City Council - Regular Meeting

There's three time went They said they said it was [laughter] something.

Yes. My friend [laughter]

metast. such a weird upstairs. It was really

wait like six weeks. I'll get a All right, welcome everybody. We're going to come back to order with a roll call from our city clerk, Kathy Veves.

The record shall reflect that all members are present. Our city attorney, Walter Chung, will bring us out of close session. The city council took no reportable action in close session this afternoon. and Deputy Mayor O'Donnell will lead us in the pledge of allegiance tonight.

Please stand if you're able and remove your hats. You may begin. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. to speak on an item on tonight's agenda. Please fill out a speaker slip with the number of the item you'd like to speak on and give it to the clerk secretary staff here at the dis. Speaker slips are available on the table just outside the chamber doors. For members of the public participating via Zoom, please use the raise your hand function indicate you'd like to speak. Uh or press star 9 on your phone. We will announce when to raise your hand to indicate you'd like to make a comment on the specific item being discussed. Speakers will have three minutes each to address the city council. Now, we'll go to our city manager, John Connley, for approval of tonight's agenda.

Thank you, mayor. There are no changes to this evening's agenda. Thank you very much, Mayor. I'm sorry. I have a few announcements to make.

Oh, please. Oh, I'm sorry. Did I I skipped over your announcements? I apologize. [laughter] In accordance with the Brown Act, I'd like to announce that as a result of convening simultaneous meetings, the members of the Buena Sanitation District will receive compensation of $147.75 for the district meeting pursuant to Buena Sanitation District Ordinance 2006-1. I would like to remind everyone that the Vista Municipal Code requires members of the public to observe order and decorum at the meeting and to conduct themselves in a courteous manner. The ordinance was adopted to allow for public input and facilitate city business without disruption of the meeting. Applause is appropriate for items listed under the presentation portion of the agenda only. Students wishing to receive credit for attending this evening's meeting must stay for a minimum of one hour. However, we ask that you stay for the completion of an item rather than leaving in the middle of a discussion. When you are ready to leave, you may ask one of the staff members at the back of the room to sign your paper. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any member of the public may address the city council on agency related matters that are not on the agenda by requesting to speak during this section of the agenda. If you are participating via Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature or press star 9 if you'd like to speak. The number of speakers that will be heard during this segment is limited to 10. Any remaining speakers will be heard under the second oral communications item. And I see we have a few speakers for oral communications. We'll start with MNA Casillas, followed by Gail Martin, followed by Waqen. It looks like Vanzini. Good evening members of the council. My name is Ma Casillas and I'm a resident of Vista. I'm here tonight caring about both a heavy heart and a deep sense of purpose. Two weeks ago, our family marked the 15th anniversary of our mother's passing. She taught me to lead with a heart of flesh. I also lost my brother to mental disorder and addiction in 2021. I have two empty chairs on my table where they used to sit and I am determined not to have a third. I refuse to lose my nephew to the streets of our city. My nephew is an unhealth neighbor. I don't see a statistic. I see my brother's grandson. I want to be totally transparent. He lives with a dual diagnosis, ADHD, mild schizophrenia, and a heavy addiction to drugs and alcohol. I'm not here to present a perfect person. I'm here to save a human life. Mayor Franklin, for someone with schizophrenia, addiction is often a desperate attempt to self-medicate and quiet the voices. Council member Melendez, as a social worker, united for a young man fighting both his mind and his cravings that mises twice as dark. We must meet him in his mess. I stand here today as the voice for the voiceless. So many families in Vista are suffering in silence. Too afraid or too nervous to speak about the shame of

mental illness or addiction. They are hiding, but I am standing. Too often our community remains unconscious toward unhoused brothers and sisters. We look past them as they are part of the landscape but they're they are but these are human beings. Council members Contas and Fox I believe in your commitment to the unseen. Thank you m member council member Contes for reaching out to me after when I last week deputy mayor O'Donnell you called housing that issues for my nephew that middle ground between the street and home is what will save him. I am asking for specialized PR per clinicians trained for dual diagnosis. We need the W Creek Navigation Center to understand that recovery in housing must go hand in hand. Time is of the essence. Human lives are at risk. Please don't let the additions be an excuse to an excuse to look away. Let that be the reason why we act faster. In my culture, the hummingbird is a sign of a soul that has a found peace. I am fighting for my nephew and our house neighbors to find that peace on this side of heaven. Thank you for listening with your own hearts of flesh tonight. Thank you very much. Okay, our next speaker is Gail Martin followed by Waqin Vanzini.

Good evening, um, Mayor Franklin and members of the council. I'm Gail Martin, a Vista resident. As you may be aware, we do have a very um active um community um commission for senior citizen affairs and I have been regularly attending these uh very informative um educational meetings. I have uh felt at each and every meeting that we are not meeting often enough. Right now, uh, the commission only meets every other month and at the pace of six meetings a year. I don't feel like we're able to make the progress that we need to make in order to have some momentum. I believe that we need to have at least once a month meeting so that we can get things going and um be able to achieve the goals. Uh, they're very lofty. they are working in tandem uh very nicely with the uh city's planning commission. Uh but I do feel that now that we are energized by our uh brand new um parks and recre um department head uh Margaret is very um energetic. She's got lots of nice ideas and I can see that she would lead our momentum and I would uh really appreciate if the the council could uh encourage uh the commission to meet once a month. Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. Now we'll hear from Vanzini. Hello, my name is Waen Vanzini and um I am a youth commissioner uh here for the city of Vista. Uh I am also working with a group of students to with to try and um bring more issues to be solved within Vista and within our district. Uh, one of these many things is student transportation. But another one is u that we just started is creating a community house for homelessness as many students from uh say Mission Vista Vista High School have pulled saying that uh homelessness is one of the biggest problems that uh our students are concerned about. So, um we want to propose the idea for a Pueblo Novo community house for um this basically a shelter for the homeless. And uh we wanted to see if the city council uh may or may not um we wanted to see if the city council will help uh support this. And uh we wanted to um try and see how much we would how we would like approach this issue and come to this solution. Um, and one of the ways we would uh try to like fund raise it for like this community house would be to fund raise or to um

gain like grant funds for these certain things like on say certain lots or using existing city land like Regal Terrace Park. Um, and first of all, and lastly, I would like to say, um, thank you to, uh, Deputy Mayor O'Donnell and, uh, Council Member Contreras for hearing us out. Uh, we actually have a meeting with Contes later on, and Odono has sent us a letter. So, thank you.

Very good. Thank you. You're you're here on the right night because we're going to discuss our navigation center for homeless persons in Vista and renewing the operation of it. So, pay close attention to that. Uh, okay. Now, we have on Zoom, we'll hear from Barbara Gordon, followed by Madison Rap.

Um, good evening. Um, as a public health advocate and someone who works with young people, it is crucial to understand the patterns concern concerning drug use. As the new year begins, I wanted to share the current landscape of drug trends um in the city. The opiate crisis continues to p significant challenges with syni [clears throat] synthetic opiates like fentanyl continue to contribute to overdose deaths. This trend is exasperated by the increased availability of methamphetamine, nitrous oxide inhalants, cocaine, cratratom andratom products like 70. These substances often mixed with other drugs making them even more dangerous and impacting residents across all economic barriers. I think blending of these stimulants and depressants can create unprecedented effects heightening the risk associated with use. Additionally, the normalization of marijuana use particularly among youth raises concerns regarding mental health and substance use disorder. Research shows more Americans are dependent on marijuana than any other illicit drug. Data indicates 30% of current users harbor a cannabis use disorder. It is imperative that we collaborate with public health officers, law enforcement, and community organizations to develop a more comprehensive strategy designed to combat drug use. By focusing on prevention, you can address these trends and work towards a healthier, safer community, especially for our young people. Thank you for letting me speak.

Thank you. Now we're here from Madison Rep.

Thank you. Good evening, city council members. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. Um, so in public debates about drug policy, we often hear the claim that marijuana is no worse than alcohol and therefore should be treated the same or not even as harshly. But that comparison is not according to decades of neuroscience and clinical research. As Dr. Bertha Madress, a Harvard Medical School neuroscientist and expert in addiction, explains, "Marijuana and alcohol produce fundamentally different medical and psychiatric harms. Treating them as interchangeable ignores those differences and puts public health at risk. Take just one example with vomiting. Alcohol-related vomiting is typically an acute self-limited response to excessive intake. Cannabis hyperemmesis syndrome, by contrast, is a chronic condition caused by long-term marijuana use. Patients experience relentless cyclical vomiting, sometimes dozens of times per day, leading to dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, and repeated emergency room visits. The only effective treatment is complete abstinence from marijuana. So, these are not comparable conditions. And the psychiatric risks also differ sharply. Long-term studies show that cannabis induced psychosis converts to schizophrenia at much higher rates than alcohol-induced psychosis. This risk is especially pronounced in adolescence and young adults whose brains are still developing. This association has been observed for over a century and repeatedly confirmed by modern research. Alcohol is undeniably harmful and remains a major public health challenge. Acknowledging marijuana's distinct risks does not excuse alcohol's damage. It simply rejects the idea that one harmful substance justifies another. Marijuana should be treated differently

because it is different and its clinical syndromes and psychiatric risks. So, sound policy depends on evidence. And please continue to educate yourselves on these issues that seriously affect our youth. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you very much. That's going to bring us to our consent agenda tonight. The recommendations on the consent calendar will be enacted in one motion unless an item is removed from the calendar. Any member of the public may remove an item by submitting a request to speak card to the clerk secretary by using the raise their hand feature on Zoom or by pressing star9. Items removed from the consent calendar will be considered immediately following the adoption of the calendar. We have 10 consent items this evening and backtracking uh we'll close the opportunity for oral communications uh during this meeting and entertain a motion to adopt the consent calendar. Council member Fox. Motion to approve. Council member Deputy Mayor O'Donnell. Second.

Okay, we have a motion, a second. Please, please cast your votes. That motion is approved unanimously. That will bring us to our one public hearing this evening, PH1. Our public hearing is regarding the speed limit on Sycamore Avenue. The public hearing is now open. If any member of the public wishes to speak on this item, they may indicate so by using the raise hand feature, by pressing star9, or submitting a request to speak card. Speakers will be called upon after the presentation. Traffic engineering division manager Sam Hassan will introduce the item. Good evening, mayor and council. So the background on this item is that uh on Sycamore Avenue, we have prior ordinances that established the speed limit into three segments. And the first one is between South Melrose Drive and Business Park Drive at 45 miles an hour. And the second segment is between Business Park Drive and Hibiscus Avenue at 45 mph as well. And the last segment is between Hibiscus Avenue and the Easterly City Limit at 40 mph. On June 24th, 2025, the city council adopted ordinance number 202506, which reduced the speed limits on various uh street segments in the city. The ordinance established a 40 mph speed limit on Sycamore Avenue between Green Oak Road and Easterly City Limit, which is roughly the northern half of the road. The new speed limit for Sycamore Avenue does not coincide with the existing street segments and conflicts with the prior ordinances. So to address um the ordinance uh street segment discrepancy on Sycamore Avenue, staff

conducted a new engineering and traffic survey. And the new engineering traffic survey recommends a 45 mph speed limit from South Melrose Drive to Green Oak Road, which is roughly the southern half of the road. And today's request will ensure that the ordinances for Sycamore Avenue match the posted speed limits. This is a a graphic that kind of shows um what the ordinances look like. So on the top is the old ordinances, the three that show the 45 and 40 mph speed limit segments and on the bottom is the new ordinances which um will make the the established speed limits um in accordance with the ordinances. So the staff recommendation is to introduce and adopt an ordinance establishing a speed limit of 45 miles per hour on Sycamore Avenue between Green Oak Road and South Elvis Drive. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes. Thank you very much for [laughter] presentation. Thank you. Okay. [snorts] Uh do we have any requests from the public to be heard on this item? Seeing none, Deputy Mayor O'Donnell. Yeah, thanks Sam for the work on this. I know with this was a discussion we had last year uh going back quite a ways. Um there was another pedestrian fatality that just took place on 300 Sycamore just a few days ago and I to be honest with you lowering the speed limit I think is a necessity but there still needs to be more done in this corridor. So at this point uh I'm just going to make a motion to accept stack recommendation and move this forward. Thank you. Council member Contrarus.

Yeah, you know what? I'll go ahead and second that. And just um going off the comments that you made, Deputy Mayor, you know, I I would completely be amendable to having this come back um this corridor come back as a discussion in the future um to provide council the ability to discuss and and potentially give direction to staff for some improvements. Okay, we have a motion, a second. Please cast your votes. Just for everybody's awareness, that was a cleanup. Didn't change the speed limit. That just brought everything into compliance. Right.

Correct. The change happened in June uh in June 2025.

Very good. Thank you. Okay, we have three discussion items this evening. Our first discussion item is regarding the first amendment to the agreement with San Diego Rescue Mission to provide homeless outreach, housing navigation, and housing stability services. If any members of the public wish to speak on this item, they may indicate so by using the raise their hand feature, by pressing star9, or submitting a request to speak card. Speakers will be called upon after the presentation. Assistant City Manager Aldo Herta will introduce the item.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, members of the city council. My name is Aldo Huerta, Assistant City Manager. Tonight, we will be uh providing a report on the first amendment to the agreement with San Diego Rescue Mission to provide homeless outreach, housing navigation, and housing stability services. It is my pleasure to introduce our homeless and housing division manager, Jonathan Lung, who will provide the report. On June 30th, 2024, the city submitted an application for encampment resolution funding round three or ERF3 to the California Department of Housing and Community Development or HCD. The application included approximately $2.8 million for homelessness outreach and housing navigation and stability services to leverage the city's strategic plan to address homelessness. Also included with the application was $2.5 million in rapid rehousing funds to directly support the outreach and housing services by providing funding for actual moving costs for clients engaged with those services. During that same time, the city's agreement for outreach services was nearing its expiration and a request for proposals was published on July 15th, 2024 to solicit a new outreach provider. On December 23rd, 2024, the city received a notice of award for its ERF3 application. And on June 10th, 2025, the city entered into an agreement with for ERF3 funded outreach and housing services with the San Diego Rescue Mission. The terms of the agreement with San Diego Rescue Mission are from July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2026 with an option to renew for an additional 12 months. The agreement includes approximately $2.8 8 million as approved by HCD, which includes $2 million in personnel costs, and appropriations for direct administrative supports, vehicle costs, and client flexible funding and family reunification.

The large majority of the ERF3 agreement funds a robust network of personnel, which leverages two positions funded separately by the city using general funds. With both agreements integrated to form a single multid-disciplinary team, Care for Vista residents experiencing homelessness will be overseen by San Diego Rescue Mission's North County Outreach Director, an associate social worker who will provide clinical support and case management and lead case conferencing. An outreach manager and program coordinator overseeing daily functions, data specialist coordinating all aspects of program monitoring and reporting. Four housing stabilizers who will manage clients care once housed. and five outreach specialists engaging with clients during street outreach efforts. After program implementation and assessment of the city's total ERF3 award, staff submitted a budget change request to HCD to reappropriate funds originally intended to hire a housing specialist to support the ERF3 program, which was no longer considered essential for the program success. The budget change request was approved by HCD on November 11th, 2025 and included an additional $80,000 for the rapid rehousing funds, which now total 2.58 million. Eligible costs for this funding pool include move in supports such as security deposit, first and last month's rent, and basic household furnishings and supplies. Continuing support with rental subsidies are also available for clients housed through this program with assistance limits based on case plans developed with program clients and submitted by case managers. These funds, which will be administered as the Vista Collaborative Access to Rehousing and Engagement or Vista Cares Program, will be referred by case managers by submitting assistance plans through an online portal that is available to all strategic plan funded providers. Assistance plans must describe all current and prospective income for

clients seeking assistance compared with proposed housing costs. Assistance plans should also be designed with a step- down plan which allows clients to gradually assume housing costs to the point of self-sufficiency once assistance is proposed to end. All approved housing assistance funds will be paid directly to housing providers. Once clients are housed, San Diego Rescue Mission housing stabilizers will assume their care. National best practice for social workers case loads range from 12 to 20 clients depending on intensity. The Vista Carees program expects to house 125 individuals during 24 months of operations and with four contract h four contracted housing stabilizers yields an average of 16 clients per stabilizer assuming most clients will acquire 12 months of stabilization case management before becoming self-sufficient. The city's ERF3 award was funded by HCD during the third application window of the ERF3 rolling application period which experienced a considerable delay in award announcements. Accordingly, the city's ERF3 deadline for complete expenditure has extended has been extended by HCD from June 30th, 2027 to February 24th, 2028, excuse me. Approval of this item allows for the Vista Carees program to operate immediately and be available for our residents experiencing homelessness for 24 months. This concludes staff's presentation. Were you available for any questions? Thank you.

You go over the council member Contrus. You know what, Mayor, I don't have any questions. Um, so if you want to just keep me in the queue, but if you want to make your comments. Yeah. So is the amount for housing assistance uh or rapid rehousing is 80,000 and change. Total is 2.58 million. So this isn't uh this is not for our uh so we're we're giving the the housing assistance program to SDRM which had not previously managed it. That's correct. So this is not uh our outreach program. It [clears throat] is. So the city has two agreements for outreach services.

Go back to the slide with the uh total amount of funding that we're approving here. This is the current agreement, not the new uh the first amendment to include the 2.58. This is the current. Okay. Correct. So uh do you have the breakdown of the 2.5 million and how it's going to be spent? Those are all for client assistance funds. It's all for client assistance. Okay. That's right. This was with MAC and then it was with who did we give it to after MAC? This is a new program. MAC was a homelessness prevention program. This is for rapid rehousing. So these are for clients experiencing homelessness that need move in supports. Okay. Uh where are we at with the program that we moved it from MAC to who? Lifeline. Who do we give it to? Lifeline for the prevention program.

Right. Okay. And that program has how much? About a quarter of a million. That is $200,000. But that is for housed clients to remain housed. Right. Okay. So, this is for rapid rehousing. Yep. All right. And I think you just said it, but give me the source of these funds again. These 2.5 million. It's ERF3. Okay. All right. And when when did we apply for ERF3? It's been a little while. Yeah, it's been uh July 2024. So, these were basically unobligated funds from ERF3 that we've been sitting on for a while. That's right. Okay. All right. Did we discuss this before? We did discuss it with the standing committee at the time of application. Okay. But it's been a few years.

It's been a little while since we've talked about it, so I had to refresh myself on the details. Okay. Very good. Uh, Council Member Contrarus. No, I think this is fantastic. Um, this is definitely, you know, part of uh our strategic plan to address homelessness. uh we have been wanting to see, you know, rapid rehousing um for a long time and uh yeah, I I'm just thank you for all the work um that you've done on this and uh I will go ahead and make a motion uh to move this forward.

Council member Mendes,

thank you. Thank you to staff for um pursuing these funds. There's been a a number of opportunities where the council has given direction whether it be um here during our uh regular meetings or uh as we're reviewing the strategic plan to address homelessness or meetings with our standing committee on homelessness. um where we've identified that um although we have a number of programs for housing assistance um we did not have funds available for um assisting people to get out of homelessness and get into a place. Of course, that coupled with shelter and outreach and all the supportive services that we're also offering, I think these funds are going to be very effectively used with our contractor. So I'm hap happy to second the motion and to support this item.

And you said this is this is for rapid rehousing. Correct. What are the eligibility requirements? So the first thing will probably be the onetime supports for move in like security deposits first and last month rent, basic household furnishings, those kinds of things. That that's what we're going to supply the the client. Yes. And we could also of course provide some rental subsidy on a step down plan. Generally, we'd expect a lot of clients to need that service for probably 12 months, but the plan would dictate a step down plan where we could see the client become self-sufficient after the assistance ends.

I see here a number of $2,800 on this slide here, the top number. So, is that the maximum assistance amount? No, no, that's just an example. Yeah. So this is the application portal online available to all our strategic plan providers. What is the maximum assistance amount per month? There is no maximum per month but it would have to be justified by the case manager. The maximum could theoretically be up to 100% of rental subsidies to start potentially. Well, it seems like there ought to be a maximum.

We wouldn't house any clients above any kind of fair market rate. So of course that would be the natural limit. seems like there should be a maximum. We're ready to receive any feedback from the city council if they'd like to see one. I I mean, just for, you know, it's it's hard to think we wouldn't put a I mean, even if it was a huge number like $2,800, which is a lot. It's hard to think that there wouldn't be a limit just to prevent something that we didn't anticipate, let's say, right? How what what would it do if we were to add additional language like that? Would it delay the where where we are are we approving this finally tonight?

We would be. We can certainly include any additional direction with the motion tonight to make any adjustments. I will say one natural protection the city would have to protecting exorbitant rental costs of course is that the client needs to demonstrate that they can become self-sufficient over time. So they'll need to absorb the total housing costs by themselves. If they can't demonstrate that, that assistance wouldn't be approved.

And do these funds Talk to me about who's going to get them. Are you eligible? Do you have to be homeless in Vista? Is this the rescue mission who's doing our outreach and they're meeting folks on the street who are unhoused and basically that is people from our uh by name list that they're maintaining. Those are the people who become eligible.

It's all of the above. It's all the San Diego Rescue Missions clients as well as our other plan providers. So you will have to demonstrate to access any services with the strategic plan, you have to demonstrate a tie to Vista. Only clients that are engaged with the services funded by the strategic plan will be able to be referred to this program. So yes, they will have to have a tie of Vista. Okay. But this money doesn't necessarily have to be spent in VISTA for housing. Not necessarily. They could be housed outside of Vista. That's correct. Okay. And do we have a uh do we have a a programmatic goal for the number of people? 125. 125. Yep. Okay.

We hope to exceed that. I I expect we will, but that is what we submitted to HCD. Let me get my trusty calculator out here. 2.5 million divided by 125 people. So, it's an average of $2,000 of assistance per person. Sorry, one more time. Is my math right? No, I second. I'm sorry. It's 20,000 per person. That was the original formula we used as an average HCD. We're not limited to that per client. Some clients will need more, some will need less. Now, has the rescue mission provided this uh management of of rapid rehousing for any other agency or have they is this a totally new this is a totally new thing for you? Right. Okay. They are very experienced with the housing stabilization of course. Y

they would be administering the funds but at the recommendation of the other plan providers as well at the uh at say that again with the last so all the clients who are referred here must be referred by another strategic plan provider and their case manager so won't be San Diego Rescue Mission having the entire workload of referring all the clients all of our providers will have equal access to it okay so San Diego Rescue Mission cannot refer a client themselves they could of course absolutely okay and they're going to provide the case management once the clients are housed. That's right.

Okay. All right. Very good. We have a motion to second. Please cast your votes. I don't remember how many months ago we discussed that. It's been a long time. Long time.

Yeah. Thanks for the refresher. Okay. That motion is adopted unanimously. Congratulations, Rescue Mission team. Good to see you. All right. That'll bring us to our next discussion item regarding Louis Duran Park Community Center building. If any members of the public wish to speak on this item, they may indicate so by using the raise her hand feature by pressing star 9 or by submitting a request to speak card. Speakers will be called upon after the presentation. Council member Contrarus asked for this item to be on the agenda, so we'll ask her to introduce it.

Thank you, mayor. Um, yes. So, I you know, thank you again to the council. Um, we did some really great work with the uh $9.5 million surplus and uh I really appreciate the dedication of a million dollars towards the LSE Duran uh community center. It's something that, you know, my community has been talking about for a very long time. Um, and I'm excited for it. Uh, I wanted to bring this up because we don't have any of the funding programmed uh yet. And in order to build a new community center, this uh $1 million, although a hefty amount, is only a drop in the bucket. Um, the need is now in the community. And so what I'm asking is that we're able to um utilize up to $500,000. I don't think that we'll need to utilize that full amount, but a maximum of $500,000 for rehabilitation uh of the facility. There's not a ton that we can do as far as, you know, restructuring um because of uh the way that it's built. Um so it I don't anticipate that you know we would be doing a massive overhaul. Um anything like that would actually require us to remove the facility um and start you know a new building which I think is the intention um for this council in the future. Uh the other thing is uh on the remaining funds um the the other 500,000 plus you know any that's left over if we don't utilize uh the first 500,000 in total for rehabilitation. Um that those remaining funds would be able to program

this facility uh for the next five years at a maximum of $100,000 per year. Uh right now I'm just looking, you know, to start the conversation with the council. I would love to provide staff um with the uh direction that this is uh something that the council wants to see and then staff could bring back uh some more information and then we can have a secondary uh discussion on it. Um, and thirdly, I just want to say, you know, we were able to have some community engagement regarding, you know, what the community wanted to see, um, here in this location and it was, you know, there was several different items that came up. Um, I don't think it's enough community engagement. And so what I would think uh would be a really good plan is as we're programming uh this facility that co-currently we would continue to engage the community so that we can create a visionering uh visionary plan for the future um use and uh for the building construction for a new community center. So, just getting feedback as to, you know, what the community uh center should look like, what kind of amenities folks are looking for, um the square footage, is it going to be one story, is it going to be two stories, right? That kind of stuff. Um and uh just to top it all off, you know, we uh very recently approved um the contract uh for building the new restroom. Um so that's going to be, you know, that's a huge issue in this park. Um so I really appreciate the council, you know, moving forward on that. Um and

the other thing is that we were able to increase the amount of parking here um by doing angled parking. Uh so I know that this is a space that you know the community utilizes to a high extent and there's so much need whether it be you know for afterchool programs or some of our community- based organizations like Vista Community Clinic or others um that would you know be able to utilize this facility um including uh food distribution because there's a lot of food insecurity in this area um and this has been a trusted site for the community and was one of the highest performing food distribution sites during CO. Um so it's very uh important to the community and I I just would hate to see us wait 10 years um before we have the funding uh to program uh this facility because I I get a lot of questions about it and folks really want to see it utilized. Um so that's you know what I'm offering. Um, and I would love to hear, you know, from the rest, uh, of the council what your thoughts are and if you would be supportive of providing staff this type of direction. Uh, and then it would come back to the council with some more details and then we can further the discussion at that point.

So, these funds would be used for the physical renovation of the building.

Correct. But I don't want to utilize the entire funding for that because uh the structure of the building um is such that we can't do really additions to it. We can't really you know knock anything down without having to raise the entire structure. But we don't have enough funding to build a new community center. And because the need is now, uh, you know, I would hate to sit on a million dollars, have it, you know, be reduced due to the rising cost of everything. Um, and I think that, you know, there's there's just a lot of appetite to see this facility program. So, um, thank you for the question, Mayor.

And are you looking for staff to bring back a a list of projects for the rehabilitation?

Correct. Yeah, I'm not an expert in that. So, you know, this would just provide staff um consensus from the council um to take a look at what that list of rehabilitation is and then that would come back to the council and also um staff would be empowered to uh look at, you know, what uh programming aspects could be once rehabilitated. We could start putting a timeline together. Um, and at the same time, you know, I think we continue to engage the community um, in a bilingual fashion to see what it is uh, that the future community building could look like cuz the casita is just a little small. Um, but we do have the ability to make a larger structure, but it's going to be in excess of $3 million for sure. So, we just I don't want to wait that long to see something programmed here. and we set a million dollars aside out of the year surplus. So, this is half of that.

Correct. Well, I'm looking at, you know, utilizing that million dollars um for rehabilitation and programming for the next five years and we may not even we we may still have some funds left over. Yeah, I would support that. Okay. Thank you, Council Member Melendez.

Thank you for this item. Um I do recall we set aside a million dollars for this area for this structure. Um and that there's a number of things we could do with that uh allocation. Um a remodel I would imagine is beyond that $1 million price point. Um, but I would love to get an evaluation from staff of what the real cost and budget would look like to refurbish the building and make it accessible to the public. Um, uh, you know, how does it need to be cleaned up and refurbished? We don't know. And so I couldn't really um support uh any specific, you know, allocation of half of the uh $1 million or a portion of the $1 million. We have allocated that funding. And so I I think this is an opportunity for us to make requests to the staff um and ask specifically for them to come back with some detailed refurbishings that could um make the facility usable usable for the community. Um the other part of it is assess programming potential. I'm not sure if we, you know, how much it would cost to program the facility for 5 years. Um, it really depends on what the program is and how, uh, you know, is it, uh, occurring simultaneously with other programs that the city is already operating? Are these new programs? Would they be requiring new contractors? So, um, I think that we there I definitely have the will to see it. Here's the thing. It breaks my heart when I see public facilities like cityowned public buildings, whether they're little casinos like this or other parts of our

city hall that are just vacant and nobody is using them. I'm like, that's our building. We need to be able to access that and use it for something that's going to enrich the community and be a benefit to everybody. So, I am so glad you've put this on the agenda. Um, but we have some probably information that we need to have brought back. So, I would support getting information on refurbishing and uh supporting a variety of different programs that can happen there. And I think just kind of a blank slate would be my recommendation, right? Uh, nothing too specific. You know, we don't need to create necessarily a game room for kids or refrigeration for a food distribution program, right? It doesn't have to be, you know, refurbished in any particular way. Just what's the best we can do to make it accessible to get folks in through the door. And then, um, we'll have ongoing conversations about, uh, budgeting and programming. That would be my, um, feedback to staff and how I would support the item.

Deputy Merido. Yeah, I appreciate the comments and I do appreciate you bringing this forward. Um, do we know roughly what it would cost for a groundup build is I mean 3 to 4 million within the ballpark of what we're looking at or more. Do we have a time frame of when that could potentially take place? If we had the money today, it would likely take 18 months to 24 months to complete that type of a project.

And you're just looking to explore what type of programming could potentially go in there. We're not we're not looking to approve any programs or or dictate what we're looking at. Um so here I'm going to support this because I want to see the information back, but I will tell you my hesitation. Um my understanding when we allocated the million dollars was to go towards a fund to eventually demolish and rebuild this so the community would have access to it for that purpose. And my my fear is that uh we're going to deplete this million dollars and then you know whether it was going to cost three or four million later it's going to take that much longer now to actually accomplish the goal that I think that we would all agree needs to happen sooner rather than later. Um so that that's my biggest fear. But I think in the meantime if there are even state funds that we can get that might be able to go towards a community center that would be over there. Uh I know that you know in the neighborhood I grew up in we had a pool that got shut down. They turned into a senior center you know. So, there's a lot of different things and I agree to see a vacant building in our city is it's it's heartbreaking. So, I I'm I am open to the discussion and hearing what can come forward. Um I mean, if if rehabilitation is over $500,000, I think at that point, um it's almost better to just wait because we don't know when we'll be able to replenish those funds. And I would rather keep adding to it sooner and be more aggressive about it and then get the build up and just put something in place that the entire community can enjoy. Um but I'm I'm open to hearing about it. So, I'll I'll support it for now. Uh, and just see what we can bring back. But, uh, I would like a realistic time frame if it's possible of when we could be fully funded if we wanted to do a groundup build and what that would look like. Uh, if concise is 18 months on a time frame when that took place. I'd like to know that for sure. And then, yeah, different types of programming, but realistic costs on what the rehabilitation of this building would look like. Uh, and if we would end up exceeding $500,000, then I think we need to come back and have a different discussion. member Fox.

Thank you. Yeah. Um I think I I agree pretty much 100% with what uh the deputy mayor O'Donnell said on that one. Uh I think having some set aside to do some quick refurbishes and get some programming in there as soon as possible doesn't sound like a bad idea. Um but I do think that again if it if it does start approaching that $500,000 and we're looking at a potential $4 million complete uh you know tear down, I'm assuming that's kind of what we're going to need to do on that that lot eventually. Correct. Okay. Um, is there would there be any grants or anything like that that would be available in a way where having some funds where we have matching funds be valuable? Is anyone on any city st where there's a reason for us to keep some cash on hand to potentially get some grants against? Would that be something that would be a good idea? city manager.

Most grant applications will require some matching fund or percentage of funding from the city. Uh it's typically it's somewhere in the range of 20% to 25% of the grant request. Um

potentially with with five with a million dollars 20% of five million potentially we could have something some situation like that. So, if there was some potential grant opportunities to do that, you know, I wouldn't want to lose that opportunity. However, if we used, you know, a couple hundred,000 of it, we could probably refi refund that pretty quickly if there was a grant available, I'm guessing. So, um I'm I'm in agreement that, you know, getting a budget on some remodel options and seeing if there are some lowhanging fruit. we for a very little bit of money we can do a lot of really good and for a little bit of money we can bring in some we can open the door to programming especially from you know nonprofits and and groups in the area that can run those I mean that sounds like a no-brainer to me so as long as it's the price is right and everything then you know I think um so I'm in agreement there as well so uh actually one last question for if we were to do some on uh um programming on site would we need to have staff on site would this be like like the gym porter where we actually have to have a a check-in room and everything like that or could we just do something like nonprofits come in and rent it for free or something where it's all operated by non- staff? Do you have any ideas on that?

Sure.

Um and so you know what, thank you so much. This has been a really good discussion. Um to answer your question, Council Member Fox, uh I I'm thinking about this in the way that the Linda Roads Community Center is run. So, we have provided a certain amount of funding to the Linda Rhodess Community Center and um we have other nonprofits um utilize the space. Uh I don't I think once we start to have of course I would love to have a city program here but that starts to affect um the cost right overall and uh one of the reasons that I wanted to put a $500,000 limit on any kind of rehab is precisely because of what you all have pointed out that um we start to potentially lose the ability for a future um new community center, right? And so, uh that's that gives you kind of an idea of how I was thinking about this.

Mhm. And uh that was pretty much all my questions. So, uh that's I'll push the mic. Are we going to go beyond this lot where the current improvement sits when we build the newer? Are we going to we're going to eliminate the parking lot or are we going to go into this? This sorry, mayor. This shows the improvements that we uh approved last meeting which shows the parking spaces in the parking lot will be converted to some tables with a shade structure over it and landscaping. So, there will still be a driveway through to get access to the soccer fields, but the parking area will be converted

ju just to an outdoor covered area. Parking area. Correct. Is it covered with the shade cloth? Yeah. Structure. You're not suggesting any new uh building or addition to the building at this time. Is that right?

Not at this time because we just don't have the funds. I mean, if we had the funds available, I would be bringing this item back to the council and saying we need to move on getting our design right. And so, it's just such a long process. Obviously, we all know that it takes a long time and we don't have a design in place which would just elongate the amount of time uh you know to be able to to construct a new building. But the like I said the need is now. And so if we can do some moderate improvements to allow the public to utilize the facility and um then have some maybe some funding set aside to have some after school uh programming or potentially even you know some senior programming because there's a lot of folks here that can't make it to the senior center. So I'm just thinking you know I don't want to say we want to do x y and z now. I just want to give some parameters to staff so they can bring it back and then we can have a thorough discussion on um staff's recommendations.

I'm just curious uh sort of what the So we've got 1400 square foot building here, right? Uh and we're only 3/10en of a mile away from Linda Roads. So, what is the I I'm just curious. Do we can is this all is that all the part of the the parcel that we own? That's part of the parcel. Okay. So, there's some backyard there. If we wanted to build a a bigger building, we could we could probably double the size of the structure, right?

Yeah. Okay. Um Yeah. I mean, I you know, I I don't know. I mean, you you know this part of the city better than I do. uh does you know does having a400 foot facility where if we get the the roof in good shape and it's you know the bathroom's a little upgraded and a a functional kitchen that maybe is a little upgraded for you know if people want to throw a party and have you know I don't know 50 people come in and they can have some upgraded cooking facilities that probably would meet a lot of the need that ultimately it wouldn't be as big but I just you That that makes a lot of sense. I'm not you know with it being 3ten of a mile away from Linda Roads. Do we have a is there a kitchen at Linda Roads? There's not. Is there?

Yeah. So this would be one of the things you would add here basically is probably a kitchen facility so the people could cook a meal and prepare it. Is that Yeah.

So um the facility itself is kind of awkward. um the space inside uh and it does have a kitchen um probably from before the 70s. I don't know the I mean it's like original appliances so it's kind of interesting to see it. Uh but I think in the future uh the layout is not conducive to a lot of public functions that could happen. So, you know, I do believe that in the future we would have to raise this building and create um a new building that kind of allows for what you're talking about. Maybe a rental, right? Um other programming, maybe a learning lab. There's so many different things that can happen. And I also just want to highlight the fact that Vista Unified School District has fiber optic uh here and this is one of the hot spots for students. So, and there's a lot of student activity here. Um, so it would be great to be able to have some nonprofits or community based organizations that could activate the space, but it is very awkward in shape um and just not conducive to a ton of things. But I think that in the meantime, if we spend a little bit of funds to ensure that it can be rehabilitated for some kind of public use, um we probably would see uh some programming be successful here.

What I'd like to see uh along with the information that you've asked to come back is what kind of services would we uh want to provide immediately when we reopen it? uh what what are the intended uses of the facility that we would want to be able to accommodate just so we could grasp how we would offer it for use to the community? I would 100% be in support of that.

And then also I'd like to kind of think through we don't have to hire any half million dollar consultants, but we could think through what ultimately we would like to see. In other words, what would the delta be between what we can do with what we have now and where ultimately we want to be? uh you know what what are those if you were to sort of imagine it by yourself in discussion with the city manager what would all the things if this fit all the needs that you would want to see it fit what would those be and how would we fall short with this and then I think it'd also be really interesting to see of all the amenities we'd ultimately like to provide what of those amenities are provided in some proximity now and what's the utilization of them that would help me better understand what services we're going to add and and what the demand is for them and what the capacity of all capacity of alternative facilities in the area like the Linda Roads Rec Center which would be great for gathering but it's more of a really more of a sports rec center. Uh there's a few rooms in there

maybe. Yeah, they're small like classroom facilities, right? Yeah, we did our our COVID vaccines there. Yeah. Okay. Uh Council Member Contrarus.

Yes. Thank you, mayor, for um the thoughtful discussion and and one of the things um is that we do have some limitations at the Linda Roads Community Center because it is a joint use agreement with Vista Unified School District. So, I have run into, you know, it took me a long time to even be able to to get any programming there. Um and so I really thank the council for the support of um moving forward programming at Linda Roads. Um but because this facility would be is owned by the city and would mean would would be would continue to be owned by the city um we don't have a lot of the limitations that I run into at the Linda Roads um facility.

Yeah. So and I appreciate all the support. It seems like you know I'm not I don't think I need to make a motion. I think staff probably has enough direction at this point. I really do appreciate the support from the council um to get some more feedback from staff and have a a limit um for how much we would spend on rehabilitation. I was just asking the city manager, basically all of our wreck facilities are in the joint use agreement and he said this one wouldn't be because it's new, but if at some point we renegotiated and you know renewed the [laughter] I mean maybe we want to keep a few things out of the joint use agreement but but then they might tell us well then maybe we want to keep a few things. I'm just okay. So I think staff you have guidance you you understand the what the council wants.

Yes, sir. have sufficient guidance.

Okay, very good. Then we will move along. Actually, we'll just take a take a one minute recess. Uh if we've hit that time where the students can get their papers signed. Students, if you would go ahead and if you're uh at that 1 hour mark, go ahead and step out of the chamber. If you want to get your papers signed, if you want to do that quickly and orderly so we can continue our meeting, we appreciate it. Our last discussion tonight is regarding uh representative appointments to the San Diego Association of Governments. If any members of the public wish to speak on this item, they may indicate so by using the raise their hand feature by pressing star9 or submitting a request to speak card. Speakers will be called upon after the presentation. Council member Contrarus asked for this item to be on the agenda. So, after everybody clears out there and we'll ask staff to close the doors to the chamber and keep all that noise out. Okay. Thank you to those of you who stuck around for this exciting meeting. [laughter] Okay. Now, we will ask Council Member Contrarus to introduce the item.

Yes. Thank you so much. So, um I know that we only just spoke about this and we only just did these appointments. I've had some um different changes uh with um my professional experience and uh I think at this point uh you know for me I have a really incredible background in mobility and advocating for our city. Um, and I would be honored if the council uh would approve me to be the primary on uh SANDAG. Um, I I you know would love to uh go down there and really give them an earful um about how the delays to some of our projects are um you know hurting our city and ensure that we get more funding for some of these other projects. uh like uh you know putting a focus on the grade separation at Vista Village. So you know there's just a long list of things that uh I would want to advocate for. So I wanted to bring this forward to the council and see what the appetite is. Uh but you know I would make a motion um that I would sit as the primary uh for SANDAG and I don't know who else wants to be on there. Um but uh I'll just start with that and um I'll see you know what you all have to say about that.

Council member Melendez.

Uh [snorts] thank you. I'm uh supportive of changing the appointments. Um I'd happy be happy to serve in any capacity. Um I think that these appointments um having served on a number of different boards uh are really best served by uh members that are highly motivated. Um Sandag is a difficult position. It's a difficult appointment um because we are one of 18 members um and so anytime the city of Vista is represented on a board of you know a larger membership say of other cities or the county um you know we have to have uh representation with a strong voice and um you know I'm open to seeing what your advocacy looks like on the board. And so I would second that motion and I, you know, I could support as an alternate. Um, happy to uh continue to fill in. Um, and if this is a will and an interest that you have, then, you know, I I would be supportive of it.

We do have a member of the public that asked to be heard on this item. Uh, and I'm sorry, Council Member Melendz, were you you're finished? Uh, Deputy Mayor, would you like to hear from the member of the public before you make your comments? Sure. Okay. Uh, Sarah Spinx is on Zoom. Sarah Spinx, you have three minutes. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, we can.

Okay. Thank you for taking my Zoom call. Uh, thank you, council, and thank you, Karina, for stepping up to want to fill this role. I love this idea, and I hope that you get full support from this council this evening. I think there is no one better to serve our community than you on this board. So, I hope that everyone gives you their stamp of approval this evening and thank you for serving us. Deputy Mayor O'Donnell.

So, um so is the intention then uh to you serve as the primary and then council member Melendez, would you want to operate as an alternate as well? I I would be willing to serve wherever the council would have you. Wherever we would have you, [laughter] if you want me, you can kick me off. But

um look, I'd be supportive of uh I would relinquish my position on Sandag and keep Council Member Fox in as a secondary alternative or alternate. Uh and then make Council Member Melendez the first alternate. Um, just given my council duties that have expanded as well as my career duties and my family duties, uh, I would be happy to not have to drive down to San Diego uh, at 9:00 a.m. on a Friday. I will serve in that capacity if you all don't see uh, the alignment right there, but I'm happy to remove myself from Sandag and and reappoint in that manner. So, make

that would be my motion then. I would I would make uh Council Member Contrera as the primary, Council Member Melendez the secondary, and Council Member Fox uh the second alternate. Council member Fox. Well, I do have one question. So, this I'm sorry. I apologize. I I delayed. Right. This this would not go into effect though for 30 days. Is that correct? Um I would suggest we bring back a resolution at the next meeting, put it on the consent since the Sandag appointments were done at last meeting by resolution. We should have another resolution to make a clean record. So, should I amend the motion to bring back a resolution or Yes. So, that's what I'll amend it to. Thanks, Council Member Fox.

Um, okay. Well, yeah, I mean, I'm I'm open to, you know, remaining as the second alternate. Um, wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. [laughter] I know. Although, I did already start getting blast emails immediately. So, um, so that was funny. Um, I did notice that we had, uh, some of the North County Inland appointments just come through. Um, does this affect any of those or is that automatic? You're referring to the committees, the subcommittees, correct? Those, uh, I spoke to Sandag staff today and they indicated that those would go back to the board and they would reassign those positions after consulting with our new membership.

Okay. if there seems like there's a plan for it and you know um you know I think that it is important to have people advocating for North County up there. It's uh I think that we get often when it comes to San Diego countywide organizations and so um I know that we put a lot of money into SandAG and it would be nice if we got any semblance of that much back. um [snorts] you know that mean they've been promising the 78 widening project since uh I think they they said it was going to happen they've been promising that for 20 years and I think they did a presentation to the uh Chamber of Commerce government affairs committee that I attended and said it was still 20 years out and so um things like that are you know kind of unacceptable. uh from what I heard at the meeting when I was at it, everyone seemed to be in better spirits about the operations and the new how it's run now. Uh so I my in my grand history of one meeting that I've been to so far. So I can neither confirm nor deny that, but I guess I can have some high hopes. Um, so you know, um, I'm happy to continue serving as the second alternate and, uh, you know, we'll see how many meetings that brings me to, but, um, if there's, uh, but other than that, I not really much else to say. Thank you.

Sure. I'll second the motion. Council member Melendez.

Thank you. I just want to um you know echo your comments council member Fox that um you know it's interesting when you go and work with other colleagues across the county and um having served for several years on Sandak myself. I'm really grateful I got to be part of the hiring uh subcommittee to hire the new CEO uh Mario who has been great. He comes from Calrans. He really brings a lot of expertise and professionalism. um you know, I've been able to be part of strategic planning. Um but you know, there really are some points of accountability that um I just don't think that that administration is hearing. Um and I think that there's other members right in the city of San Diego and some of these other larger cities. Um, you know, and council member Contrus, I've seen you bring the fight on North County Transit District and you do not uh back down from giving people your opinion. So, I I think it would be really really good for Vista truly and uh you know, I'll sit in the middle in terms of like everyone's availability, but yeah, Council Member Fox, I hope that you do have more opportunities to um assist there because everybody should have that exposure. Okay, we have a motion, a second. Please cast your votes. Okay, that motion passes with four in favor and one opposed. That is the end of our agenda. And that'll bring us to comments from the staff. We have any comments from our city clerk's office? city attorneys on uh city clerk.

Actually, I'll just mention that we do have a few openings um primarily on our CVBID advisory board. The application deadline is February 9th and also um applications for the leadership academy are currently open. That'll start in March. Did we fill up all of our vacancies on the homelessness commission tonight? We did. Yes, we have an official wonderful. Thank you. Wonderful. Okay. Yeah. Keep please keep reminding us where we have vacancies that we need to fill. City attorney. All right. Very good. City manager, wishing the city of Vista a happy 63rd birthday tomorrow. All right. That's right. Is it already? 63rd.

Yeah. Time passes quickly. All right. Council member Fox. All right. Thank you. Um, [clears throat] not a lot to say today. I just want to thank my council for such an a quick and um effective meeting and uh remind everyone that it is Taco Tuesday and since it's only 6:40 a plenty of time to indulge in some tacos. Uh and other than that, I love my wife Mina very much and I really appreciate her letting me serve on this council. Thanks, Council Member Melendez.

Um thank you, Mayor. I am just happy to continue to do city's business. Um we uh are looking forward at CEA, Clean Energy Alliance. We are looking forward to uh potentially passing a rate relief program for our uh customers. I know that there's been uh a number of concerns from constituents and customers of of Clean Energy Alliance that our um our rates have gone up, right? Just as SDG& rates have gone up. And one of the things we have been committed to it not only is providing um renewable energy options and securing a sustainable energy future and energy independence but we also want to make sure that that doesn't come to such a cost burden to our customers. So, what we have developed with our staff and I'm really really pleased with this um has been to develop an option that would allow for um CA customers to always have some sort of parody with uh SDG& programs so that you uh are not you know forced to pay more and more and more that you always have an option uh that is you know comparable to our competitors and and below that and I think that that's really important. Something that I've seen myself um kind of develop as the board chair has been to push for that um uh fiscal responsibility. Um many of the members on the board have been really adamant, you know, we must develop a program, we must provide relief. Um but I have uh pushed back to ensure that as we are providing relief that our financial position is uh really strong because ultimately we want to be able to have um uh greater and greater borrowing power so that we can secure contracts

long-term energy contracts that are going to save us money for our customers in the long term. So, I hope that we are able to be successful in passing a rate relief program for clean energy alliance customers um this Thursday and I just want to say thank you to um you know clean energy alliance staff and also acknowledge you know the city of Vista is a clean energy alliance customer so it takes a lot of collaboration to get these programs right but the the message is that we are doing something we are trying to respond to the customer needs and you would never have gotten that with an investorowned utility ility like SDG&, they don't care if your rates go up. They're not going to find relief for you. But with Clean Energy Alliance, with me serving as board chair, we will find some relief for our customers that are in a vulnerable situation. So, I just wanted to give you all that confidence uh that we're doing some work over there. And uh also, thank you to my council um for uh just the productive meeting tonight. I look forward to all the great events coming up over the next couple of weeks. It's going to warm up and move into springtime and I hope everybody enjoys.

Council member Contrus.

Yeah. Uh, ditto on that. Thank you, council. We had a really good meeting today. Um, I know it's not always easy to serve in these capacities. Uh but uh here we are making some decisions for the future of our city and trying to provide a strong community, a healthy community, a community focused on well-being uh and unity and strength. Um, so I I did want to share with you I I had a very spirited discussion at North County Transit District uh in reference to their prioritization um of certain projects. Uh I do believe that the Buena Creek uh Sprinter Station does need to be grade separated. However, we are 0 for three on grants for that. Um, and I made uh the argument that Vista um the Vista Grade separation at Vista Village by the Vista Transit Center should be the number one priority for NCTD uh because it is actually further along than the Buen Creek uh study um which doesn't have a formal study um or planning. And if you recall here at this council, we reviewed the different options for grade separation and we actually moved forward with one of the alternatives which was um elevating the station. So we are much further ahead. Uh and I am looking uh for a future discussion. I was promised that it was going to come to NCTD. So, I'll be holding them accountable to it uh to relook at our prioritization. Um it's really important because if we have two similar projects, we mo we prioritize,

we most likely will not get funding for either. Uh so, I just want to let you know I'm fighting really hard so that our grade separation at Vista Village um is prioritized. Uh we've had two fatalities there. We have the transit center. I've been stuck on the bus for 10 minutes waiting for the gates to come up. We have first responders that get stuck there. It's a really critical corridor. So, I've made the case. Um, and I appreciate uh that you move forward uh with having me as the primary on Sandag. um because SandAG also is going to have a prioritization um of these different infrastructure projects and I will be advocating that our Vista um village grade separation uh should be very high number one prioritization because it just needs to happen. Uh other than that, if you are looking to volunteer in the community, um Guerrasion Purum Vista Olympio um under uh team Captain Hovita Sarafin, they have a trash pickup every single Wednesday. They've been doing it for like six years. It's incredible. Um you can find them on Instagram. if you have a hard time uh locating them and you want to, you know, communicate about how you can help, you can just reach out to me and I'll connect you. Um, other than that, I hope everybody has a great rest of their night.

Deputy Mayor O'Donnell,

thank you. Um, great job by the chamber at the state of the city. Uh, and to Aaron and Cat, Fred, your whole team. Uh, they did a fantastic job on the video. Mayor, I thought you did a great job as well. Uh I just want to say that it it really highlighted the work that we've done as a council over the last year and what we've been able to accomplish over the long term in the history of the city. So just want to give the chamber and everybody a shout out for all the hard work. Uh had a Rizwa meeting. Um there wasn't a ton to come out of that, but one of the things I did learn is that tariffs are impacting places like Edco a tremendous amount. So everything from their construction materials to new builds uh selling of recycled goods to uh countries that will actually recycle them in a new product and byproducts uh impacts on parts and and be a being able to purchase new trucks. So uh there is a a very real impact of all of those things that take place every day for us. So if you see somebody out there driving an Edco truck, make sure you give them a wave, give them a smile, say thank you. Um, also if you recycle batteries the way you're supposed to, uh, don't put them all in one box without taping off the ends because you will start a fire in your home. So, take some electrical tape, just put it on both ends. You can store them in the box, you'll be fine. That's just a little PSA for you. Uh, and then aside from that, uh, thank you for the very productive meeting from this council. Uh, this is one of the shorter meetings in my three-year tenure on this council, so I thought it was very good. And, uh, to my wife, uh, Ally, thank you. I should have take our little son Jacob to the emergency care again today. Uh he's fine, just a little fever. But I love you very much. Thank you for all you do for our family and letting me serve in this capacity. I hope you all have a great night.

Thank you very much. And uh I appreciate your comments on the state of the city video. I want to say thank you again to uh Aaron Gilliam and Fred Tracy and all of our uh departments for their input on that video and especially for the late nights uh that Aaron put in. He put in the the extra hours to make it happen on time. Appreciate that. Uh and I'd like to invite our residents, business, community partners to watch this year's state of the city of Vidi uh state of the city video rather uh titled our Vista active, connected, and thriving. In it, we look back on the progress that Vista has made from strong fiscal stewardship and public safety investments to economic growth, housing, parks, and the people who keep our city moving forward every day. As I enter my last year as mayor, this video reflects both where we've been and where we're headed. And I encourage everyone to take a few minutes to watch it and see how Vista continues to grow responsibly and work for our community. And we really do have a lot to be proud of over the last 10 years. So, I hope you will take a look at it. You can view it at vista.gov/ /news. Uh, and thank you to my beautiful wife, Shauna, for allowing me to serve and, uh, I think, uh, Deputy Mayor Don, I think we owe you that. Uh, thank you for always reminding us to thank our wives for allowing us and and all of our family for allowing us to serve because it is a an imposition on our families and, uh, but we appreciate the honor of doing so and all the people of Vista. Thank you to our deputies there for keeping us safe and all of our staff who stayed and to our visitors who uh brought it in to close it. Thank you everyone. Have a good night. We're journ