CONTINUED.

OKAY. PERFECT. AGAIN, TO REITERATE, THIS IS ON THE CONTINUANCE ONLY. I have just three public comments.

I recommend starting with both appellants to hear their views on the continuance.

Thank you very much. Okay, then we will turn to the representatives from the West Valley Muslim Association who will have three minutes to address the council.

Thank you, Mayor Moore and members of the town council. Thank you for this opportunity to speak here. We are asking reluctantly for a two-week continuance here. Three weeks ago, we received new information from the town staff and the fire department after two and a half years of working through this permit. This was not raised earlier, and we need the additional time to get to the bottom of this, and this is the reason why we're asking for this thing. To be clear, we're asking for two weeks, not an indefinite delay. Two and a half years and five planning commission hearings is already a substantial burden on our community's ability to practice our faith. The kind of burden the law does not permit a jurisdiction to impose without a compelling reason and the least restrictive means of achieving it. Every additional delay, every additional condition without precedent among compatible institutions in this town adds to the burden. We ask that the council to weigh that carefully here. It is also worth remembering that WDMA is not requesting a new use. This is an existing permitted use under the same roof without any expansion of facilities here. Our request is simple. Grant the two-week continuance and commit to a full hearing and a final decision at the next meeting. Our community has waited long enough for this resolution. We request that this meeting be continued with a date certain so that there is no additional noticing requirements that are required. Thank you so much.

Thank you, and I'll look to my colleagues for questions. Councillor Budami.

Thank you. Um, you mentioned two weeks ago you received information. Um, can you elaborate, uh, what that information was?

Sure. We, uh, the town informed us, uh, that the fire department and the town informed us of a occupancy limits on the facility. Uh, previous to that, we have written documentation from the fire department of occupancy, which was a substantially higher.

So does that mean that two weeks ago you received an updated occupancy number?

That's right. We received an updated occupancy number that we need to understand what was the reason for that, and we have requested public records from the fire department, from the town, as well as we are looking to understand from an architectural perspective what are the requirements that are needed in order to make sure that we have an understanding of what our occupancy is.

Can you share that number?

The number that was originally that the fire department approved was 1,214 for the three auditoriums. The number that is in the stamped approval records of the town in the building department from 1990 is 682. and the number that the fire department is claiming is 566. And so we need to understand what has transpired between the 1990 number and why the approval that was received from a deputy fire marshal for 1214 is not acceptable. And so we need to understand that and we need to determine that before we proceed.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor Risto.

Thank you. So given that you're asking for a two week extension and I don't know what our schedule looks like or what's planned on the meeting in two weeks, does that imply that you believe you will have complete understanding of what the new number is or have completed your conversation with building and fire?

Yes, we will have that number there because we have requested the records. We're waiting for the records to come in. There was a delay from the fire department. We're expecting that to be released by tomorrow. We had requested from the building department of the town additional records, but the building department did not provide that and they closed the request. So we opened up a new public request as of yesterday as well. And then we are also conducting the architectural egress analysis. So we will have that data available.

Okay, and just to follow on, that data will be not only available to you, but available to the council and to staff in time for a staff report heading into the next meeting, I guess? Up to the staff to determine that. So question for staff, would we have that information for a meeting in two weeks?

So we're already reviewing reports for the next town council meeting. And so I would build in time for staff to review whatever information is provided. And so from a legal perspective, my recommendation would be to continue it to a date to be specified in the future and that the town re-notice the hearing at that point, because it's hard to commit to a hearing date when we don't know what information will be provided to the town.

Okay, so we can go through that. All right, and your request is at least two weeks, but you don't want to drag it out.

No, in fact, our request would be two weeks and not to drag it out. This has gone on for two and a half years, Council Member Risto. Understood. Yes, and we are, at this point in time, our patients has run exceptionally thin over here. And this has been a substantial burden for our community. In summer, for example, we could not pray the last prayer at the facility because of the 10 p.m. limitation.

Okay, thank you. That's helpful. I just want to remind you that we are walking and chewing gum and have a number of things on our meeting schedule. I appreciate that.

Okay, thank you. Yes, thank you. If whatever we could do.

Council Member Hudus. Thank you, and thank you for coming tonight. I had two questions, one along the same lines. It seems as though some of the additional information is going to be provided by the WVMA, the Architectural Egress Plan. Is that correct? That is correct. So, again, do you have an estimate of when all of the items that were in your request for postponement, which is public records from several agencies, as well as the egress plan, do you have an estimate of when those items will be resolved?

So the fire department has given us a date of August 19th, which is tomorrow. So there are three things that we are looking for. The fire department public records request. They actually did not follow up on the request, and we had to call them multiple times. And so they finally found the request, and they said they will provide us with all of the public records on August 19th. So that's fire department. Second, we had opened up a town request for both the planning and building. Planning provided the information, but building did not. I opened that request last night, so we have 10 days to get that. So that would be prior to the 14-day is needed for September 1st. Third, we are working on the architectural egress analysis. We will have that prior to September 1st.

September 1st.

That's right. September 1st is two weeks from today. Yes. That would be the next meeting. So our plan, so our request is to continue date certain for September 1st.

And you're aware that there are noticing requirements once information is provided to the public. I think our practice is to release that information on Thursday night before a Tuesday council meeting. So are you saying that you would have all that information available on the Thursday before that meeting? I'm not sure.

We will have that on Thursday before, but we will have that by September 1st here. So I don't know if you require all of the noticing, all of the materials which are part and parcel of, just like late submissions as an example, but I'll let the town to determine that.

I did have one other question, and that is would granting a continuance to say september time frame and i think the town attorney is suggesting that staff suggests that time at a later time when they have that information but if it were september would that cause the wvma significant hardship or detriment

I think what Councilmember Uris, what we are saying is that this process has taken us tremendous amount and that in itself is a substantial burden. We understand there may be constraints in terms of noticing requirements, in terms of reviewing the materials. We'll work with you on that, but we do also want to request that if we do continue on whatever date it is continued on, we do want to conclude the matter at that point in time, not have like what happened with the Planning Commission with five hearings here.

Thank you.

And then I'll just ask another quick question. Given that it sounds like the two weeks might be a little bit of a rush, but you'd like a date certain, we also meet in September on the second, or the third Tuesday of the month, which would be September 15th. Would that be an appropriate date on your end? Sure, reluctantly yes. Okay, thank you. Council Member Badami.

Thank you. So in anticipation of a continued hearing, and I understand the urgency you want to get this over and done with, but I would need more information, even at that continued hearing, that might delay your process. So I can provide some direction tonight, if necessary, or just provide some comments that I have of studies that I would need in addition to the fire department. So I can list some of those, if appropriate. OK. But maybe after a public comment? That would be a good time. OK.

Thank you very much. All right. We will now turn to the Farley Neighborhood Road Association.

THANK YOU, MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL FOR MEETING TONIGHT. JUST LIKE ROSIE SAID, WE'RE EXPERIENCING A LOT OF PAIN AND FRUSTRATION FOR HOW LONG THIS PROCESS HAS TAKEN AND I WANT TO JUST TELL YOU THAT THE FARTHER ROAD NEIGHBORHOOD COALITION IS TRYING TO, HAS GONE DOWN TO THE SANTA CLARA FIRE DEPARTMENT

Multiple times starting in February of 2025 and we have not gotten any Thank you Thank you Okay, that is our final speaker card, I mean I have no hands raised on zoom So I'm going to close public comment to the town attorney. Do we need to? allow for rebuttals

No. Okay, thank you. Because this isn't the actual appeal hearing.

Great, thank you. Okay, I will now turn to the Town Council and go to Council Member Hudes.

Yeah, per our revised rules for Rosenberg's rules for the meeting, I'm gonna offer a motion at this point. And Town Attorney, I wanted to see if this comports with what you had suggested. And so I move to continue this item to a date to be determined in the future with consideration of staff's recommendation of that date. Council Member Badami.

I'll second that. But as I stated earlier, I would like to provide some direction this evening. It may not be part of the motion, but I would like to add that into the public record. Would this be a good time? Yes. OK. We received more correspondence this evening, or earlier this afternoon, some of it legal correspondence. So I'm going to need information from the town attorney relating to CEQA, the general plan, and residential zoning. I would like staff to evaluate the points raised in Ms. Swinberg's letter received today at 1105, which may include peer review if necessary. I would also like the applicant to respond to the points raised in Ms. Swinberg's letter dated August 18th and the verbal request to provide a complete report as stated during her verbal communication with focus on the Salter study and request a town specialist to respond to the Salter study. This would help the council thoroughly evaluate both sides and make sure we have accurate information and full information to make a decision that is affecting an immediate neighborhood, the town as a whole, and the religious right to worship.

And then for clarity's purposes, is that a friendly amendment to the motion?

Yes.

I'm reluctant to get into anything that relates to the content. I think it's okay to provide direction to staff, but I think I would prefer for the motion strictly to deal with the continuance date and the strict continuance. So I would not be open to accepting that as an amendment.

Okay, that's fine. But one of the alternatives in our staff report is that we provide direction. And both sides want this resolved. I mean, this has been dragging on for a really long time. So whatever date we get in the future, and we have the hearing then, I would be asking for this information, and that's going to set the clock even further back. So that's why I'm putting it on the record, just to make it easier for both sides, so they might want to consider this now, even though it's not part of the friendly amendment to your motion.

Yes, Vice Mayor Risto.

Thank you. We have so many things going on and I know that there were five meetings at the Planning Commission. I felt like the Planning Commission really went through a lot of the issues and the fact that both sides appealed means this is going to be very difficult to go through. I was prepared to go through the conditions tonight, but given that the fire departments numbers for occupancy at this point are unknown or we don't understand why they're set. In my mind, there are a number of other conditions that have a nexus with the occupancy that would caused too much trouble for me to actually make any solid decisions tonight without those numbers. So I'm supporting the continuation. I realize how much energy and effort everyone's put in. It is consolation to me that both sides agree to this continuation. So I feel like we should hold this off and hopefully staff can give direction on when we can soonest fit this in, given that there's information that staff will have to then digest. come up with reports and get in, you know, for us, we can't have, for me, I don't want that number to show up at the night of the meeting. I need to have it in advance so I can understand what that means. But I'll be supporting this motion for a continuation to a date that works with the staff and the town attorney.

So I guess my question on this would be, I guess for staff, given every, I mean, we've heard a variety of things tonight, but from the, it sounds like there is some level of consensus, you know, from both parties on the need for the council and the public to have the fire department occupancy study, a PRA request it sounded like from building um and the architectural egress analysis um if those were the things we were looking for would September 15th be a reasonable timeline I guess my concern is uh having to re-notice everything involved with this. It's significant, and I think that'll push us into October at the earliest, perhaps November or December, and Ramadan is only a few months after that. So I guess with that narrow set of things, when would the soonest staff could be prepared to hear this item be?

I'm reluctant to commit to a date until we have the information.

Okay.

Because it does take time to review the information once the town receives it, and it also takes time to prepare a report and make the report available to the public and the council.

Okay. Yeah.

So it sounds like we would be continuing to a date uncertain. Is that the motion? I know the motion said relating to the town attorney.

And so with that, what is the timeline just on the noticing of this item? Maybe I'll look to the town clerk, too.

I'll start, and then if I mess up, the town clerk can jump in. So it's 10 days mailed notice, and then also 10 days newspaper notice. And the newspaper notice goes to the newspaper, I believe, three weeks in advance.

So that's about a month just for noticing. Which, I mean, if that's the council's pleasure, but it does sound like that'll push us into... probably late October, November. Council Member Redding, then Council Member Hudes.

I feel that's kind of ridiculous. I'm kind of favorable to a September 15th date and go with that.

Council Member Hudes. Yeah, I wonder if staff could comment on the October or November opinion of the mayor. Is that staff's opinion based on the noticing?

So today is the 18th. And so if we were to get the fire department report tomorrow, we would start reviewing it. And so I don't want to speak for any other town departments, but I'm imagining the notice would go out on the 28th. And then the hearing could take place tomorrow. three weeks plus 10 days after that. So that would get us to the early October.

Vice Mayor Risto.

So if I may ask a question, obviously we don't have control over when the information comes in, but if we just picked one of the October dates and made it I mean, can we just pick early October so that we're not wondering if we don't get the information for two weeks, when the meeting will be? That's certainly possible, yeah.

And then the only risk with that is if the information comes in and there's something that staff didn't anticipate, and then we'll ask for another continuance, but there's no harm in setting an early October date tonight.

And I guess my take on that would be not to be contrary to my previous opinion, but if we're looking to set an October date, then we might as well do a date uncertain because the noticing is going to take that long either way. So, I mean, as long as we're okay with the delay, I think that's okay. We'll go to Councilmember Hudis and then Councilmember Rennie.

Yeah, I just want to make a comment that I would like to see this thing move as soon as possible because of the need to do preparations for Ramadan. But I respect the fact that staff doesn't have information in front of them that is being referred to and so I think that would be, it would be wise to have staff take a look at that information and then we would set a date. I would also say maybe there might be a reason to do this at a special meeting. Does staff have an opinion about whether it would be appropriate to do this at a special meeting rather than the regularly scheduled?

I would recommend if you're going to set a debt certain that date certain that it is a special meeting starting at five, not seven. I can tell you that the agenda for September fifteenth. If another significant item continues on track. We'll be on that same evening and there's a time certain on that item. I will also say that either direction is risky. I know we want to go quick. You can, in fact, start your public hearing tonight. However, you don't have information to make a decision. So then you're going to delay it. Then we're going to get the information. If we don't have time to analyze it, we will not be able to advise you on that information. And that delays it again. And then when you do see that information, if there's this level of significance to that information, understand the town code that the town attorney advised you of that you would be required to send it back to Planning Commission. Another delay. And so if speed is what you're looking for, I am cautioning you now, the directions you're talking about will not beget a decision quickly. COUNCILMEMBER RUNNY.

I'M GOING TO DISAGREE. I THINK THIS WHOLE THING HAS BEEN OVERLY COMPLICATED BY ALL THE PARTIES INVOLVED AND, SORRY, STAFF IS CONTRIBUTING TO THE OVERCOMPLICATION OF THIS. I WOULD LIKE US TO GET TO A COUNCIL MEETING. MAYBE WE HAVE TO WORK ON IT AND CONTINUE IT, BUT I'D LIKE TO GET US TO THE POINT WHERE WE CAN START bringing this down to a more simple level. It's pretty clear to me that there's going to be a bunch of changes from what the planning commission came out of the planning commission. If we have a council meeting that we can't get all the way through it, but we can cut it back to where we really think we're getting close, then another meeting gives a chance for more feedback on that. So I think this idea that we just keep complicating it and adding more and more so that maybe you're finally going to be ready to work on this, but you've got something so complicated you can't even swallow it, I don't like the direction this is going. I think we just... need to get on with it and start working on it.

So, with all that being said, I guess after talking through this and looking at the timelines, I can support the motion that's on the table, but I would just, you know, with the understanding that I think there is a sense of, you know, not urgency to the detriment of the information or the quality of the decision, but I think it's important to all parties that, you know, this moves. Vice Mayor Aristo.

Thank you. I want this to move well. I think it would not be helpful to pick a date now, as I think about it, and then find out we don't have all the information or we haven't had the analysis and then we're stuck with this same exact situation. Do we proceed with limited information and then, as Council Member Runny put it, you know, hammer out some of it and then do some at another date? We're never gonna have all the information. We're never gonna have perfect information. But I would say that the occupancy is really key. I think if we don't understand the occupancy, we can't talk about the parking, we can't talk about the traffic, we can't talk about a lot of things. And so I'll be supporting the motion to continue this to a date uncertain with staff understanding that obviously they can't start their work until they get the information and then we'll have a better understanding of when the meeting can fit. And if it's a special meeting at that point, That'd be great, start earlier so we can get through it that night. So that's what I feel is the best compromise.

Okay, and I'll just jump in before going to my colleagues that for all parties involved with that understanding, it'll be very important that both sides provide the information to staff as quickly as possible, you know, complete information. And then also I think this evening that, you know, as Council Member Badami did, if there is outstanding information that the council needs, we should be, you know, without, you know, weighing in beyond the merits of the continuance, I think we should be explicit about that now. So we...

are in a position to make a decision when the time comes councilmember hudis then councilmember rennie uh yeah i i very much agree with uh councilmember rennie's um uh idea about trying to simplify this and it has gotten quite complex and has raised i think issues that make it more difficult for both parties to agree to. And so I would encourage us to use our best efforts to try to simplify this for both the applicants, the appellants and for staff. But I think it can be accomplished under the framework that's been suggested by the town attorney for us setting a date once we have received the information. I, again, don't think that I have a long list of other items or a list at all of other items. And so I would encourage us to think about trying to simplify this.

Councilmember Enni?

So I'll support the motion to move it to a date uncertain. But again, my direction to staff is don't keep spinning and spinning and spinning on this. You know, if you feel like. You're close. Maybe ping council members and see if they really need more. But I've seen us do this on other projects where it just keeps spinning and spinning and spinning when it should come forward. So I don't want to see that go on.

And then I would just add in agreed and because we are dealing with a complicated item and staff have a lot on their plates, I also do think it's important that the information is complete when it comes to the council so we can actually make an informed decision. So there's clearly a balance here to reach both on the actual merits and just on the scheduling.

So look to the town manager. If I may direct a question to the clerk. What is the fastest timeline if we have to re-notice a hearing if you were, today, given all the information you need for it to appear and hold a meeting?

If you wanted to have a meeting on the 15th, then the notice would have to go to the newspaper by August 26th, which would be next Wednesday.

No, I guess I'm generically asking if we don't know the date and once we have all the information that we're ready to provide that information to council and that's day one, how many total days before you can actually hold the meeting the quickest?

So the notice wouldn't need to be published in the newspaper at least 10 days before the hearing. And then the notice needs to be submitted to the newspaper at least a week before that publishing date. So it would be a minimum of three weeks before the hearing.

Okay. So the reason I'm asking that question so you can hear it is we've had instances before where we tried to accelerate and didn't have CEQA documents completed. And then what ended up happening after we've scheduled the hearing, the CEQA document is not ready for that hearing and we've had to continue it again. And so I don't want to build an expectation to both the appellants that somehow it's going to fit in a very short timeframe. We will not schedule this until staff gives the green light ie me and the town attorney that we're ready to go and that will start the three week clock. And so, depending on when all this information is received, depending on how long it takes staff to expedite a review of that information to be prepared on any additional information in the staff report. At that point, we will trigger the three weeks. So I can't imagine that we're looking at something shorter than three and a half weeks.

And to that point, if... staff schedules it too early, it comes to council, that elongates the timeline if we end up needing more information based on limited information that was originally received. So I hear you. Thank you.

Yeah, so if we do date uncertain, we will, once we have the green light, three more weeks. If you do what Council Member Rennie recommended and schedule meetings, we may or may not be ready at that time to hold that hearing, and then you can continue it. It really just depends on how you want to approach it.

Okay, it sounds like additionally, you know all parties have the Their sort of marching orders on what information is needed to come to a decision for the council, so Thank you all for the discussion Are there any other thoughts? Okay, I will call the question on the motion for a continuance to a date uncertain all those in favor aye Aye. Any opposed? None. Passes unanimously. Thank you all. Yeah, it is 8.35. We will take a 10-minute break to reconvene at 8.45. I'm going to call the meeting back to order. And we will move to item nine, which is to adopt a resolution renewing an ordinance approving military equipment funding acquisition and use policy pursuant to AB 481. And I will turn to Captain Alban. Mike.

Good evening. I was about to ask if we had the PowerPoint, but we do. Okay. So, good evening, Rebecca Alleman, I'm captain over operations for our police department. Most of this will look familiar because we do this every year. However, we have made, I think, a little bit of a positive change, which I won't spoiler alert you. You'll find out at the end. First slide, please. What is AB 481? For those that don't know, the bill is intended to increase transparency, accountability, oversight for acquisition and use of specified equipment. Requirements of AB 481 include an annual report concerning equipment usage, which you should all have, updates and documentation of internal concerns, which we have not had any, and create a public forum for input and engagement. Next slide. AB 481 has 14 equipment categories. Next slide.

I apologize, 15, I should use my notes.

Of the 15, we have items that fall into four of those categories. Category one being unmanned remotely piloted powered aerial or ground vehicles, aka robots and drones. Category 10, specialized firearms and ammunition of less than 50 caliber, which covers our rifles and ammunition. Category 12 is noise flash diversionary devices and explosive breaching tools, munitions, etc., which is tear glass, OC, what we call flash bangs. And then category 14 is kinetic energy weapons and munitions, which includes our 40 millimeter less lethal launcher. Next slide. Okay, so, as you can see on the far right, all the items aforementioned items that I mentioned have been in use for varied amounts of a little bit of time to a long time with the exception. Of the mentioned in use since 2026. which is our drone for first responder. As many of you know, we now have a drone on the roof ceiling, not sure why it's doing that, of the police operations building. And that is why it says in use since 2026, because we did just get this after your approval and have been using it quite frequently. Next slide. We have not sought out or received transfer of Department of Defense equipment qualifying under the 1208 or 1033 programs. If we had, that is something that I would need to disclose you all, but we have not used them. Next slide. Next steps, we would all agree to renew the ordinance for another year, which would allow us to continue using all of the amazing tools that we use to keep our community safe. or we could agree not to renew it, which would not be ideal because then we could not use any of the equipment that we need in our day-to-day jobs. And then the third piece, which is the part I was very excited about, is that within 30 days of submitting this report, we need to have a public, we need to basically put all of these items out on display for the public to see, for them to ask questions, for them to consider. And this year, next slide. Oh, I apologize. We also have to advertise this way ahead of time, which we did because we commingled it with national night out. And so all of our advertisements for national night out had on the bottom portion. I made a little bigger for those of you like me that can't see had. language explaining the reporting requirement and that it would be consolidated with national night out. I can't take credit for this idea because it was a North Bay Police Department that already did this and I thought it was such a great idea that our fantastic chief said, yeah, let's try it. And so next slide. We did. We had everything out there. We had one of our SWAT team leaders in his full uniform, which a lot of the little kids were very excited about. And we had our drone out there, and we had all the different bullets, and we had everything. And we had by far the most interest in terms of people discussing and engaging than we've ever had with doing our own standalone event like we've done in previous years. So it was fantastic. It was really, really good. And so we we did that and say that we have submitted our report which were required to do by law we did have our Public display of all the aforementioned items, which we're also required to do And now I am here before you all hoping that you will allow us to continue to use all these really incredible tools for another year Thank you Thank you very much Councilmember hudas

Yeah, thank you. And thank you for the report. And just to add a quick comment, there's no need to apologize for stealing a good idea from somewhere else. And certainly the night out, I think, is a great time to communicate with the public. So thanks. Is there anything in this recommended policy that makes it more challenging to provide the high level of public safety efforts that our police department does.

You mean if we didn't have them?

No, I'm saying that in the restrictions and how they're to be used that are part of this ordinance,

No, I don't think so. I mean, the ordinance just requires that we publicly discuss what items we have. And if we get something new, that we inform the community of that. So I don't think there's necessarily anything negative about the ordinance. I actually think it's good because it daylights publicly all the different tools that we use and allows people to come and engage with us and ask questions. I know that a lot of the people that we spoke with on National Night Out especially in regard to the drones and so forth, some of the silly questions when the little kids come up to the scary SWAT man and say, what do you use your gun for? So it's a good opportunity to kind of rewrite the narrative, to show people we can be kind, we can be friendly, you don't have to be afraid if you see us on a scene, even if we have our scary uniform on. talk about how we use our drones, how we use them for all kinds of life-saving efforts. So, you know, I think it's good. Once a year we get to champion all the equipment that we use. I think it's a good thing.

Thank you.

Any other questions? Okay. And then I will open up a public comment on this item. We have one comment card from Captain Seuss.

Captain Seuss here. You know my thing on military stuff. I do worry about the use of force. So anything that you're doing, because if it gets against protesters and stuff like that, you can overdo it. You know he put on the mask and or your the face mask it like ice and stuff like that It gets really out of hand it can go sideways fast, and I've already stated that you know hey Civil War Civil War what side are you to be on when when things go sideways and you know There's you need information good information When people see you with guns and stuff like that or shooting, even tear gas is too far for big crowds. It would be better to put big screens up there and have people that have some good background and can talk to them and they're well, you know, they're well familiar with the area. People know who the police are and police know who they are. But it's about communication is the best thing. So, you know, I really don't want to see guns and stuff like that unless it's small little things because it's to be more, you know, I just see more, you know, a lot of people protesting. And it's already happened. You see what's going on with ICE and stuff like that. You guys don't see it, but I do see it. So I'm just letting you know that there's to be more people against presence of police than there are in big areas. Thanks. Any questions?

No. Thank you. I will go to Malcolm.

Hello. I just want to say that it really warrants a lot of reconsideration to pass this resolution, especially in this current political climate where we see persecution and also a very, very, very rapid expansion of surveillance systems that are unhindered in many ways and unmonitored. And the coupling of these expanded surveillance systems where you're no longer identifying based on a selective database or you no longer are identifying who you wish to target first and then you target them, but you are identifying people who could be potential targets from the public just through surveillance data. And in the midst of all of this, for police departments to insist that there is a need for military equipment, which is meant for literally warfare, for them to be like, oh yeah, we should take military equipment, so that we have the option to use it on our civilians in the midst of what we are dealing with in the midst of we are seeing ice raids all over we are seeing many different forms of oppression and you know ones that we are unable to mitigate. Even the city council would be unable to mitigate. We're seeing like, anyways, the examples are plentiful. With this said, really passing this resolution would be a terrible idea for the sake of being able to preserve whatever sense of ability to expand on the framework of justice that we have. And with this said, also there is something to be said about the idea that when you feel like you have more options for force, you feel more inclined to use them. And you also feel that you fundamentally have more power and therefore are less likely to lean into ethical means of deescalating situations or means of trying to heal community. And instead, you are more likely to default to use of force. And so direct upticks in police brutality can be directly correlated to the passing of resolutions such as this one, where the police is able to use military equipment on so-called their own civilians.

Thank you.

Thank you. We'll go to Zabir, followed by Bea. I apologize for the pronunciation on those.

Can you hear me?

Yes, thank you.

Okay. I actually just found out about this resolution.

I think now we can. Is that good? Thank you.

So I just found out about this resolution about 20 minutes ago, but I think that within those few minutes, it's definitely enough time to come up to a very unique conclusion on whether this should pass or not. We're having a very kind of... civil and normal tone conversation on this resolution, but what it's saying is actually incredibly extreme. Because if you think about it, we have already, with the existing amount of force that police and These different systems currently in place are authorized to use. We can already see significant, there are many significant examples where just the existing infrastructure results in very, very significant oversight where these individuals are using force that's vastly disproportionate to the situation where firearms are used, where tasers can be used. So the question of military force is then specifically, are there situations in civilian policing where you're actually saying that military equipment is actually necessary in order to actually... like, you know, to have, you know, the appropriate outcome in that situation. And I don't think that that exists at all. And that's what makes this like so incredibly dangerous, because you're introducing in cases of ordinary policing, like vastly disproportionate weapons, like, you know, automatic rifles, machine guns, like extreme armored vehicles, like unless we actually see examples, and this is like this is something that we would really only see in movies. It's almost like, to be honest, like almost comical, like how absurd it is to even be considering this. Because the thing is that if there were actually events that would justify or warrant something like this, we would be able to very obviously point to them and show that, okay, these circumstances, here's where we would need like a sniper rifle to actually take out this specific individual that we cannot currently. I don't think that looking at the broad instances of, of criminal activity would actually find anywhere where there are significant examples where military equipment would make a substantial difference to the ability to police. And so thus, making military equipment generally available to police, you actually endanger civilians in being ordinarily policed even more, because now you're making available a means of force that is generally vastly disproportionate to what would ever be warranted. So that's why I think that this resolution is actually comical in its lack of justification. Thank you.

Thank you. Go to Bea.

Yeah, I just wanted to take the time to sort of echo what everybody previous to me has also said, but also emphasize the unnecessary aspect of this as a spending. Referring to military equipment as cool toys for the police department and all of these nice devices, they're very much nice to have. And the question is whether or not we would like to have drones flying around Los Gatos when they are unnecessarily invasive, loud, and obnoxious as a form of surveillance. I also think that the way that the presentation ended, the way that, almost the implication is that The reason why this is necessary as a area of funding is that to show the children of the cool toys that exist inside of our police department and have the idealization of weaponry, of use of force, there inside of a location that is an event for, again, children. And the question is, what do we want to have our community founded on? What are we trying to teach these kids when we are idealizing a person in a SWAT uniform, rather than telling them to love their neighbors, to continuously pour care into their communities, ensure that everybody around them is all right, and know their names, build networks, build social networks, rather than, oh, if you do not like a person, send the police after them. I think I personally am a resident of Saratoga and had a police called on my vehicle for sitting inside of my car while I was on the phone. And so when we ask ourselves, what are we encouraging by putting even more toys into the hands of the police, and then going even further by advertising that to the community and encouraging that as a form of connection between city officials and people paid by the city, and that is the interaction of city officials to community members, I really find that to be unacceptable. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening. I was not planning to speak until I heard some of the comments that preceded me coming up to the podium here. And I must say that I am in support of this movement of allowing our police department to have appropriate equipment in order to protect our community. Their mission is to provide a safe environment for residents and visitors. And they have a history of doing so with some of this equipment in the past. The flock cameras, I heard someone commenting about their concern about that. And the way that the police in the town manage the flock is to keep the information local We don't share it beyond to ICE and those other agencies, but rather use it to protect ourselves, and by doing so, we've had occasion where we were able to apprehend people who were criminals in other municipalities coming into Los Gatos. We also had a situation, I believe, where A stop was made on an individual, a woman who actually was being pursued and looking to be pursued in another community. And without having the flock information, we wouldn't have known, after she was stopped for a moving violation, that she was also a wanted criminal. I think that one of the things that has helped me to learn more was to do ride-along with the police in Los Gatos and to see where I saw multiple times in that ride, well, two ride-alongs, where they did more to stop or prevent people from doing bad behavior. And they did so, one of the officers did so, almost every time without giving a moving violation citation, but rather a lecture and guidance on how to be a better driver. And it worked, I think, very well. The... specific equipment that's being requested is not something that's going to have B-52 bombers coming in and blowing up the town or neighborhoods or pursuing people in that way, but rather more for preventative care for our residents and equipment that's necessary because a lot of the bad guys have some equipment that is pretty threatening and has to be met with on the same grounds. And I really believe that the police, under the guidance of the council, has been doing a good job of protecting our community and preserving the sense of OF A WELCOMING COMMUNITY AND AT THE SAME TIME PRESERVING THE CHARACTER OF OUR COMMUNITY. SO PLEASE KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. THE EQUIPMENT YOU'VE REQUESTED MAKES SENSE. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU. LOOKS LIKE WE HAVE ONE FINAL NO, SORRY. WE HAVE JAWSY AND THEN FRED FALTERSACK.

HELLO. CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES. Good evening to the mayors, mayor and the council members. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. I'm here to speak about this proposal to renew the police department's military equipment authorization, and I'm asking you to pause before you do so. The question is not whether we support our police or not. The question is, does every dollar we spend actually go to make Los Gatos safer? And I believe this one does not. This equipment is meant to address a category of incident that's so rare, especially in a town like ours, that most of this inventory will sit in storage year after year, accruing maintenance costs, training hours, and storage expenses without actually being used. And for those generally, genuinely rare emergencies where they may need to be used, there's actually resources at the county and state level meant to address these situations. And what Los Gatos actually care about and need are things like addressing our mental health crisis, a neighbor in distress, traffic collisions, and making our streets safer and better. The teenagers struggling, seniors who are isolated, things that actually genuinely make our community better and where those funds would actually be much more useful. Those situations are not answered by an armored vehicle. And so I'd actually ask you to imagine redirecting this funding instead to situations like that, a mobile crisis response team, pairing clinicians with first responders, so that a person in a mental health crisis can actually be met by somebody trained to deescalate their situation and not a tank. Cities across this country have shown that these types of programs have actually helped to make the community safer, to deescalate situations, to better prepare the people who are responding to these crises. And that's not being soft on safety. That's actually taking it seriously. That's addressing it at its root causes and at the systematic and systemic issues that cause some of our communities to actually feel this distress. And so I'd actually ask you to direct funding to those types of situations instead. Well, a scholar should invest in what the community needs, not what it almost never uses. And I want to echo what a lot of the previous commentators mentioned. over-militarizing our communities is not making it safer. It's putting us all under surveillance. It's making us feel like we're constantly being watched. This is equipment meant for warfare, not for the streets outside our home. And so I definitely ask you to pause and decline this renewal and direct this funding to things that'll actually make our community safer, not this. I think that's it. what I'll use my time to speak to. I'll get 13 seconds back. Thank you.

Fred Faltersack, who will be followed by Maria.

Good evening, council members. Fred Faltersack, 40-year resident of Los Gatos. I was not planning on speaking on this subject tonight either, but as a young man, I was a young boy. I was a Boy Scout, and our motto was simple. It's be prepared. This is nothing more than our town being prepared, and to be prepared, we need the tools necessary to keep our community safe. A SITUATION OR AN ESCALATION OF VIOLENCE WILL REQUIRE US TO HAVE THE EQUIPMENT TO MEET THAT ESCALATION. AND IF WE DON'T NEED IT, YES, IT WILL JUST SIT THERE AND WAIT UNTIL HOPEFULLY, YOU KNOW, HOPEFULLY WE DON'T NEED TO USE IT BUT IT WILL BE THERE IF WE DO. It's all about keeping our community safe, and that's all that equipment is used for, is to keep the residents of Los Gatos safe. So I support the equipment purchases and the continued inventory of them. Thank you.

Thank you. Maria. Maria.

Hello. I want you each to imagine a military weapon pointed at your children, your loved ones, the people that you care most about. Is that something we're willing to put our loved ones in front of? Is that something that you're willing to sign off on? Because that's exactly what will happen. While we're saying right now that this will protect our communities, We don't know when the second will come where it will be turned against us. Military equipment is by definition tools used for the enemies of our nation. Is your neighbor an enemy? To turn these weapons, these military equipment, towards civilians is invasive, it's absurd, and it completely shatters our sense of security. And this resolution is about funding. When we consider where we want to put our city resources, our money, it should go towards things that matter. Is this what matters right now? People in our communities are struggling to find housing, to find where their next meal is going to come from. Our schools, our teachers are not funded enough. The people that matter are not, our resources are not going towards them. So I'm really concerned why this is a topic of discussion in the first place when we have so many other avenues that we need to address before this. This is not a matter of having them just in case. It's a matter of surveillance. It's a matter of not using where our money should be going. And it is very, very scary. Not only for me standing here, but each and every one of you should be scared. You don't know when these things will turn against you. Thank you.

Thank you. That is our last comment card in the room. So we'll close the in-person and go to Zoom, where we have one speaker, which is Austin.

I just wanted to respond to a comment from an earlier speaker regarding flock data and its ability to be kept local. And I just want to make a few points. The Department of Homeland Security has its own policy regarding. Vendors in the rule that it's data, or rather it's search query is not appear in any other audit. Except those audits that are delivered directly to the Department of Homeland Security. So, if such a query were made. In the town's flock system, it would not appear in our own audits. The next point being the FBI has issued a request for proposals seeking a nationwide single vendor for a nationwide AOPR network of its own. And if it were to succeed in getting, or rather if FLOC were able to succeed in winning such a contract, the town's own policies would not be able to protect its data from being delivered to the feds because those cameras would be under the control of the FBI. And so one of the points I wanted to make was every dollar that the town is spending with Flock is helping to extend the runway of this unprofitable startup that is being funded by Peter Thiel and various other Silicon Valley tech oligarchs. And so the town should not be spending, you know, even if the town currently has its own policy regarding how the data is used. They're helping this company succeed in winning a contract. In which it's using the town's data to go after its own citizens. And so, at that point, the data, you know, these arguments about whether or not the town can protect the data are moot. The other point I'd like to make is. Or rather a request I would like to make is whether or not. The town could enforce a policy in which. The reasons for searches. As well, as the searching party is being disclosed to the public. Being made to the public, because as a member of the public, we have no way of knowing. Whether or not our data is being kept locally. Thank you.

Thank you. And we'll go to Peter Hurtan on Zoom.

Thank you. I too did not intend to speak, but I think there's a missing dimension in this discussion. A couple of things. First, these are dual use devices. So while it may be provided by military sources, these are similar in kind that would be used by civilian police forces on their own. But my big point has to be the human dimension. No matter what kind of devices the police use to protect us, it can be used against us. And only when you have a particular training and selection process that our police force goes through So it's not the weapons, it's the people who use them. It's the training they have, and the leadership, and the orientation. The orientation is community policing, and that's why National's Night Out was so important, is to have you meet the people who are there to protect us. Thank you.

Thank you. And that concludes public comment. Thank you. So I will turn to the council and go to Council Member Badami.

Thank you. If there is any misconception about our police department weaponizing as a threat or being intimidating as a method of maybe discouraging people from wanting this type of equipment that keeps us safe, I strongly disagree. They are extremely dedicated to community policing and keeping our residents safe. I speak to that with firsthand experience and having grown up in this town, living here in this town, and also owning a business for several years. So, with that, I'm going to move to adopt a resolution renewing 10 of Los Gatos ordinance 2329 approving military equipment, funding, acquisition and use policy pursuant to assembly bill 481. I can make the finding that the agency's use of military equipment described in the annual report complies with the Los Gatos Police Department Lexapol Policy 704.

Thank you. Vice Mayor Estill?

Thank you. I'll second the motion. I think one of the things that sometimes gets people's attention, especially if they haven't been following this annual renewal or if they are not familiar with our community policing model, it's called military equipment, but in my experience it is not used militaristically. uh... for example the drone is first responder you know if you read the report but also what i've seen in action can be used to help locate a missing person it can be used to see the status of a building is on fire or what's happening and in fact there was a very personal situation up the hill from me there was somebody who basically barricaded themselves in their house, threatened to shoot themselves, shoot other people, light the house on fire, light the hillside on fire, and the police department was able to have a drone up there to see what was going on, keep our police officers safe. Nobody was going to be attacked with the drone. It was for information gathering, which allowed the police not to have to rush the situation. It went on for hours. The level of de-escalation our police department uses is remarkable. We don't have fatalities from police chases. We don't have people suddenly committing suicide when the police bang on the door. They do everything they can to avoid use of force and that's been borne out over the years. Any one of these pieces of equipment in the wrong hands could potentially be used wrong, but they are typically used to protect the officers, protect the surrounding people, and even protect the perpetrator from a hasty decision. So I very strongly support the use of this. This is not an exhaustive use of what our police department has. This is the small number of things that fall under military equipment. We also have therapy dogs, you know.

Nobody's gonna get attacked by the golden doodles.

And a variety of other things. And I think it is absolutely wonderful that the opportunity of national layout where our mayor, our chief, our parking, person, a variety of people were in the dunk tank, there's a sense of humor, there's friendliness with the community, and it's a great opportunity to then engage with the public, show them what kind of weapons we have, explain what they're used for, demystify it, and have the public understand and build that trust. So I think that was a great venue. You had families there, and so when you're trying to talk about what kind of equipment we have, you've got an audience that might be wary or concerned, and the response is positive, and I think that's really helpful. And so I want to make sure that we not only give our police department the tools they need to be effective in a dangerous situation, but also the tools they need to protect themselves, to protect other people, to deescalate, and to work with the community policing model that we've got, where you're partners with the community, and be more effective.

Thank you. Council Member Hudas?

Yeah, thank you. I had a couple of questions for staff about it that were triggered by comments that were made by the public. The first question is, does this resolution address flock equipment?

No, it addresses military equipment.

OK, thank you. And then the other question is, does this resolution authorize funding for weapons?

No, it's an annual report. And what's required annually is that the town review its policy to confirm that the equipment was used in conformance with the policy.

Thank you. That was my understanding because I've read the resolution carefully, and it seems as though this resolution is about disclosing the equipment that the police department has, but this is not. There are other times when the council considers what equipment the police department should have in terms of authorizing funding for that equipment and also authorizing funding for ALPR systems. But my reading carefully of this item is that it does not include flock equipment and it does not authorize funding for weapons. And so for that reason, I will support the motion.

And I'll just chime in that I will also be supporting the motion. I think AB 481 I think is a really important transparency measure. I think that's the point of this legislation is to ensure that the community is aware of what is going on. And while, you know, I think one thing that's really important in our community policing model of policing that I think our our police department really is proud of and prioritizes is that restraint is critical. I think that's a huge part of what makes our police department so community-oriented. I heard there was a comment about some of these pieces of equipment being referred to as toys. I think that's the opposite of how our officers perceive this equipment. I think of an incident that I was made aware of. regarding a taser and a taser is not included in this policy, but I think is a good example where Uh, on an evening, a school employee was attacked, um, by a drunken person. Um, and our, one of our police officers was able to use as much restraint as humanly possible to stop this person from hurting a school employee. And they were able to deploy a taser to, to stop that person, um, from, from continuing to hurt the school employee. Uh, I think it's an interesting example because Santa Clara County has been having discussions about restricting the use of tasers. And I think that's a really good example of where having a variety of pieces of equipment at your disposal really allows for an officer to use their very best judgment and training to keep everyone involved as safe as possible and both the, from my understanding of that incident, the school employee ended up being okay. The individual attacking the person ended up being okay. I think the person who was most injured was our police officer who was trying to restrain them. And so I just use that as an example because I think it's really important to recognize that while, you know, Police departments around the country are different, and I am not the mayor of a police department in another city. In the town of Los Gatos, I'm incredibly proud of our police department, and I think we're very fortunate to have such hardworking, dedicated officers serving our community. So I'll be supporting the motion. Okay, with that, I will call the question. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? None. Passes unanimously. We'll now move on to our last item on the agenda, which is item 10, which is to receive the biannual police services report for January to June, 2026.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Thank you for your support on the last item. And while I intended to leave this to the end, I just want to make sure that this information certainly gets out there just in light of some of the mentionings that were made earlier. To help bridge some of the concern and offer the education on what some of these military equipment items are, I would like to encourage the community, anybody within the community, as children that attend schools within our community or work within the community, We have our community police academy that is coming up and there will be full display review of all of these items that were on the military equipment list and more so. We actually have some graduates of prior community police academies in the room. So this will be starting September 17th and I even left some forms over there on the end of the bench. So we still have more positions available. Additionally, September 16th, we have coffee with the cops. Should there be further conversation, that would be of value in light of some of the discussion earlier. We certainly want to offer education to increase the trust, the transparency, address any sort of concerns that may come up along the way. Because a lot of times I think some of the concerns just comes through maybe misunderstanding or further education being beneficial. With that all said, I'll move on. Okay. This evening before you, you have a fairly robust staff report that provides an overview of the last six months, primarily January through June 2026 for Los Gatos-Montes Reno Police Department. It has been probably one of the most transformational periods within the police department in my 17 years here. And it's really been focused around team building, preparedness, operational readiness in light of some of our events, technology, as you will hear more about, and, of course, community engagement, which is the hallmark of our model here with community policing. Some of the community engagement items that we've been engaged in over the six-month period includes support of Special Olympics with the Polar Plunge and the Law Enforcement Torch Run that some of you took part in, National Night Out, as there was some sharing about the success of that event, our multicultural event that we partnered with the Youth Commission. We had our officers out there as well. july 4th i know that shortly after the time frame but we had a huge turnout out there very safe welcoming event that was wonderful and of course we participate in other events like big truck day at jewish community center and and the sort in terms of some of our responsiveness earlier this year you may remember if you go back to the prior slide so i have a few more tabs you may recall the alarm permit uh for resident the residential program and we had rolled that out we took further look and assessment on that we wanted to make sure to be responsive reach out to all of those community community members and as of june 29th we actually have 1100 exactly that have registered for the residential alarm permit program In the last four years, we actually had almost 2,000 individual false alarm addresses. So this will help us address hopefully some of those concerns there as well. Additionally, in terms of some of the accountability, during this time frame, the police officer standards and training came out and audited as they would normally for police departments. And it's a random audit. We don't know when they're going to come out. They give us a little bit of notice. it does an overview of all of our personnel records background processes and other accountability measures and the police department did pass that that process next slide please We'll go into some of the standard metrics and accountability formulas that we have up there, starting with our response times, priority one, two, and three. We actually reduced that by 15 seconds for our priority ones, and we are now at four minutes and two seconds. We always have a comparison up on these slides of the last reportable timeframe of January through June 2025, as well as this year, 2026. We also have the calls for service over there on your right, which is those pie charts. They showcase the 911 calls or non-emergency calls, and then the outgoing calls as well, because there is requirements or standards within the dispatch center that are set at that state level. Next slide. Traffic enforcement is certainly one of the primary concerns that we hear about within our community. And during this reportable time frame, we actually increased our traffic stops by 15% and citations by 90%. Some may ask why. We believe some of that is due to just staffing becoming more stable, introducing another trained motor officer. We were able to get through the training program. It's a very intensive training program, two weeks in length. So we now have three trained motor officers. And then we also introduced an automated system for citations and for accident reporting as well. And so there was a little bit of transition time introducing and learning a new program. So we have seen an increase in some of the citations and traffic enforcement. And the reports that you see over there on your right are similar to the timeframe of last year. Next slide. During this reportable period, we also saw some of the most significant events that this region has seen in quite some time to include FIFA and Super Bowl. There was extensive planning, a lot of meetings that your management teams were involved in, and ultimately getting our collateral teams fully trained and in good shape and position for that. So I mentioned about the motor school and getting one of our folks trained up for that. We also had our crisis response unit working steadily in their training and making sure that they were fresh should they be needed. Additionally, we are continuing to build out our drone program and train additional officers and dispatchers in our drone program because we have seen such a success with that and I'll talk about that momentarily. Our tactical dispatch program, we've expanded that as well in the event of dynamic events. And then finally, as you see up there on your left, Junie, our EOD dog, our explosive detection dog, was actually deployed out at FIFA on a number of occasions and even assisted here locally on a bomb threat at a local facility as well. We've seen a lot of use of our explosive detection dog to include alerting on a vehicle that had quite a few fireworks inside of it and other purposes that one may not necessarily think of. In terms of dispatch infrastructure and modernization, Some of you might be familiar with the NextGen911 project that was significantly delayed due to some state systems and delaying in some of the introduction of that new technology. I'm happy to say that as of last Wednesday, we have gone fully live with the NextGen911 system to replace our antiquated copper wire call system that was actually 12 years old and generally end of life is at five or six. So we have a brand new state of the art system that is similar to a system that several other agencies within the county is on as well. In terms of recruitment and retention, we are actually looking very positive and seeking some stability there. So I'm happy to report on that. We will have a swearing-in coming up on September 29th. Of course, the community is invited to that. It will be held here at 10 a.m., and we will have at least eight folks to be swearing in for both promotional purposes and for being introduced to our department. Our most recent graduate, about 50 or so graduates, actually graduated top in their class, so we were very happy that our high standards are also reflected and carried through within the academy as well. And then in terms of game ready, just some of the efforts in highlighting what we've done in this reportable timeframe. I think you're all familiar with our UTVs, our side-by-side equipment that we have available to us. It is now frequently requested by the fire department to help them get into areas where we'll partner up here in some of the open space area or other surrounding areas that we're able to get them access to those that might be injured or needing assistance much quicker. Our DUI grant came to completion at the end of this reportable period, and we now have two DUI enforcement vehicles as a result of that. So that's been wonderful. And then just speaking to the training that was highlighted by some of the speakers and by some of you. During this reportable period, we spent almost about 1,745 hours in training on 36 different topics. And I'll share one of those topics specifically in a little bit. But we make sure that our folks have fresh training, that we keep those post standards, and we keep that commitment to the community. Next slide. The ecosystem with an axon that was approved by Council last Fall thank you. I'd like to report that most of those systems have been implemented specifically during this reportable period and they're a little dark up there on the left I'll just highlight some of those the body worn camera the most updated version of Our in-car fleet cameras, our Taser 10 systems, which the mayor spoke to, one of the situations where it was deployed and likely alleviated further force being used or a much more unfortunate situation. And then also our real-time information center, which is one platform to feed in a lot of various systems. Additionally, we've also introduced our VR system, which will be in use at the upcoming community police academy, and it showcases decision-making, judgment, and de-escalation as well. We offer that for our community to wear as we also offer their experience with all of these other systems. Something that is new and we're also proud and we've showcased in a few other venues is the translate function that is on those body-wearing cameras. With the large events that came to this area, we knew that there would be a lot of cultures, a lot of languages, and we wanted to make sure of a seamless conversation as much as possible. Since the deployment of that, since February, we have used the translation function on the body-worn cameras in 19 different languages for 4,572 different translations during that reportable time. To me, that is a huge success and spoke to the need and the benefits of this system. Going into the drones, because that is also part of the Axon ecosystem, we now have a large drone that has the ability to fly the circumference of the footprint that is within our jurisdiction. It is not just about enforcement, law enforcement. It's about so much more. I speak to the use of it for emergency preparedness, how we can see the direction of smoke and wind direction. Also, in terms of evacuation or beach traffic, we can see where the choke points are or any adjustments that we may need to make. We run analytics on the use of that drone, and in the month of July, 60% of the flights were used as overwatch for officers located three people, six vehicles. It was used to assist PG&E on one occasion, the fire department on a couple of occasions, and was first on scene in calls for service over 50% of the time. When agencies are facing staffing challenges or maybe we need more eyes and ears in a location, a drone is an outstanding tool to help us better be informed and deploy our resources in a more smart fashion as well. So it has many different benefits to it. With me this evening is our detective sergeant, Sergeant Harold Hoyt. In past presentations, there's been some question inquiry on the use of these. And so we have four overviews that he'll briefly spend about a minute on each of those to share how this integrated technology system and the benefits to the community, public safety, in a variety of different ways that some of you even spoke to as well. So I will turn over the speaker to Sergeant Harold Hoyt.

We utilize many new technologies. I just want to showcase about four different cases that we utilize. You've heard some of the verbiage we use tonight, DFR, Drone First Responder, FLOC, which we're all familiar with, the ALPR, and also Verkada Systems, which is a surveillance equipment. They all work together quite synergistically to help us prevent and solve crimes. So if you don't mind going to the first slide. One of the first cases that we had, it was a recent one. There was a group full of, a car full of juveniles that were traveling around town using an Orbeez gun to commit assaults on people that were just walking in the area. They were captured on a Verkada surveillance system traveling near an intersection where they committed the first offense. They ended up injuring a 14-year-old male. He ended up getting a welt underneath his eye. They proceeded to travel to a nearby park and assault an older female. We were able to find based off the vehicle district description and time frame it in the verkata surveillance system see its direction of travel located on a flock camera find the license plate and quickly find the culprits available or culpable of this crime and they were all arrested Case number two, you see below there's a person holding their hands to the air and a U-Haul van. The triggering event for that was a stolen vehicle, the U-Haul truck entered into Los Gatos. triggering a flock alert. Officers weren't in the area yet, but we were able to quickly launch the DFR, our drone first responder to the area, quickly locate said vehicle, tail it, and we were able to vector in units and safely apprehend the suspects that were wanted in commission with multiple burglaries throughout the Bay Area. And we believe they were there to commit further offenses. Next slide. So, DFR, as the Chief mentioned, is used for a multitude of uses. This next case highlights where a male had made self-harm statements. He was agitated and was last seen heading towards the Los Gatos Creek Trail in an unknown direction. And as we know, he could have been anywhere from Lexington Reservoir all the way to Campbell. We quickly launched the drone, scoured the entire trail, located the individual that matched the description, and we were able to vector in units to his location and conduct a welfare check. And it was handled appropriately, and he was safe. and the last slide you see there um shows our parking control vehicle with a smash windshield our pco was out conducting license plate checks found some that were legally parked in one of the muni lots he had act fortunately parked underneath one of our new surveillance cameras It captured an agitated male that had received a parking ticket on his vehicle, circled behind the parking control officer when he wasn't looking, and smashed the windshield of the PCO's car. The video caught him leaving the area. Doubling back, we saw the vehicle make a model, did a little bit of follow-up, figured out what his license plate was. We entered his license plate into flock. And when these agitated individual came back into town, it alerted us. Officers quickly responded back to the scene and were able to apprehend the suspect and arrest him for it. So all together, They can be used synergistically to really paint the picture, especially for the GA's office and for the public. I believe it helps.

Chief?

Does she have any questions?

Okay, continuing on. Earlier this year we had, as I mentioned, we did quite a bit with our team building and development. We had a department meeting earlier this year, which we have every two years. Town manager spoke and we had some other speakers as well. It's to bring communication, alignment, vision, direction to the department all within one place. WE ALSO IN JUNE CONDUCTED OR WORKED WITH CAMPBELL POLICE DEPARTMENT IN PARTNERSHIP TO PRESENT WHY DID YOU STOP ME TRAINING. THIS WAS SOMETHING WE INTRODUCED ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO AS WELL. THIS IS A POST APPROVED TRAINING THAT'S REALLY ON BUILDING PROCEDURAL JUSTICE, UNDERSTANDING STRATEGIC COMMUNICATION AND BETTER CONNECTION WITH OUR COMMUNITY SEEKING TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO CONNECT, HOW TO BREAK DOWN THE BARRIERS AS WELL. It's actually endorsed by NAACP and Fraternal Order of Police as well. It's a sought-after training, and the group has trained more individual officers in the state than any other training program. Additionally, on the training front, we sent two of our Dispatchers, Captain Albin and one of our detectives to the Los Gatos Leadership Program, which really connects staff and other community members with nonprofits, stakeholders, utility services, and just a better understanding of our local governance as well. Outstanding program that our Economic Utility Manager, Monica Wren, does an outstanding job. And then finally, we received a grant through POST to do a team building workshop, which we strive to bring together with our management team as we have a relatively new cohesive team. And so it's a great opportunity for us to come together. One of the outcomes from that was establishing some organizational expectations that we introduced to our department. Next slide. Something that separates our department and provides something unique is our robust volunteer program. In terms of our community emergency response team, we have 252 trained members. And during this reportable period, we were actually able to recruit an additional 12. Our explorers during this time, they had 42 volunteer hours. We did send an explorer to the Explorer Academy in June, and they also graduated at top, so we're very proud of them. DART, our Disaster Aid Response Team, has been around for over 40 years during this reportable period. They provided 767 hours of volunteer time, And I spoke with them out at the July 4th event. They were out there with the first aid stand as they normally would be. And it was really interesting to me that they had provided first aid services to over 20 community members, so much so that they ran out of Band-Aids. But it's for your basic cuts, splinters, blisters, And just that additional resource with a UTV there for people that maybe had some mobility challenges getting through the park, and they were able, in addition to our UTV, to get folks to and from. And so that was wonderful to hear the benefits. Our volunteers and policing, they go out and do the vacation checks, the welcome packets, and put some of those materials together. During this reportable time frame, they committed over 2,752 hours of volunteer time, which is very significant. Additionally, we did 26 different community presentations, going back to our community policing model, but I thought it just really warranted some of the value of our volunteers in this department. Fortunate to have. Next slide. What's next and where are we headed? We have our upcoming recognition luncheon in October, that will be October 22nd, that we always try to put information out, invite folks to. We had National Night Out, our swearing-in ceremony I spoke to, and the Community Police Academy that we strongly encourage. Anybody that has any concerns, questions, wants to know more, it is every Thursday for eight weeks from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and we hold it between this location and over at the Emergency Operations Center as well. Additionally, we have some of our standard events coming up. We know that we need to staff up a little bit for Halloween because we have several thousand more community members that come in to enjoy some of the festivities here in town. We have the Children's Holiday Parade, which are volunteers, and it's in a whole hands-on deck for us as well. Technology implementation will continue. We have some more there. But what I wanted to leave you with is the CERT drills, not just CERT drills. This is emergency preparedness drills. And some of you might be following the Super El Nino projections that NOAA has out there, especially this has come up probably over the last week. They're anticipating something of a significant nature between starting in October and continuing through January. That is of significant concern to us as Parks and Public Works, in conjunction with the Police Department in 2023, was the two primary responding entities here in town. We opened our emergency operations center and activated our volunteers. Due to some of the damage, the downed trees, the delays, when there's a regional impact, what that can have when services, utility services may not be able to access the area. It is incumbent on us as a community to come together to assure that resilience And so recognizing that, we have identified an exercise in November where we will be coming together, formulating a drill in collaboration with CERT, DART, our police department as well, to address unpreparedness for something similar potentially to 2023. Hoping that it doesn't come, but planning in the event that it may so that we are prepared to service our community and provide a sense of calm and preparedness for it. Next slide. And with that, the team and myself are here and available for any questions that you may have.

Thank you very much. I have one very quick, easy question. What was the date of the swearing in?

September 29th.

September 29th.

At 10 a.m.

Perfect, thank you. Yeah, Council Member Hudis, then Vice Mayor Aristo.

Yeah, I have a few questions, but I think I, mostly I'd rather wait until we hear public comment on this, but I just wanted to highlight my takeaways and see if that's, that resonates. Number one is a theme of community policing and through a series of activities that in some ways are unique from other communities in connecting with our residents. The second one take away from the report this year is embracing new technologies to not only gain efficiency but also improve effectiveness of our police and the third that occurs to me is that the emphasis on education and professionalism of our force, and I know there's a lot of information, but is it fair to say that those are some of the top three takeaways that maybe the council, residents, our community should be aware of?

Absolutely. The education and keeping our folks current in that environment, I truly believe has a direct correlation to reducing situations involving use of force, other concerning things that sometimes we see in the news. some of the other highlights related to the technology we really appreciate the support of council town manager as well to be able to move forward and have these systems keep us safe keep our community safe and we hope to well we will be including that information in our community police academy as well it will actually be somewhat of a new segment We're very proud of it. We look forward and encourage the conversations surrounding it, making sure that our community feels comfortable before we ever move forward with anything else. We never want to jeopardize the community's trust.

Thank you. I will have some more specific questions on the report, but again, I'd like to hear from the public.

Thank you. Vice Mayor Risto.

Thank you. First of all, thank you for the report. I know there's a lot to cover and you probably couldn't go deep into everything. I appreciated kind of the four case studies where the different technologies were used. I actually wish some of the previous speakers had stayed for the rest of the meeting. Maybe next year we flip the order. But first of all, one thing that was exciting to me was to see the increase in traffic enforcement and case reports. And you answered my question that it looked like it was probably due to more increased staffing. And I know in the past, it's something I hear about a lot, from residents, it's like, you know, people are going through stop signs, where are the police? And I usually say, if they're not on this corner, or if they're on one corner, they might not be on 500 others, but it looks like that step up, is making a difference, so hopefully our residents will get the message and become better drivers. But I have one simple question. You talked about a DUI grant for DUI vehicles, that we have two DUI vehicles. What is a DUI vehicle, or what distinguishes it from the others?

Thank you for asking that question. Sometimes we roll through things second nature, and it sounds like alphabet soup. So, yes, we received a grant, almost a $250,000 grant in 2025. That covered introduction of two additional vehicles to the fleet that we actually had officers designated as doing DUI enforcement for greater visibility out there. We also, through the grant, were able to send quite a few of our officers through additional training. And when I say a DUI, it's not just about alcohol. It's other impairments as well, drugs, prescription, medication. And we have actually seen over a 15% increase from the prior reportable period to this reportable period, which is very concerning. One of our officers received the Centennial Award this year from MAD, which means that one officer had over 100 DUI arrests. While I commend that effort, we certainly want to reduce those numbers, but the enforcement we are seeing oftentimes is pretty significant, and even during the day, and really ranging all ages. So the DUI vehicles have been deployed out there. We've done a lot of DUI education. We're collaborating with other stakeholders in the community to try to change some of this behavior. And I'd actually like to introduce our watch commander for this evening, Sergeant Burley. He's the watch commander this evening on night shift, and they're seeing that even on weekday nights as well.

Okay, well I appreciate the extra effort. It's unfortunate that we have that many people to arrest. And one more, actually one more right now, and if public comment brings anything. So going back to the report, and I realize you can't cover everything, but in the report it talked about long-term success facility planning efforts, policing evaluations, et cetera. So going back to facility, The August Finance Commission meeting, there was a report from NHA that, you know, we're talking about future needs for the town, and they highlighted three very big potential capital projects for the town, and they threw out a number for a PD operation building, around $70 million, and I don't know where it came from, but I'm curious, like, where do we stand with the building consolidation, or, Was that not covered? It was alluded to in the report. It came up at the August Finance Commission meeting, and so I'm just curious where we are with that.

I will take that one. The chief did have more detail in the report when it came to us, and I had it removed because this is a conversation that should be occurring with the general CIP, given the significance of that, including providing the report and discussing the needs of the police department.

Okay, but this is moving forward from the Meliera report?

This is a separate study that PPW and the police put forth that provided information about our existing facility and capacity to increase that to support the needs of the department. To me, it just felt that it would detract from the rest of the six-month report to include such a large item by itself without the context of the rest of the CIP.

Okay, yeah, and to be clear, I'm not asking for a dollar amount. I'm not asking what was happening. I was just curious if that work had continued toward, because it seemed like that was a priority that the council voted on. So without the details, yes, we are continuing to study it.

We are always looking at the needs of the police department and other departments in terms of priorities. This was it came up in the study. The council did not direct specific actions. The chief has been implementing quite a number of the recommendations of that study. The issue with the facilities assessment is it's such a large dollar amount and such an impact because you can't renovate an existing building and continue to operate. out of that building and so there's more work that we need to do to understand what exactly is it how do you pay for it and then how do you program it in the context of cip when looking at the nha reports you see that we cannot fund our capital ongoing so there is no resource to be able to pay 70 million dollars which is the number that was quoted without incurring debt or a go bond

Right, got that. Okay, thank you. Just the concept. Thank you.

Thank you. I just wanted to ask a little bit more about, more generally, digging into the DUIs a little bit. I know we, on DUI trends, so you said you're seeing a variety of, you know, influences for people that shouldn't be driving. Are we seeing enforcement making a difference? I guess my question is, what's our strategy? Because it sounds like we're getting better, at least from what I can tell, it sounds like we're getting better at catching folks, or maybe. But it sounds like it's a big community-wide problem that is going to require a concerted effort on.

Improving the behavior is certainly one aspect to it. When we look at where are some of these folks that we're coming into contact with are coming from, they're not just from the Los Gatos community. I would actually say that there's probably more so outside of the Los Gatos community than within the Los Gatos community. We also recognize that this impacts the teens as well, so we have reached out to the schools to connect with them, and we're in conversations about some preventative measures that we can collaborate on there. And it's not just driving. It's also we're seeing access and theft of alcohol through retail theft, and some may have seen on our social media just recently at that vehicle and that was actually an alert that was brought to us through an ALPR camera and some coordination there. That individual had actually been doing that. I think they had 53 bottles of alcohol on them in that one instance and they were actually wanted for a warrant related to a similar occurrence in another jurisdiction here within the county as well and had a whole history of that. So the retail theft of alcohol is certainly something that we're seeing, but also theft by some of our juveniles as well. So we're looking at how to curb that behavior. So there seems to be a theme related to alcohol that we're making a concerted effort on and reaching out to some of our partners to try to address that. Certainly our team is very much in tune and aware of that as well. None of us want to see something that could have been prevented because it is one of those most preventable crimes out there and the secondary victims that go with it are oftentimes impacted for life.

Yeah, I appreciate that. And that's a good segue to the school. So I know, you know, you and I and the town manager attended a meeting with the superintendent. And it seems like they're really concerned about, you know, an uptick in sort of party culture in general. And I know that's something we, you know, the town of Los Gatos, you know, really worked hard on addressing before I was on the council. And it seems like they are concerned. Yeah, I mean, I think we may have a larger discussion about this at some point, but really concerned. And so I just wanted to get your perspective on sort of how we might be able to work with the schools at just a high level. And then, you know, sounds like future conversations to come.

So some of the conversations that we were having is trying to curb any kind of celebrations when it's leading up to some of the sporting events that may be held outside, of course, the school's location, but anything before or after and having that increased vigilance and support there, whether it be from our marked, because we are on the visible arms of enforcement, having our DUI vehicle out there as well and supporting them on some of that collaboration. So I don't think it's just the schools. I have met with the service clubs, just about every one of the service clubs in the last month. And this has been part of that conversation as well, asking them to get the message out there on a number of things. But this is one of the pressing matters is on just the awareness that this is one of the most preventable crimes out there. And so making sure to implore the community to express this concern within their circles as well. and certainly trying to improve some of the role modeling that I think could occur within our community, whether it's parents being role models for their kids and also having the conversations with their kids. A lot of this does start at home, both with the conversations and being a good role model as well. Both Captain Albin and I recently toured the sobering center downtown. We've increased our use of the sobering center So if somebody is intoxicated in public we can take them there There's reentry tools there and they can go there repeatedly as many times as they need then for DUIs first-time DUI offenders we will take there as well because it provides them a with an additional resource when they're leaving, not just the citation because that's ultimately what we're trying to do is find other resources that are available to us. So we've been partnering in other ways.

Great, thank you. And then just one more is shifting topics to e-bikes. So I appreciate you including information about education enforcement in there. You know, I know that last school year, the police department had done sort of a, at the beginning of the school year, had sort of done a focused effort on this. Have you seen any differences between last year and this year in terms of, you know, has it gotten any better or are we at about the same place?

A couple of things. I think the work that I know you were involved in as well at the high school and Fisher has adopted as well of making sure to register the e-bikes on campus in partnership with our school resource officer being out there to visually inspect to make sure that that's being followed. We have seen some curbing in that behavior. We recently even started towing e-bikes. We've been doing a lot of the education on that. We towed some e-bikes. I know there may be different feelings on that, but we need to start making an impact in the community. I appreciate CHP. They have actually put together a quick code for us because now it's up to about 30 pages in different codes and looking at things. So we're making sure to share that with our motors and all of our officers as well. We're still seeing behavior that could be improved out there, but I do appreciate just today when I was out in the community, I had three parents stop me and asked a lot of questions related to e-bikes, and they had their kids nearby and wanted to make sure that their kids heard my responses. And so I appreciate that there's the willingness to ask the questions and not the fear to ask the questions. We want to be there to make sure that parents as well are making good decisions.

Great. Thank you very much. Vice Mayor Stowe.

Quick follow-on question. When you refer to towing e-bikes, I'm guessing you're talking about street illegal e-motors or are there actually compliant e-bikes that are getting towed?

That or if they are utilizing the e-bikes in extremely unsafe manners. Yes. Perfect. Thank you.

Okay, great. Then we will go to public comment and then get back to the chief. We have two speaker cards in the room. The first is from Gus and the second is from Fred Faltersack.

Okay, my biggest thing on this police stuff is like what you were saying about the police department or the building is $70 million. A lot of this, I was at the finance commission too, and they said that tax is raising again. They brought that up because we don't have the money for it. And I turned you in this page 162 of the 2,160. It shows the police force at 60 people and the payout is 400,000 and change 600 and something. But, you know, it's like that equals like $5 million. And I did math the other day with you guys that equaled out $7 million. So there's a $2 million difference right there. And, you know, I talked to the mayor of Saratoga. I'm not a public speaker, but, you know, I think that there's a deadline. I'm pretty sure there's a three-month deadline. And I don't know if the public's going to be involved in this, you're combining the Saratoga I brought up 41%, and I'm asking Saratoga, do we get to weigh in on that in an agenda item? Because earlier tonight you said it was 30 days to put up an agenda item, and I don't know if one's coming up. I'll have to look in the paper and stuff like that, but there's a lot of questions that the public, I think, is going to want to know and have involvement in these things. Are you to hire more people? It's it's it just doesn't the numbers just don't add up and when I was at the Finance Commission meeting You know, they they were giving I think 188,000 was a medium and that was that that's seven million stuff. So if you know just Tell us the truth, what's going on on all these numbers, and how much is the extra? Because I hear it's a 10-year automatic, we're gonna sign a 10-year agreement with them, and we might be, the town of Los Gatos might be footing the whole bill, or the numbers, again, you know, It starts out at 9.5, and it goes up, and they're paying 11.5, so they get a $2 million, and it starts next year. Nobody knows what the future is on the cost of how much policing it is, and it's just the same size as us. I mean, I think even the city of Monteserino should know this stuff. Thanks.

Thank you. And we'll go to Fred Faltersack.

Good evening again, and this is what I came for to speak tonight. There seems to be an increasing amount of anti-flock sentiment out there, and I'm not just local but nationwide, and I have to ask why, and I say, well, probably because it's working. I just want to tell you my story and why I support flock in our town. MY NEIGHBORHOOD OF ABOUT 35 HOMES GOT TOGETHER AND CONTRACTED A FLOCK TO PLACE TWO LICENSE PLATE READERS AT OUR POINTS OF ENTRY. WE DID THIS BECAUSE TWO YEARS PRIOR WE EXPERIENCED TWO BURGLARIES AND ONE ATTEMPTED. OVER THE TWO-YEAR TERM OF OUR CONTRACT WE EXPERIENCED ZERO REPORTED CRIME IN OUR COMMUNITY. There was one incident outside our area where a criminal, in an attempt to get away, entered our community to hide from law enforcement. The Flock LPR system assisted Los Gatos Police in tracking the criminal from entering on Union Avenue into Los Gatos and then up Harwood Road where our Flock cameras were placed. The criminal abandoned his vehicle and fled on foot into the Los Gatos Hills. The vehicle was impounded and the case turned over to San Jose Police because the crime was originally committed in their jurisdiction. Our 24-month contract ended about May of 2025 and was not renewed due to lack of interest by a large percentage of our 35 homeowners. um everybody kind of felt geez we have had no crime why are we going to spend more money on it well last week we experienced our first known criminal activity uh in a long time uh it was uh first time in 39 months including the contract period and the expiration uh following that it was a break-in of a vehicle in uh on my street and I kind of think if we still had our Flock cameras, we just might have removed two career criminals from the streets. Now my neighborhood is asking me to once again open discussion about maybe getting a new contract with Flock and providing those cameras for Los Gatos to help keep our community safe, so... I support the flock cameras. One, they help us catch criminals. Two, when the criminals find out that we have them in our town, maybe they'll just go somewhere else and let them deal with it. So thanks. Thank you.

All right, and then we have one speaker on Zoom, which is Austin.

California 34 mandates operators implement usage and privacy policies that among other things shall identify the training requirements necessary for employees. An independent contractors authorized to use or access the system. The town's own policy says the Bureau of support services captain shall be responsible for developing guidelines and procedures to comply with the aforementioned law to include training requirements for authorized users. The policy goes further to say that no member of the department shall operate equipment or access data without 1st, completing department approved training. And that the training will be documented and kept on file with the training analyst. When I last brought this up in response to a public records request that came up empty for just such documentation, the chief claimed that the department was subject to California DOJ audits. I also requested the most recent DOJ audit and was unable to locate anything that suggests anything related to the town's vast network of automated license plate readers is in scope for such audit. I will also note that the chief did not mention flock or when discussing the deal audit findings moments ago. The original request was reopened and closed again following the disclosure of certifications, but governs police access to state run databases, which has nothing to do with the town's system. So, I'm asking perhaps rhetorically what changed in the last 6 months. Can the chief confirm without a shadow of doubt that the town is in compliance with its own policy and by extension state law. Can she commit to reporting on training compliance in the next by annual report? listen i think you'll agree public safety is built upon a foundation of trust there is so much talk tonight about training and education why not be transparent about how the town uses flock and prevents its abuse thank you thank you and that concludes public comment and i'll look to my colleagues for further comments or questions yes councilmember hudas

Thank you, and I believe FLOC was referenced in the report, and I wanted just to ask a question because it seems as though every week there are news reports that come out about FLOC issues across the country, and I'm not saying that we should change, but if this continues to happen, are we considering other sources or sources other than FLOC for ALPR? And I just wonder if we are exploring other options in case it comes to the point where we say, you know, FLOC really isn't our preferred vendor.

Thank you for the question. And actually, if there's any functionality questions, I just wanted to offer that we do have a representative from the company from our vendor available online. But in terms of your question, yes, there are other technologies that are certainly stepping into that space. There's three or four that come to mind. Should we explore anything of that nature under SB 34, it also states that if we were to implement any change or new introduction of any additional ALPRs into our community, that we would need to bring that to council. It takes council authorization so that you have some awareness as well. Currently our contract goes through 2029. I think it's February of 2029 with our flock vendor as it currently stands. And that was one of the reasons that we definitely wanted to showcase some of the technology and how there's really this integrated or synergistic operation of it that our detective sergeants shared that if not for these systems and the ALPR functions, that the clearance level of some of these cases, the ability to address public safety concerns swiftly, and the variety in which it's applied And definitely the accountability and oversight of it is certainly there that I can assure you as well That currently we are not actively exploring another Option out there, but if so we would bring that to council compliant with SB 34.

Thank you Other questions for the chief

Matthew sorry councilmember hudas no problem Regarding gun rights and gun safety. Are there changes within our own public safety efforts as a result of expanded gun rights that may have affected our municipal safety efforts or the practices that we have given the expanded right to carry and other things that have been down from the federal government.

Well, I'm actually going to turn that over to an expert that we have with us. Detective Sergeant Hoy is also our range master and does our qualifications as well. So he is certainly, I think, well versed in this space.

Mike question wait we enforce any of our gun laws or if we're seeing anything different no as a result of

Sorry, as a result of some of the changes in right to carry that are coming down from the federal courts, are we having to make any changes to our practices in terms of gun safety or things like that within our own public safety as a result of changes that are happening? Does that make sense?

Yes, and as there hasn't been any recent changes or updates, they are required, if they go through the application process, to go through various steps, and one of those being a 16-hour qualification and training course.

Okay, thank you.

And I'll just have a follow-on on that. You know, I think some of the other changes we've seen with court rulings is, you know, the legality of carrying higher capacity magazines and things like that, or the, you know, gray area on that question. Are you seeing, you know, any increase in carrying or firearms in vehicles or on people or not really? Yeah.

Not really. It's been steady. We do have a few CCWs issued. As far as high capacities, they're still not allowed. There's current oftentimes stays on any of the new orders that come out and so any implementation on the law and how we carry it out. I haven't actually seen any high capacity mags or any changes of that nature.

Okay, great, thank you.

Council Member Hudeis. I had one last thing and it may not be totally within the scope of this report and if it isn't proper at this time, but I'm wondering, is there any timing on the by which a decision by Saratoga could be implemented? And when would this topic be considered by the council with an opportunity for public input? I know I've had a number of questions from residents on that. Thanks.

Thank you for that question. I'll answer it and the chief can add to it. Obviously, an effort to expand the police force or to or to change the current model that you have is a very significant action. Saratoga has been having public meetings about this topic, partly because the costs that are being quoted by the county are very significant and impactful in their long term fiscal stability. And so obviously they've been having those conversations. in terms of the request to los gatos to provide a proposal there really is three components that go into this one was a supplemental analysis by meliora who conducted the 2024 study of our department in looking at the data that came from the county through saratoga to determine what how would we configure and address the to ensure that we're providing the same level of service for Saratoga as we are for Monte Sereno and Los Gatos and not degrading the service to ourselves. The second piece is in providing that service, providing certainty to both us and Saratoga with a contract that is in more detail. And then the third piece is in that contract the pricing we would quote what is the support to justify objectively the dollars that we would be charging the neighboring city to insurance in compliance with law that we're charging what the cost actually is in complying with the most recent law that was passed in 2016. All three of those are in various stages of progress. We have a draft, you know, our attorneys outside law firm is reviewing the contract. Our financial model has been reviewed by a consulting group that focuses on cost allocation. And the study is currently in a draft that we are reviewing internally. The hope for both Saratoga and us is that we would be before both councils to show initially those documents and information in the middle of September. So it would be the meeting of the 15th of September, which is why I made reference to a significant item that was already on potentially on the agenda. And then in front of the city of Saratoga on the following day. again what's very important is to ensure those three pieces of information are complete and that we put and then we put the best foot forward and then it would be up to the city of saratoga in evaluating the information to determine what direction do you want to take and i'll turn over to the chief

And to expand a little bit, Council Member Hude is on your, I think, inquiry of when does the community get to perhaps engage on some of this conversation. Over the last month, I mentioned that I've been having the opportunity to engage with the community quite a bit. and I've been to Kiwanis, Rotary, Lyons, almost every commission within the town and some other interest groups and such to make sure to share with them exactly what the town manager was saying, the status of where we're at, the considerations, the history. I think it's really important to understand the history where we're at and the conversations that are currently being had and that it's not about degrading, diminishing services or subsidizing any costs that would be incurred if there was an expansion to occur, that those costs would be passed along. wanted to make sure to pass along that information in a factual manner that they had access to be able to ask a lot of those questions and also to receive some of the questions or concerns in the event that we had not considered those or planned that information in to what we hope to bring to council on the 15th please

Yeah, just one follow-up to that. Thank you. This is very helpful to get this information and to make it available to the public. One thing that was triggered in the Saratoga meeting, which was, I think, some questions and topics that I attended where Chief, you presented, was the topic of a substation Is that something that would be addressed like in the September timeframe or is that something that might come later? Just again, I'm not looking for an opinion on the need for it, but roughly what would the timeframe be for addressing that?

I don't think we want to go into a lot of details because part of that would also involve our conversations with the city of Saratoga, specifically with potentially some property that they would own and most of that would occur in any type of negotiations on the contract. The goal is, and I think the chief and I and Saratoga are in agreement, is a presence in Saratoga is important. We look to Saratoga like we do Monte Sereno and Los Gatos, that we're all part of one and we're being treated the same. And so a physical presence in Saratoga would be important. And as you will see from the Meliora study, there will be changes to the deployment model and beat structure to ensure that that occurs over there. It doesn't make sense to be deploying officers just from Los Gatos to Saratoga. We need to actually physically have them present in Saratoga. Thank you.

Vice Mayor Risto.

Thank you. I wanted to just circle back to FLOC for a couple of minutes because we've gotten questions, but I was not on the council at the time that the town council approved the FLOC contract, but I would like to ask you, Chief, to kind of walk through the guardrails and the limited way Los Gatos started and then the point that we got to. Because I think sometimes the public doesn't understand or I've seen other communities I'm not sure what their approach was, but maybe they just said hey, let's put these cameras in didn't think about who they were sharing information with or What the backside controls were and I think Los Gatos because we're such an involved community When it was brought in started very tightly controlled and still is but had expansion to other agencies so Can you walk through the timeline of that? Because this is an important question, I think.

Absolutely. And it's something, to go back to the Community Police Academy, we have a very detailed presentation that goes over even a... even a mock of when an alert occurs, what's the process for law enforcement to go in and do the research and the investigation, because really FLOC is an investigative pointer. There's other steps that need to be taken to confirm that that is actually an official hit. So to go back to 2021 when this was introduced, we were one of the first agencies to actually introduce the ALPR system with FLOC being the vendor. ALPR, Automated License Plate Reader, is the function of it. And there was a lot of research, meticulous research that was done into that, that went into that. There was a lot of papers that were out there addressing concerns. One of the, I think the front runners was the Electronic Frontier Foundation. I believe NWCP had some thoughts, and so in making sure that there was the guardrails there, we made sure to design a system early on that we were not going to, again, risk the public trust. And what that included is from the start of ALPR within our community and within the police department overseeing it, Our officers or our dispatchers, because our dispatchers also have the access to that as well, they have to enter either an incident number or a case report number. There's a redundancy that's in there. It's a required field that goes into that. There's other drop downs that are required before the search can even take place. That's something that is audited every 30 days. internally, that is our internal process. We don't release license plate numbers for obvious reasons. We don't want somebody that can have access to the license plate numbers that our system captures and then deletes in 30 days and then take it somewhere else and be able to start putting together different license plates for potentially ill reason. So we have a very well-governed system within our police department. From 2021 till 2023, we did not share with any other agency. We only shared within Los Gatos. And so that was significant because I know that there's, for each jurisdiction, they have their own governing model. I believe that it should always come before the council to make those decisions so that you're making those policy decisions with us and informed as well. I brought back to council during the one of the bi-annual police report outs, I believe it was in August of 2023, and I said we had a series of events. One of the triggering events that encouraged me to bring it back to council is one of our officers on night shift pulled over a vehicle that the driver had just been involved in a pretty significant person's crime. Had she known that, if flock was shared throughout our county, we would have had that alert and that traffic stop would have been handled much differently because there was a very high likelihood that there was a weapon in the car and the person was fleeing a significant person's crime. That person was let go, was not taken into custody. Thankfully, our officer was not hurt. That, coupled with a few other series of events, I brought back to council and I said, I think that there's going to be value to us sharing within this county, and that's where we have kept it. We share it only within the county. We make sure whenever there is an update, we make sure whenever these audits occur that our entity that does that. Same thing for our Verkada system. When they go in and make sure that all these processes and procedures are followed, that that we were doing it in a way that would not jeopardize the trust that you've placed in us and the community has as well so we've kept only within the county and we were not one of those incidents that I call them toggles for lack of better term was switched over and that's something that will also be taking the community police academy through as well Thank you. And by the way, I misspoke. I've been on the council the whole time we discussed this. Sorry. Losing my mind. Thank you. Absolutely. And I'd just like to highlight that the image is taken from a public position of a vehicle traveling on a public roadway. And it's make model color. It is not facial recognition biometrics. And it's a still image. It's for each camera that it goes by, it's an individual alert. It doesn't activate the entire system. So if it goes by three flock cameras, then it will alert individually each one of those. It's also really helpful to direct us in the direction that something may be about to occur, have occurred, as well as ruling out areas that it is not potentially traveling in. And during one of my presentations recently, I actually had a lady approach me and she said, I really appreciate these systems because the flock system actually proved my son innocent. And so that was also, I think, worthy to note that it also rules out where things occur or potentially a vehicle that may have been involved and how its involvement may have

all right seeing no other comments um i think we just need to receive the report so i don't think a motion is needed um and that concludes this item thank you very much for the always informative and thoughtful report chief thank you very much for your support of our departments Okay, that gets us to the end of our meeting, and so we will go to, oh, we have First Council Member Rennie announcing his Finance Commission appointment, and then we will go to Council Matters.

Thank you. As I mentioned in the past, my appointee has moved out of town or is moving out of town, so I'm going to appoint John, also goes by Jay McGowan, sitting in the second row on the far side of the room from me. DO YOU WANT TO JUMP IN YOUR COUNCIL MATTERS? SURE. SINCE LAST REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING, WE'VE HAD LOTS OF SPECIAL MEETINGS. IN ADDITION TO ALL OF THAT WORK, I DID ATTEND THE SILICON VALLEY CLEAN ENERGY BOARD MEETING. NOTHING PARTICULARLY EXCITING TO REPORT. THANK YOU. COUNCIL MEMBER HUGHES?

Thank you. On the 6th of August, I had a very interesting meeting with residents to understand more about the village concept for aging in place as those services are being requested more and more by our older adults who are not interested necessarily in moving to a facility, but are interested in having services that would allow them to stay in place. And so it is something that a number of folks, some from Thrive's Foundation, but some other folks as well, articulated some of those needs, and I would be really interested in exploring that more. I participated, well, I met with residents in the neighborhood of the WVMA facility, and I also met with WVMA leadership And I attended a very interesting meeting of the Los Gatos Monteserino Emergency Communications Leadership, where they discussed some of the future ideas that have been based on some of the things that have been implemented collaboratively with our police department, and there are some new ideas coming from them to take our communications to the next level. I participated in the Finance Commission meeting on the 10th, and that's it.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Vice Mayor Risto.

Thank you. Just the other week, I also participated in the Finance Commission meeting as a town council member of it. On the 12th, I had the honor and fun of speaking at the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce Women's Networking meeting. great group of women, great conversations afterward, and they asked me to come and speak about leading with authenticity and meeting challenges, and when things get hard, how do you stay bright and shiny and positive? And certainly the people that are in retail, people in restaurants face all of that, so it was a good discussion. On the 13th, our VTA PAC, approved funding and it was for the transportation fund for clean energy. We had an allocation of a few million dollars and part of that recommendation included a little over nine hundred and seven thousand dollars toward the Los Gatos bike and ped bridge parallel to Blossom Hill Road over 17. So this part of this funding was to help projects that needed to bank money to accumulate it. And so I was excited to see that. There were quite a few great projects on there across the valley and no opposition at all by any other city to allocate the money for our bridge. And then on the 16th, I attended the Los Gatos Anti-Racism Coalition's sixth anniversary celebration, and it was quite illuminating to hear the work they've done, especially in the last three years with rent assistance and the kind of, you know, I've talked to people at St. Vincent de Paul and Los Gatos Anti-Racism Coalition and what it takes to When you've got a full-time job, give up hours to meet with people that are on the brink of being evicted, quite desperate. It doesn't matter how little sleep you've got, and if somebody needs your help, they do it. And kind of the emotional barrier you have to let down, to hear very hard stories, open your heart, and then make the hard decision of, you know, can we fund this or not? And then, let me see. I met with a number of residents over the last couple of weeks regarding Farley Road, bike lane street sweeping, safe routes to school efforts, back to school registration of e-bikes. I've met with a number of candidates who are running for election this fall, both in Los Gatos and nearby communities, and attended Jazz on the Plaz and this month's Gold Thursday. So lots of great things in town and lots of busy things with the council.

See, on August 10th, I attended a meeting of the Finance Commission. On the 13th, I met with the executive director of KCAT, and I've also met with a number of residents to discuss issues of their concern, Farley Road being one of them. And that's all I have for tonight.

Thank you. So I've been enjoying providing opening remarks and introductions for the bands that are music in the parks. There's only one music in the park left. It is this Sunday. So make sure you come out. It's this Sunday at 5 p.m. And there's two more jazzes this Wednesday at 630 p.m. Jazz in the Plaza is this Thursday. Wednesday at 6.30 and then the next Wednesday at 6.30. So make sure you come out to those. I enjoyed attending the Silicon Valley Youth Climate Action Summit where there was a lot of good discussions among our youth about a variety of different topics from data centers and AI to the right way to do electrification to conservation, all very interesting stuff. I attended a meeting organized by Sam Liccardo with mayors from some of the different cities about ice action and the efforts that local municipalities can take to curb ice action in our cities. The sort of crux of this one that I think is important for us to recognize is that the city of San Jose and the county of Santa Clara are both pursuing policies that will prevent detention centers and holding facilities from being placed on county and city of San Jose land, which in the event that ICE is interested in doing that in Santa Clara County now limits the cities to cities like ours. And so I think that's something very much worth paying attention to. The next day I attended a monthly meeting of the West Valley, actually District 9 mayors with Supervisor Margaret Abacoga where we discussed that topic and more. I chaired the City's Association Legislative Action Committee meeting where we took action to support two bills that are that are trying to curb and actually ban the use and sale of illegal nitrous or currently legal or nebulously legal nitrous oxide in retail stores. This was something that Los Gatos experienced with somebody trying to come into town do business, and so supported two of those bills. And the Cities Association Legislative Action Committee also took action to oppose a bill that would basically limit the amount of impact fees that cities could charge on ADUs. And so, yeah, that's... important um a few others i spoke to the incoming class of west valley college's student government about leadership my time in student government and my role as mayor and i did that with my fiance kylie who i met in student government um uh very uh governmenty of me I then spoke at Make-A-Wish Walk for Wishes in Vasona Park which is a wonderful event that happens every year in Vasona. This is Make-A-Wish's big, Make-A-Wish Bay Area's big fundraiser and so it went really well. I told the story about how my cousin was the recipient of a wish who had Duchenne's muscular dystrophy and it was one of the best experiences of his whole life. And then I held my monthly community coffee and met with constituents regarding a few of our pending decisions, including WVMA and development projects. With that, I will turn it over to the town manager and town attorney.

Thank you.

Due to the hour, I have no report.

Thank you. I will briefly report that yesterday the town council met in closed session to discuss filling the town attorney position in November and unanimously authorized recruitment with an interim law firm in the interim. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Okay. With that, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you.