Board of Supervisors - Regular Meeting

Good morning, everyone. I'd like to call the regular meeting of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors for Tuesday, August 4th to order. And I'll start by asking the clerk to please call the roll.

Supervisor Marquez. Present. Supervisor Tam. Present. Supervisor Marley, excused. Supervisor Fortunato-Vas, excused. President Hubbard.

Present.

We have a quorum.

Thank you very much. Would you all please rise if you can and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you all. I would welcome members of the public who are here in person and would like to make comment online. We welcome you and we would like to have your comments on items that are on closed session. We'll do that after we do Board of Supervisors remarks. So I'll see if my colleagues have any remarks of the day and I'll start with Supervisor Marquez.

Thank you, President Halbert. Good morning, everyone, and welcome. Just wanted to make one brief announcement and a request, but I don't see our HR director. Do we know if Margarita Zamora is online? Okay, we'll give it another minute or so. She may arrive shortly. But just wanted to thank AC Transit General Manager, CEO, Sal Yamas for an informative tour and opportunity to speak with him during a ride along. We rode bus 97 from Union Landing to Chabot and really learned a lot about the incredible work AC Transit does to support people. our entire public transportation ecosystem. Highly encourage members of the public to look at our posts on social media. There are many discounted programs, especially for low income residents. So would encourage people to learn more. And they could find that information on my Instagram and Facebook page. That's supervisor underscore Elisa Marquez. And then the other item, but I don't see Ms. Margarita Zamora here yet. But I did want to ask her if she could provide us an update on the status of AB 1185. We did receive some information. back on March 17, 2026, but wanted to see if there was any additional information that she could share with the community. So if she arrives later, I will respectfully ask if she has any updates to share with the public. Thank you.

Supervisor Tam, any remarks?

Thank you, Supervisor, President Halbert. I wanted to just let everyone know that we had our annual Boards, Commissions, and Committee Recognition event in District 3. There are 115 boards and commissions that we have at the county, and our district has the appointing authority for 27 of them that represent 63 seats. So I'm proud that We were able to fill 100% of our seats. We had over 387 applicants and offered 151 interviews. The boards and commissioners that serve the county are essentially our eyes and ears and our brain trust. So I wanted to take that opportunity to thank all of them for their service, especially those that volunteer a lot of their time and for their dedication to the county. Thank you.

Supervisor for it's not a bass Thank you, I wanted to just acknowledge that today is also national night out we're obviously in our board meeting today, so we are probably going to be tied up this evening, but I did want to share that my staff will be out. In the five cities that I represent to make sure that we are connecting with neighbors now more than ever it's important. that neighbors know each other, they support each other, they support efforts around mutual aid to make sure our neighbors are safe and supported. So please join those events if you are able to. And since this is our last official meeting of the session, I wanted to note that we are also celebrating Pride this month of August. So Oakland Pride will be on October 1st

august 16 and berkeley pride will be on august 30th please see my social media we've got information there about how you can participate in those events thank you very good we'll now have public comment on closed session items that is items listed under closed session on the agenda we'll take um ask the clerk do we have any speakers on closed session items we have speakers How many do we have online and how many do we have in the room? And I just want to confirm we are on closed session items. Okay.

Six in person, zero online for closed session.

Let's do in person then. Welcome.

Kathy Reeves. Nato Green. Derek Boutte.

If your name is called, you can come line up behind the speaker in front of you and be ready to speak.

Good morning. My name is Kathy Reeves. This is the third time that I have had to speak to this board regarding a fair and equitable contract for the 4,500 SEIU 1021 members that are employed by Alameda County. I'm not beating around the bush anymore. These contract negotiations have been going on for far too long. This county is not broke. You offer us a raise for three years. That is a joke. And simply because what you're offering us, we have to give it back to you for our benefits. What does that leave me as far as an increase? Acme's cafeteria plan is going up to 3,700, whereas we only have 1,200. Seriously? Give us the same respect that you are showing to management. We are the frontline workers. Stop treating us any different. We make this county run. Without us, this county will shut down. Can you deal with the public like we do? Can you deal with their problems every day? I guarantee your answer will be no. You are about to go on a lengthy vacation. Many of us cannot afford that luxury. We don't have the perks you have nor the money to do it. If you don't want to be fair to us, then make this a training facility where you train people and then send them to other counties that will appreciate them and pay them. stop playing games this is our lives we're talking about if you want respect you have to show respect thank you good morning supervisors my name is nato green i'm the i lead collective bargaining for sciu 10 to 1. uh so i work across our 68 000 members

and 175 contracts across Northern California, mostly in the public sector. And Alameda County is one of our largest employers, one of our longest and most stable labor management relationships. And thanks to the financial stewardship of many people in this room is in relatively good footing facing the threats of HR1 compared to a lot of other public agencies are. And that's why in this year specifically, it is very concerning that there is a proposal to unnecessarily shift the cost of medical onto people with families who work for the county. That there are lots of other employers that are attempting to roll back family medical and health benefits for public workers across the state that are in much worse positions. And Alameda County is doing it now. We have proposed at the bargaining table creative alternatives to mitigate the impacts, but We wanted to convey to you today that it becomes an institutional problem for 10 to 1 for one of our flagship relationships to be trying to cut family medical unnecessarily. The result of that kind of cost shifting is not just a financial one. It is a health care one. People will forego care. People will not seek as much treatment and predictably have worse outcomes as a result of having to absorb a greater share of the health care costs. And so it's a concern for us that that issue has been more ideological or philosophical from the county's bargaining position of wanting people to just pay more for health care and not one that is really about practical problem solving to get the parties to an agreement. So I'd ask you to direct the county's negotiators to take a different approach with us. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Derrick Boutte. I am SEIU 1021 East Bay Region Vice President. I am here this morning because our bargaining team is at the table and they cannot be here. I'm speaking on behalf of more than 4,000 workers employed by Alameda County and nearly 20,000 workers who live and vote across this county of Alameda. Alameda County members have been at the bargaining table for more than months, going back to last year. They've been out of contract since January. We're fighting for simple things, but your representatives at the table have been dragging their feet the whole way. We've made progress, but it's been very slow. Our members deserve an employer that can compete with other counties that recruit and retention rates are high. Our members deserve COLA that keeps them from falling behind as economic times get tougher and tougher. Our members deserve to not have their paychecks cut because health care costs are skyrocketing out of this out of control. Our communities deserve a county that is staffed properly with skilled, dedicated and experienced workers who know their jobs and know this community. It's time to get this contract done. It's been since December. The time for excuses is done. Your representatives at the table have heard from us now. It's time they've heard from you that you want this contract settled. Alameda County has had labor peace for a long, long time because we all agree that the work that these members do are as important for our community as ever. If you still agree, then it's up to you to get this done. Thank you.

Cara Williams, Samuel Ramey, Will Wells.

Good morning, Alameda County. My name is Samuel Ramey. I'm with the California Open Union and Homeless Women in Health Outreach Program. If we can't get jobs, we're going to have Howard Oakland, everybody else coming from another place, getting these jobs and contracts, and even the citizens of Oakland homeless and hungry. That's not right. It's sad. And we need a senior citizen facility real bad, because if they close, we'll get them down where we're going to go. I'm a senior citizen homeless, so I'm trying to get a senior citizen better so I can have a place in here better than anybody else. with the mental health facility too. And how else, you know, that's what you grant money for. I'm not going to do nothing until you do it. But y'all need help. So give us some rain so I can be able to see you soon. And the mental health facility. Thank you.

Good morning, Carol Williams, chapter president for SEIU-SSA. But I'm here more as a citizen and a worker of the county. Particularly, my comments are left from public comment of the last board meeting, and specifically, Mr. Halbert. I'm here to talk specifically about child welfare. I don't understand why we still don't have a proposal that has been passed and approved, but it is what it is. But the tyrant that you went on at the last board meeting, I have been doing this a long time and for many years, and it was appalling, lightweight, dismissive, and disrespectful. Child welfare is getting caught in a political warfare that we're not interested in being between the board, Senator Wahab, and it needs to stop. Because the workers are suffering because of it. Child welfare is not about state legislation just being able to remove kids from their homes. It's also about keeping children in their homes. So for it to be dismissive and say, well, why don't we concentrate to the senator to write state legislation? Why don't you guys pass a proposal in the same breath? So I would really, truly ask, and the only reason why I'm here is take us out of being caught in the middle of whatever is going on. Many of us know what's going on, but take us out of it and let's move a proposal to get child welfare to be competitive with the other counties. That's what it is. We cannot recruit and we cannot retain child welfare workers. And the whole point is getting behind the proposal that is not asking too much of anything when we really are trying to solve the issues that are going on. It is beyond state legislation. It is beyond just rules and regulations. We have been very detailed about what the issues are. For you to insinuate that the director or the assistant agency director shouldn't have to attend these task force meetings was appalling. But if you don't feel so, then we need to have a real conversation of how to resolve what's going on.

Call me anytime. Happy to talk.

Thank you. I will.

My name is William Wells. I've been a county employee for 28 years. I've worked through 9-11. I've worked through Katrina. I've worked through the mass layoffs recession in 2008. I've worked through COVID. For half of that time, I've had 100% medical coverage. It used to be 100-0 up until about 2014. Then it went to 90-10. Then it went to 88-12. The medical you guys provide used to be leaders in the Bay Area. People would travel past their county that they live in to come work here because of the medical coverage that you guys provide is unlike anything else in the Bay Area. but steadily it has been declining and other counties have been catching up and it's not becoming worth it to move through counties to come work for this wonderful county that we work in. We have passed a great comprehensive package to your bargaining team. It saves you money and allows us to cover our families the way they should be covered. Along with child welfare's kids, our kids need to be protected. They need to be covered. We need you guys save lives with the medical coverage you provide. And we're asking you to continue that with the medical coverage that you provide. Thank you.

No more speakers on closed session items.

So Supervisor remarks are not generally a time of update from staff. But I see. That if you could clarify your request. And whether it's even allowable seek counsel from our County Council.

Supervisor, as I understand it, we are in labor negotiations at the table. And it is highly unusual for us to take those negotiations and bring them into open session.

Okay. If that's it, then we now will recess. Sure. More comments?

So my ask is related to AB 1185. We did it back in March, receive a status update. So I was just wanting to know if there was any change in those meeting confer. I'm not asking to disclose details, but I just, so the public should know, are we still engaging in that process?

Good morning, Supervisors. Margarita Zamora, Director of Human Resource Services. We continue to meet and confer with the impacted employer organizations, and the meet and confer does have to take place at the table. We're conferring in good faith and we will provide your board with an update in closed session since it is closed session negotiations. Okay, thank you.

With that said, we are recessed into closed session. Good afternoon, everyone. We're going to reconvene from closed session. We have not concluded entirely our closed session, I don't think, but we're going to reconvene at this moment. We are going to proceed with our 3 p.m. set matter. We're going to do that after we have a roll call to reestablish our quorum.

Supervisor Marquez. Present. Supervisor Tam. Present. Supervisor Miley. Supervisor Fortunato-Vaz. Present. President Halbert. Present.

present we have a quorum our three o'clock set matters are one uh item 127 128 the first one 127 proclaiming august 2026 as child support awareness month so i would like to ask do we have somebody here vanjeria harvey are you here nice to see you and jerry can i read our proclamation to you let you have some comments and then have public comment and then we'll give you a nice proclamation it's my honor to recognize august 2026 as child support awareness month in alameda county this observance reminds us that child support is about much more than financial assistance it's about helping children grow up with the care stability and encouragement they need to succeed. Parents who are actively involved in their children's lives, both emotionally and financially, help create stronger families and brighter futures. Positive parenting happens in everyday moments, whether it's reading a bedtime story, teaching a child to ride a bike, helping with homework, or simply spending time quality time together these experiences shape a child's confidence character and future children learning by watching children learn by watching the adults in their lives our actions kindness and commitment leave a lasting impression and help teach responsibility respect and resilience so today we recognize the important work of the alameda county child of Department of Child Support Services and its community partners, including the Fatherhood Initiative Together. Together, they help connect parents with resources that support employment, education, transportation, and other services that strengthen families and promote self-sufficiency. On behalf of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, we are proud to proclaim August 2026 as Child Support Awareness Month and thank all the parents, caregivers, and professionals who work every day to build stronger families and healthier communities. We're going to recognize Benjeria Harvey, the Acting Director of Child Support Services.

Good afternoon, Supervisor Halbert. Thank you, President Halbert and the members of the Board of Supervisors. It is truly an honor and a privilege to accept the Child Support Awareness Month Proclamation on behalf of Alameda County Child Support Services. Your proclamation acknowledges that child support truly matters. Child support is a vital, vital resource that helps children thrive and families achieve greater financial stability. This year, our ACSS theme for Child Support Awareness Month is Forward Together in Community for Stronger Families. Child Support Services is really committed to Alameda County's 10X goals and Vision 2036 to build a thriving and resilient population and safe and livable communities. Each year, we serve thousands of families by establishing orders, collecting child support, and connecting parents with the resources that promote self-sufficiency. Last year, we collected over $78 million. Over 94% of those funds went directly into the homes of children in need. And we know that every dollar makes a difference as a safety net to lift families out of poverty. So I extend sincere gratitude and appreciation to the staff of Child Support Services. It is really through their work and their commitment to public service that ensures that every child receives the child support they deserve. Every phone call, every order established, every collection is done with a heart from the ACCSS staff. So I appreciate each and every member of our team. Child Support Awareness Month is also an opportunity for us to celebrate the work that we do and to strengthen our partnerships and connect with the community and underscore that child support changes lives. During CSAM, community engagement is really at the forefront of our mission. And we are really excited that this year will be our first Family Resource Fair being held at the Fremont Main Library. And that is in... partnership with the Fremont main library, as well as with Deb Sika, who is our county librarian. We have many departments and community organizations that will be there. Alameda County Behavioral Health Department, Alameda County WIC program, agent health services, the food bank, and many, many more. We believe that bringing child support professionals together with community partners, connect the families to the sources, the services that they need that will promote financial stability and improve outcomes for children. And the fair will be filled with fun games and a lot of prizes for the family and children attending. Throughout August, though, we'll have many other events. Tonight, we'll be at National Night Out in Union City. On Saturday, we'll be at the Hayward Unified School District Backpack Giveaway. And then we have our annual employer workshop. And then we will end up the month with dad discussions, dad discussions in partnership with Father's Corps. So as I close, I want to just share that Alameda County Child Support Services aims to demonstrate that child support is more than a program. It is a bridge for stability, for hope, and a future for the families and the children that we serve. So we're focused on ensuring that each and every day that we do this level of work. And we want to say that we are striving forward together in community for stronger families. So many thanks again to the ACCS staff. Many thanks to President Halbert and the entire Board of Supervisors, as well as our county administrator, Susan Maraneshi, for their consistent partnership and support. I also want to thank the leadership team. We have Quincy Wilkins, who's the deputy director, as well as Leon Fernando, who is our policy manager with us here on today. And once again, we thank you for celebrating Child Support Awareness Month.

Let's give Benjeria a round of applause and the whole team. Indeed, it takes a village. And you did a great job explaining. Do we have any public comment on this item? Let's have public comment and then we'll come give you a proclamation.

Tim Morgan, you're on the line. You have two minutes.

Good afternoon. I'm here to speak on behalf of the issue that's before you about the minimum wage in Alameda County raising to $30 an hour.

It's the next item. It's not this item. We'll ask people online to raise your hand only and take your hand down unless you are speaking on Child Support Awareness Month.

No speakers.

Well, then let's give you a proclamation. And do we have Karen Sweet? Is Karen Sweet? Okay, hey. Okay, the next is the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. Today we recognize the 2026, recognizing 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists in Alameda County. This international observance highlights the importance of rangelands and the people who care for them. Under California law, rangelands include grasslands, shrublands, wetlands, woodlands, chaparral, and other landscapes that support livestock grazing. Here in Alameda County, these lands make up approximately 188,000 acres, or about 40% of our counties. And according to the 2024 Alameda County crop report, livestock is the second largest, the county's second largest agricultural commodity. Rangelands provide many important benefits. They support agriculture, wildlife, habitat, biodiversity, water resources, and open space, while also offering recreational opportunities for residents and visitors. We recognize the ranchers and other livestock producers who steward these lands. Their ongoing management of rangelands contributes to the county's agricultural economy and the long term care of these landscapes. This proclamation also acknowledges the United Nations designation of 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, encouraging education and public awareness about the importance of rangelands and pastoral communities around the world. On behalf of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, we are proud to recognize the value of Alameda County's rangelands and thank the ranchers and pastoralists whose stewardship contributes to our county's agricultural heritage and natural resources. Here to receive this proclamation, Karen Sweet on behalf of the Agricultural Advisory Committee. Ms. Sweet. Welcome.

Good afternoon, supervisors, and I appreciate this opportunity to speak for the rest of the county that's a little flatter than Oakland is. But the resolution says that 40% of the county is rangelands. It's often the land that you can't see from the freeway. It's the land behind the trees. It's the land on the other side of the park that you may not walk to. but the resolution is an important one. Many of our rangeland pastoralists around the world don't have land of their own and they benefit only by the grace of the people who own the land and be able to walk where the feed is for their livestock. And so the Alameda County Advisory Committee was very pleased to take this advantage of what the United Nations has done. to recognize this important land for the county. And I appreciate the opportunity that you have given us to raise awareness of this important resource that benefits all of us in Alameda County.

Thank you so much for all you do and recognizing just how much we have in Alameda County. And a lot of the rangeland also includes hiking trails, things like that. Do we have any public comment on this item?

There are no speakers.

Let's go give you a proclamation, Ms. Sweet. There's more time. Yeah. Our next. Set matter item under general administration item 129 supervisor Marquez approving the following recommendations. And be an MOU with the county of Alameda in the city of Hayward. Establishing the administration and governance of Russell city redress fund and. Authorizing Alameda County auditor controller consistent with the MOU to issue the first phase of the redress payments and eligible recipients. I'll turn the meeting over now to Supervisor Marquez.

Thank you, President Halbert and community. Thank you for your patience. It is my honor to introduce item 129, as was mentioned. First, let me ask the clerk if our presentation is ready. If you could please just... advance the first slide please and then I will ask you when to move it over to the next slide. So today the board will consider a memorandum of understanding between Alameda County and the city of Hayward establishing the administration and governance of the Russell City Redress Fund. The board will also consider authorizing the Alameda County auditor controller to begin issuing the first phase of redress payments to eligible recipients. This action moves the county from an apology to action by delivering direct redress payments to former Russell City residents. No payment can fully repair the harm caused by the destruction of Russell City. But these first redress payments represent an important step toward acknowledging that harm, honoring the resilience of former residents, and advancing justice for their families. When families come together, sorry, this is going to be very emotional, but when families come together, we don't ask elders to get in line. They are served first. And that's what we're doing today with phase one. I don't see this presentation, so give us a second. And there are handouts of the PowerPoint presentation in back. If more is needed, if you could please just raise your hand, we will definitely make more copies if not everyone that would like to review this presentation has a copy. And it will be posted on our website later this afternoon. I apologize for the technical difficulties, but we will get started shortly. I will actually start my comments because I know we have another item next. First, I want to ground us in the cultural significance of Russell City and just to share with the public that this was a very diverse and rich community and want to acknowledge the original inhabitants of this space, the Ohlone indigenous tribes that occupy this area. Are we almost there in the presentation? Okay. While we're getting the presentation loaded, it's also important to acknowledge the cultural significance. So I did want to play, which is timely since the presentation's not up, but I'm going to play a snid bit of music that you would hear often in Russell City. They were widely known for their rich culture in jazz and blues and just wanted to play some of that music to bring us back to...

Okay.

That was Big Mama Thornton. If you don't know who that is, I highly encourage you to look her up. But just want you to get a sense of the vibrancy and the music that you would hear often played. Some of the cultural impacts of Russell City were their spiritual roots. They had diverse churches, including Iglesia Apostólica de la Fe en Cristo Jesús, a Catholic church in Russell City, First Baptist Church of Russell City, and True Holiness Church. They were also widely known for their community events and annual carnival. annual 4th of July event on Washington Street, cuisines from different cultures, extensive gardens flourishing with golden poppies, livestock such as sheep, chicken, pigs, rabbits. They were raised to share and feed with neighbors. There were stories of many children spending summers hunting nearby animals in the fields and picking fruits along the city. Depicted to the right are pictures of quilts, that were made by Ms. Deborah Harris-Tolfrey. She's a former resident of Russell City and has shared her rich history and what it meant to her to actually sew these quilts and highlight the rich culture of Russell City. Next slide, please. There was also rich history in terms of a well-known restaurant that turned into a nightclub at night, Ideal Dining Restaurant and Nightclub, which was owned by Leona Alves, a community activist. Local organizations use this club as a local meeting place, hosted many community events, social events, and also was a gathering place for the Russell City Ladies Social Club. There were also many which history, as I mentioned, related to jazz and blues. The city became famous. It was a famous stop for musicians such as Ray Charles, Etta James, T-Bone Walker, Llewell Folson, Big Mama Thornton. local talent, Billy Dunn, started at age 16 and was on stage with Big Mama Thornton. Russell City Blues legacy lives on with the West Coast Blues Society. Shown below is a beautiful mural that has been painted and is up in the city of Hayward off of A Street. And there's a picture also depicting some of the famous acts that frequented the nightclub that was owned by Leona Alves. Next slide, please. The purpose and the use of the of the Russell City Redress Fund was basically obtained by there was a steering committee with the city of Hayward that met for over two years and there was a lot of community engagement and recommendations. And in the summer of 2024, there was a community survey conducted asking the community what they wanted to see to address the harm that was done to Russell City. And in fall of 2025, the Russell City Redress Working Group launched another survey to gain additional input to help develop the redress fund that's before us today. um the survey in the fall of 2025 received over 250 responses to help shape the eligibility criteria and feedback that we heard is people want to have provide they want to see direct payments provided to former rest of city residents and their descendants and this is how we developed the first phase of eligibility criteria was by taking that feedback into consideration Payments are symbolic and acknowledge harm, not full compensation. The Alameda County Auditor and Controller's Office has been asked, and we really appreciate the partnership. She will be working on administering and distributing those funds. Next slide, please. Reparations versus redress. We wanted to make sure we were clear to the public that unlike reparations, which represent a more philosophical framework that can include an apology, rehabilitation, restitution, or other forms of reparative justice, a redress fund represents a specific pool of money set aside by a person or an organization to deliver direct financial compensation to victims for financial or personal harm. Next slide, please. The dismantling of Russell City in the 50s and 60s, approximately 700 parcels were acquired via eminent domain, displacing around 1,400 multiracial, multiethnic residents. Eminent domain, for those of us that aren't as familiar, is the government seizing a private property for public use, even if the property owner objects. The land was repurposed for commercial and industrial redevelopment. The result of this was loss of homes, community, cultural heritage, and a sense of belonging. In 1963, the Russell City Redevelopment Agency was created to acquire the property. Within two years, all 205 families, 13 businesses, and seven churches had been uprooted. By 1966, bulldozers had flattened the entire 200 acres, forcing the remaining residents to leave. And noted on this slide are two articles that were located. One was published in the Oakland Tribune on January 17, 1967. The Hattie Ms. Last family sees home burned down. And then daily review September 2 1965 Russell city fire raises 17 buildings, so there is arson activity occurring. And it's also important to note that this Community was under resource and disinvested there was an ask for sewer lines for paved roads and streets and those requests went unanswered by alameda county next slide please. the City of Hayward's apology and reparative justice project. In November of 2021, the Hayward City Council issued a formal apology for the displacement. This is agenda item number 1, file its reference here, Resolution 21. I do want to note for the public's knowledge that it was actually a plea from the Community Services Commission for the city of Hayward to issue this apology. And this was also shortly after the murder of George Floyd. So there was a lot of pain occurring in our community at the time. In June of 2022, the city of Hayward launched the Russell City Reparative Justice Project, guided by community steering committee, including former Russell City residents and descendants. And I want to acknowledge that many of the members of the Russell City Reparative Justice Project are here with us today in person as well as online. On May 6th of 2023 was the first screening of the feature-length documentary, The Apology, a collaboration between Still I Rise Films and A Moment in Time Productions. Also want to acknowledge one of the producers, Aisha Knowles. Trustee Knowles is here with us, and she's the daughter of displaced Russell City resident, And one of the producers of the documentary and her father, James Knowles, is also here with us today. And for those of you that haven't seen the apology, it's important that you view that to get a better understanding of the rich history and the personal testimony and stories that were shared by not only residents, but descendants. And I want to thank colleagues that have hosted a screening of the apology. I know many have been done throughout the county. We plan to do one again in the future. And I know many of our department heads also will be sharing this documentary with employee staff to learn more. Also want to flag that the recommendations from the Reparative Justice Project is what helped lead us to this point today to issue the redress payment. It wasn't specifically called out as a recommendation, but the main point was that we need to address the harm in a tangible way. So phase one is an effort to do that. Next slide, please. And then in March of 2024, the steering committee presented their recommendations to the Hayward City Council. November 2014, Section 14 Reparations and Settlement Program was established by the Palm Springs City Council. This program created financial compensation to predominantly black and Latino residents whose homes were forcibly burned and bulldozed by the city of Palm Springs in the 1950s and 1960s and served as a direct model for what could be accomplished by the city of Hayward and the county. But please note that that was a litigation. That was a lawsuit. So not necessarily the same approach, but we did use that information to help guide the direction and where we're at today. Next slide, please. Alameda County's formal recognition and apology. I want to thank my colleague, Supervisor Miley, for co-authoring a board letter and a resolution so that the county could formally recognize their role in the destruction and seizure of Russell City. And this was brought to the full board on June 27, 2023, and was adopted unanimously. Statements are acknowledging harm and direct intent behind the displacement and a commitment to reparative action. Next slide, please. The formation of the Russell City Redress Fund. On July 10th of 2025, the City of Hayward initiated the creation of the Russell City Redress Fund. They reached out to my office. We were able to partner with them through the Alameda County's Ad Hoc Committee on Reparations, where we announced that the partnership with the City of Hayward to create the Russell City Redress Fund. The Russell City Redress Working Group was formed, comprised of Alameda County Supervisor myself, City of Hayward Council Members Angela Andrew and Julie Roche, staff from District 2, and county staff as well, as well as later on we received additional support from Interim County Council Andrew Weddle and City Attorney Michael Lawson. This action was initially scheduled to come to the board in February of 2026. I believe it was the 21st. No, I'm sorry. I'm going out of sequence. I apologize. I'll get to that point in a second. In February of 2026, the city of Hayward signed an agreement with philanthropic ventures foundation. That was action that the council took. I do want to flag that this board was going to, I brought a letter forward saying, In July to actually solidify that agreement with philanthropic Ventures Foundation. Unfortunately, it was no longer viable to continue with that relationship. So philanthropic Ventures Foundation is not a part of this agreement. We have now engaged our county auditor who will be administering the funds and issuing the payments directly. So I do want to thank Philanthropic Ventures Foundation. They were instrumental in believing in us and being strong supporters from the beginning. But we now have pivoted and we are working with the county auditor. And if you reference the original board letter from a couple weeks ago, working with Philanthropic Ventures Foundation was going to yield an administrative fee of almost $26,000. So now we'll be able to repurpose those funds back into the redress fund, a refund, a redress account so we could issue more payments. In May of 2026, District 2 onboarded Megan Turner as a project manager to advance the Russell City Redress Fund initiative. Next slide, please. I also want to acknowledge my colleagues as well as the Alameda County Office of Ed. My office has appropriated $400,000 towards the redress fund. Supervisor Miley, $250,000. City of Hayward, $250,000. Supervisor President Halbert, Supervisor Nikki Fortunato-Bass, and Supervisor Lena Tam have all appropriated $100,000, as well as the Alameda County Office of Education, totaling $1.3 million in this redress fund to launch phase one. Next slide, please. Moving forward, this is a commitment to justice and healing. Fund represents a concrete step towards addressing past wrongs, continued collaboration between local government, community members, and partners, a commitment to equity, recognition, and reparative justice for Russell City survivors and descendants. On June 30th, 2026, the board unanimously voted to accept the Alameda County Reparations Commission final report and recommendations item number 77. And although we've already made the distinction between redress and reparations, these goals are aligned with the work of reparations. And one of the first recommendations in the reparations report is to address housing justice. And that was in their final report. And so we are working towards achieving that with launching phase one of the redress run. Next slide, please. This is a picture from when we launched the redress fund in July of last year. Attached to my board letter, you will see the MOU with explicitly defines the governance model and the structure and the criteria. My office will be hosting office hours. Also want to share with the public that we have consulted with the DA's office, with the AAA Area Agency on Agency. to do everything possible to minimize any type of elder abuse or potential misrepresentation of accessing these funds. We are going to have as many safeguards in place to minimize that. And I'm happy to answer any questions, but do just want to stress the importance of this. This is the county's responsibility to... back up the apology, but something tangible and just emphasize to the community that this is phase one. Our goal is to launch the second phase once we complete the application process and issue payments for the eligible recipients for phase one. And I'm happy to answer any questions. Also just want to thank everyone who worked tirelessly on this. It's been a labor of love and just appreciate everyone's everyone's engagement and I'll have more comments later but for now I want to pause to see if my colleagues have any clarifying questions before we go to public comment.

Anybody?

Supervisor Fortunato. I will just briefly share thank you to Supervisor Marquez and Supervisor Miley and all of the commission members and everyone who's been involved in this effort. This is such a concrete way to address what happened with Russell City and all of the residents, as well as work together going forward with descendants of the community. So I'm very happy that we are moving forward and proud to be part of this effort.

Thank you. Thank you. I don't think I can proceed without a round of applause for Aisha Knowles. Where did she go? Stand up, Aisha Knowles. Can I say award-winning filmmaker, Aisha Knowles? And I really appreciated being able to screen, show a screening of that at the Bankhead Theater in Livermore about a year and a half ago. Is your father here? He was there too. Where's dad? He's here. I can't see him behind the clerk. Thank you, sir. With that said, Supervisor Miley.

Yeah, I just wanted to thank Supervisor Miley. Lisa Marquez and folks from Hayward for advancing this. And a lot of the folks who lived in Russell City live in Fairview. So that's how I became familiar with Russell City since I represent Fairview. You know, before I became a county supervisor, I didn't even know where Fairview was. I said, what's a Fairview? Where's Fairview? But, you know, it's right there near Hayward, unincorporated Alameda County. So I was schooled in Aisha Knowles and her dad. Her sister and others have schooled me quite a lot on Russell City. So I was really pleased to partner with Supervisor Marquez on this in the city of Hayward. So thank you for giving me the opportunity.

All right, so I want to acknowledge councilmember Angela Andrews is here with us to has been working tirelessly on this, thank you so much for your support. If you would like to make any comments we could take you up if you want to add from city of hayward's perspective, and I know that i'm councilmember Julie rosh is traveling by believe she's going to do her best to join us online.

Welcome.

Thank you. Thank you to the board of supervisors for taking up this item. And I want to give special acknowledgement to all the families who were displaced during this time. And I know that it's been a long road to get here, but this is again, an acknowledgement of the harms that were done in the past. I want to also give special acknowledgement to the community services commission and the members that really pushed this effort forward. I would like to give acknowledgment to Artavia Berry, Artie Gard, Arzo Mondavi, who was the chair of the Community Services Commission at the time, as well as Alicia Lawrence. I also want to give acknowledgment to the Hayward City Council, but really Councilmember Sarah Lamnin, who helped guided the Community Services Commission to bring the apology forward to the City Council. I know that city of Hayward has made an apology, but an apology is nothing without action. And we wanted to do something that was tangible for this community. I want to also give special acknowledgement to the steering committee, as well as the chair, Aisha Knowles, and all the families that not just met as a steering committee, but the families that gather year over year, decades over decades for picnics. Something so simple as a picnic is what kept the memory alive of Russell City. And I want to give special acknowledgement to the Neva family, Figueroa's family, and so many others. There are also people who track this history and documented the history. And in addition to the apology, I wanna give acknowledgement to Maria Ochoa who documented the photos, the buildings, the meetings, all the things that we are seeing today in order to use this information, in order to make this acknowledgement happen decades over decades. And I want to give special kudos to Maria Ochoa for doing that. I know that this is just a step towards restorative justice. There is nothing that can repay what happened in the past, but this is something. And I encourage other organizations, not just government agencies who are approached We are asking philanthropic partners to help support us in this effort of making amends. I also encourage the real estate industry who benefited from this displacement. I also encourage the business community who benefited from this displacement. I encourage everyone that has benefited from this displacement to step forward, to come forward, and give back to this community as they deserve. And thank you all for bringing this item forward. This takes a lot of courage from the Board of Supervisors and I really appreciate the support. Thanks.

Well said Councilmember Andrews and as was emphasized, this is phase one and the fund is at 1.3 million, but of course we would like to see that fund grow. So we welcome everyone who's willing to contribute. Are there any questions before we go to public?

How do they do that?

They can contact my office or the City of Hayward.

And there's a website somewhere, I'm guessing?

All of our contact information is on our website.

Outstanding. Let's go to public comment. Anybody who's in the room or online who wishes to speak on this item, please fill out a speaker slip or raise your hand online if you want to speak on this item. And I'll ask the clerk to count and give me a count of how many speaker slips we have.

We have six in person, three online.

Let's give everybody two minutes in person. First three, then online and back and forth.

Sam Nava, Monique Berlanga, Priscilla Figueroa.

Please line up. All speakers come on up and line up behind the microphone there. And it doesn't have to be in order called. Just if you're in the first three, come on up and give your testimony.

Mr. Nava might be easier to come out this way. We could probably, I don't know. Whatever's easier for him. Okay.

Welcome. My pleasure. For me, it's an honor to see the people here today and what's being done. Long and coming, but we stuck together. And I think time is of essence here because we're not getting younger. And some of the ones that are not with us anymore, Hopefully they're up there rooting for us that we come through with this thing. And I got confidence, whether it's Alameda County or Hayward, that's my only two places I've ever lived is Russell City and Hayward. And I'm proud of it. And a lot of the people feel the same way I do. And to get a group of people to stick together like we have, show that it can be done righteousness will be done on this I just lost my wife a few months ago she was my sidekick on those picnics for many years and I know she's up there looking down probably saying don't let me down and I know we as a group here I got confidence in and I'm not a political person maybe we talk sports it's different but Politics, no. But we all seem to know what's right and what's wrong. And if mistakes were made, well, we can correct them. And that's what we're here for. And I'm looking at the clock. I don't want to run it over, but I'm proud of my city. And I look at the faces here that run this thing. And I know it's in good hands. And whatever comes at the end, the ones that are not with us no longer and the ones that are still young, we're all appreciative and thank you for the two minutes.

Do we have other speakers in the room before we go online?

Monique Berlanga and Priscilla Figueroa.

Either one, Priscilla.

Yeah. Hi. I'm Priscilla Figueroa and I want to thank the Alameda County and City of Haver for this process that we're going through. We've been at it. I was part of the committee that we had for, and I guess we spoke for about

You could just leave the mic on the podium. It's okay. Just put it on the podium. It's okay. We'll let you go over. You don't have to clip it.

I'm new to this. Sorry. And we've been at it for about five years, you know, the group that we had. And finally, we come into... a point where a lot of the residents and descendants are seeing some money that would compensate them for what they lost in the city of Russell City. I do have a question. And my question is, How will you determine who gets $25,000? Some people might get $5,000. Some people might get $7,000 or $8,000. What is the criteria that you're using? Because I divided $1.3 million into $25,000. And if everybody gets $25,000, it only would benefit 52 people. So I would like if... to know the criteria so that the community knows the criteria that you're using to choose a person that live, that own their property as your first step on this process. And that is basically the question. And I would like to thank everybody that is involved in this process and thank you very much. Good afternoon.

Thank you. Next speaker.

Is Monique Orlanga here?

Hi, good afternoon, Monique Berlanga. I just want to thank leadership here today and thank my grandfather, Ms. Figueroa, the Knowles family, everybody else who has come out. I, many of you may know, I've spent my entire career fighting displacement and defending evictions across this county. And for me, this isn't just professional, it's highly personal. My grandparents, Sam and Juanita Nava, were both raised in Russell City. That's where they met, where they fell in love along with each of their families. eight brothers and sisters, and I wouldn't be who I am today without Russell City and those impacts. I also just wanted to share my grandmother, who was here last year, and thank you, Supervisor Marquez, for putting that photo up there. That was lovely. Unfortunately, she isn't here today to see this, but I just feel like I have to share. When the Catholic Church in Russell City was founded, she was named the Queen of the Holy Ghost, which was Miss Russell City, which is something that we've always... shared in our family. So I just wanted to bring up her memory here. Thank you all for your leadership and encourage you to approve this memorandum of understanding because time is of the essence right now. You know, like I said, my grandmother was here last year. She won't get to see this in person, but I'm grateful and hopeful that my grandfather and his other, the other Russell City descendants will be able to see this really, really, really amazing next step. Thank you.

Thank you.

Arzo Madavi, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Arzo Madavi. Go ahead.

Yes. Hello. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Arzo Madavi, and I served as chairperson of the Hayward Community Services Commission in 2021. I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for continuing this important work. And also thank you to all the families who've shared their stories. Our commission spent months researching the history of Russell City and developed the recommendations that led to Hayward's historic apology in November of 2021. It's incredibly meaningful to see those efforts continue to grow into tangible action through the Russell City Redress Fund. This fund is a reminder that meaningful change often begins with local conversation, dedicated public servants, and a community willing to confront its history with honesty and accountability. I could not be prouder of our former commission, our community, the City of Hayward, and our Alameda County Board of Supervisors in these efforts. A special thank you to Hayward council members, Angela Andrews and Julie Roche, as well as Aisha Knowles for their work and dedication. I'd also like to recognize former council member, Sarah Lamnin, our council liaison in 2021, whose guidance and support was pivotal in moving our recommendations from the commission to the city council. I would especially like to thank Supervisor Elisa Marquez, who served as our city council liaison during my time early on in the commission. Her guidance and commitment helped shape my community work. I appreciate her continued leadership at the county level. Her commitment to our community shines through in all her actions. Her dedication and heart is commendable. Progress like this happens because people stay committed over many years. Thank you to everyone who has helped make this moment possible, and thank you for continuing the pursuit of justice for Russell City. and its community.

John Lindsey Poland, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon. Obviously, this item is so important and overdue. And I wanted to share what some county officials have told me about some of what happened with the funds that the county made from selling the lands in Russell City. As I understand it and the way it was told to me, with the proceeds from that sale, the county purchased lands in Dublin, most of which were eventually sold and created the Surplus Property Development Trust Fund, which is now at over $350 million. That land also was used to construct the county jail, Santa Rita Jail. And so from that perspective, this is a really important and meaningful start. At the same time, so many people who are displaced from their lands as a result of racist actions historical actions are now criminalized and often end up in the county jail. I understand that there's a possibility of showing the apology in Santa Rita jail. We asked the sheriff about that last week. She said that might happen. I hope it will happen. And I hope also that the county might consider that there are funds, other funds available than just what supervisors or the city of Hayward are able to put forward from their own discretionary funds in order to affect just redress. Thanks so much.

Tony, when you're on the line, you have two minutes. Tony Nguyen. Deborah Harris, you have two minutes.

Good afternoon to everyone.

Really appreciative for the redress fund and with your doing at this point. I have a question regarding the eligibility. One of the requirements that you were asking for some documentation. And I think most of probably all of the landowners are deceased at this point. So And bullet number one, you're saying individuals who resided and personally owned. I'm just wondering if you are taking each family member or are you just doing a whole family and dividing it by the siblings? And the other question I have is, is there a person who's going to verify The resident requirement. Will there be someone who is very familiar or with the people from Russell City who live there or whatever? And to verify that they are truly a recipient from the Russell City group. So those are the two questions that I have. And if I have any more, I'll just send my request to your office and request an answer. But thank you so much.

Freddie M. Davis, Evencio Hurtado, Aisha Knowles, and Pastor Floyd Trammell. Please line up.

Good afternoon.

It's good to see each and every one of you supervisors and all the people that are here. I'm here to say I'm really very pleased that this is taking place. On Sunday, I had a message by a very important person. And he said in his message that when Moses was taking the children across the Red Sea, there was two ways they could have gone. They could have taken the short road or they could have taken the long road. They decided to take the long road because there was a lot of lessons that need to be learned. I want to thank the commission for taking the time that you did to bring all this stuff together to the supervisors. You took the long road and there were lessons learned. So what you need to know, you are just getting started. And we are here to help you. We want to do whatever it is that we need to do to make this happen. And don't let it stop right here. We have people and places ready to help you do whatever. I heard you say something about raising funds and contacting. But we have a place where there's a church that's often an office. Do whatever you can. And don't let this be the beginning of the end. Let this be on. Because the people from Russell City deserve what they should be getting. And you know in your hearts what they should be getting because you did give them an apology. I want to personally thank Nate and David. I still got to give you a call, David. And Elisa, you know how I feel about you. And the other two, I got to get familiar with you. I know who you are, but I need a relationship with you. Okay. I'm speaking as the president of the Hable South Alameda County NAACP. Thank you. Please, let's keep this going because I'm not going to give up. Thank you.

Good afternoon, members of the board and the person representing the seat of Hayward. First of all, my name is Evencio Hurtado, and I would be remiss not to come up here and speak. Being from a family of 15 members, 12 of those are former residents of Russell City. I was born in 1950. Good old Highland Hospital here in Alameda County in Oakland. And at that time, I lived in Hayward on Washington Street, first street to your left past the railroad tracks. And the Navas were one of my neighbors. I grew up and ran around with Mr. Jim Knowles. And you have, I'm proud to say that me and Jim grew up and Coming from Russell City, what we went through and what we suffered through, it makes me want to tear up. But some 25 years later, me and Jim Knowles were employed by this wonderful county of Alameda County. Jim worked for the probation department, and I worked for the DA's office for 26 years. And I think Jim worked for about 20, 25 years in the probation department. I also worked at the Oakland Police Department for eight years. And again, I'm here to represent my family of 12 and my parents who are no longer here. When we moved out of Russell City, we had more than two minutes to move out. And it's ironic that we only have two minutes to speak here to encompass so much that we went through. And I want to thank the board again and the city of Hayward. And I want to congratulate Mr. Nate Miley for his long, long service. I think I was about 15 when you were in the board of supervisors. And I'm now 76. But coming from a family of 12, $1.3 million.

Sir, thank you.

Sir, thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Supervisors, good afternoon. All those who work for the city and everyone in this crowd. I just want to commend the commission for the work you've done and urge you all to continue this great work. 407 years ago, 1619 Jamestown, Virginia, that's when our forebears landed here. And this is just a small impact that you've done today. It's my understanding that it's you all's intention to have these funds being administered by the county auditor. I would urge you to go in a different direction and create an office of reparations by which they can facilitate that process. It's something that you can work on and do. And as you mull over that in your studies and talk amongst each other, I want to remind you of what President Obama said. He said, be the change you seek. So I encourage you all to be the change makers, the change seekers that can make this possible. Remember, this is the same place where the Black Panther Party started. And that Black Contra Party started the free reduced lunch program that is all over the United States of America. So we have to be trendsetters in Alameda. So I encourage you to consider that because that will create so much red tape having to go to the county, but having a local entity to help move these finances would be a great way to make this possible. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Honorable Board of Supervisors, Mrs. Maraneshi, members of the Russell City community, and fellow community members. My name is Aisha Knowles. I'm a descendant of Russell City. I'm speaking today in support of the agenda item. I also have an ask for you. So I am grateful for the contributions of each of your individual offices to the redress fund. I'm also grateful for the contributions of the city of Hayward and the Alameda County Office of Education. I would urge you to continue to seed the fund with as much money, with as much money as Russell City was sold for to Cabot, Cabot and Forbes. So Russell City sold for over $2.45 million. I think a good goal to reach on behalf of the county for the Russell City Redress Fund is a minimum of $2.45 million. I get to speak here today because of the work of my grandparents and the work of my father. My grandfather did not live to be 50. I am a year older than he was able to live and enjoy his life after Russell City. And so for those who are no longer with us, for those who continue this fight, for those who are needing something to interrupt the trauma that they've held on to, for the past 70 to 80 years. I encourage you to continue this work and I thank you for staying in the fight.

Deborah Gore. You're on the line, you have two minutes. Deborah Gore.

Yes. Hello. Thank you. I wish I could be there in person. You know how important this work is. My name is Deborah Gore, founding chair of the Alameda County Reparations Commission. I do want to thank you again for the 5-0 unanimous vote we had on June 30th for the reparations action plan. And this is just one of the steps in part of that plan. I'm here today in strong, undeniable support for item 129, approving the MLU with the city of Hayward. I do believe that reparations work is done proximate to the community. It's impacted. So we got 14 cities. We've got unincorporated areas. All of those voices and all of those things should happen. Also, undeniable support authorizing the first phase of the Russell City redress. As shared here with the residents who are elderly, that every year matters, that time matters. The delays are seriously impactful. This board has said it itself, it's painful to learn when our elders are passing away. So approving this first phase is very important. The MOU isn't just a symbolic gesture either. I'd emphasize it establishes clear governance between the county and Hayward. I thought the MOU was very well written, articulating both an audited function and the city partnering with the county is very substantial. And Russell City is proof to the country that reparations is not just a symbolism or it is actually action that needs to be taken. And just in the last few minutes here, I would share with you that the country is watching. I had a media friend of mine share the impact of our first draft plan. And we reached over 125 potential media impressions, 35 to 40 million unique individuals, and about $5 to $7 million of media values. So you're having an impact. The country is watching. And I'm in full support of this effort. Thank you.

Mary Rico, you're on the line. You have two minutes. Mary Rico. Go ahead, please. Tony, when you have two minutes. Tony Nguyen. Fire tablet, you have two minutes. Fire tablet, you have two minutes.

Henry Princeton.

No more speakers. Hello? Hello? This is Cindy Torres. Go ahead, please.

Hello, this is Cindy Torres. I'm a proud descendant of Virginia and Reyes Pacheco of Russell City. I want to first thank... Lisa Marquez for spearheading this effort. All of the work that she's done, I am eternally grateful. Also to my representative and the Board of Supervisors, Nate Miley, for his work in representing this. And to everyone at the City of Hayward for bringing this forward. We've lost so many people in these last few years, my family and collectively all of our families. And so I really appreciate expediting this so that those who deserve benefit somewhat. I also appreciate all of the Board of Supervisors for contributing to this fund because as one of the speakers earlier stated, all of Alameda County benefited from the sale of this property with the funds used to purchase the land for the Alameda County Santa Rita Jail. And he made a good statement that there may be funding there that should actively be looked into to increase this funding. Again, this is not reparations. This is just to rightfully give somewhat that is deserved to those that are elders. And I really appreciate Supervisor Marquez for really focusing on that. My one main concern is there seems to be quite a few loopholes in establishing eligibility.

Thank you for your comments. Next speaker.

No more speakers.

Okay, we'll bring it back for action. I think it's time for a motion and a vote.

Yes, thank you. Thank you everyone for your participation. I know that the hardships, the trauma is real. And as was mentioned, the apology from the city of Hayward and the county was step one. And now we're moving into action. This is a phased approach. If you review the board letter, the MOU and the criteria, It lays out who will be making the decision. The question about up to 25,000, we really have to assess how many applications we'll be receiving. We're not anticipating a large number this first round because of the specific criteria of the individuals still have to be living and have had owned a home. And so the faster we could get through this process, we could release the subsequent criterias, which will include descendants living which I know many of you are here on behalf of yourselves and your family members. So just know that that is our goal to get to the next phase as quickly as we can. But we do have to exhaust the first round first. I just want to acknowledge that. And I'm happy to make the motion to move item A and B for item 129. But before doing that, I want to thank Council Member Angela Andrews, She listed many, many of the people that got us to this point, specifically the family members who have gotten together year after year at Kennedy Park to share memories, share in community. Just know that we are hearing your concerns and the work continues. And because we have lost so many elders, this is why we want to move on this as quickly as possible. Bless you. Sincerely apologize for and want to give my condolences. There have been many significant members we've lost as of late. There was Jose Cota, as well as Jesse Johnson, the mother of Caroline Johnson, who we closed in memory of her a few weeks ago. So we do need to move on this quickly. Do want to acknowledge the members of the Russell City Repairative Justice Steering Committee. I know Mr. Namba was here and his family, Deborah Harris, Aisha Knowles, Ayanna Knowles, James Knowles, Deborah Harris, Marion Johnson, Francesca Thompson, Thomas, sorry, Tony Nguyen, Velda Goh, Kathy Rodriguez, Cindy Torres, Gloria Moore, Michael D. Johnson, Carolyn Johnson, Michael B. Johnson, Elizabeth Moran, Priscilla Figueroa, and the Aranda family. Thank you to all of you for continuing to uplift the legacy and the life of Russell City. So on behalf of all of you and in memory of those that we have lost, I'm happy to move this item. And for those that are interested in contributing to the fund, because we do want to expand the fund, it's currently at 1.3 million. The goal is to increase that. There is information to reach out to my office. There is a designated email address, which is brusselcityredress.org. And there's a phone number 272-6684. So we will continue to provide updates to the community once we are ready to release the application. We will also be hosting office hours to assist individuals with applying for these funds and securing the required documentation. I want to thank the county auditor, Melissa Wilk, her team, Laura, Terrence, and Susan were instrumental. Our county administrators, Susan and Lori Cox, for your efforts, and our interim county council, Andrea Weddle, for your tirelessly hard work. working hard on this to get us across the finish line. I love to hear that people were pleased with the MOU. That was many, many hours of getting that to finality, but really want to thank everyone and especially everyone on my team. I don't want to take away from the thunder, but Mr. Ronnie Lachey, Megan Turner, Alex Boscovich, and everyone that supported these efforts, including Dr. city attorney michael lawson jennifer ought just want to thank everyone this is historic i hope that we could secure a unanimous vote and that our commitment here to all of you is that this is just the start thank you yes i'd like to second the motion and speak to it so i'll second the motion yes and um

Yeah, I want to thank Supervisor Marquez and everybody that she thanked. It was a long list of everybody. But I know she spearheaded this from my perspective, along with Aisha Knowles and others. And because Aisha Knowles is one of my advisors, and because many of you pointed me out and spoke so eloquently, you touched at my heart. And so I talked to my colleague and you know, it's rare that we do things without checking with our chiefs of staff, but I'm gonna commit another quarter of a million dollars to the Russell City Redress Fund. I see Alex sitting back there, but I already checked with your boss. So, Lisa?

I'm going to match that. But I want to be clear, this is a public pledge. That action item is not on the agenda for today. So we're publicly pledging our commitment, and we will have to bring that back in the fall, just so everybody knows. And once we complete that action, that will bring the fund to $1.8 million, and we're still raising money. But that will be a separate action. We're just stating a public commitment at this point.

And I just want to say, for those who happen to be concerned about Senate Bill 1193, this is an example of how the Board of Supervisors, this is how we work. What is that bill, Supervisor Miley? That's a bill that some state senator wants to take away our ability to constrict how we manage and handle discretionary funds, even though we are elected by all of you to do this job.

I second that sentiment, Supervisor Miley. A motion has been made by Supervisor Marquez, seconded by Supervisor Miley. Can we have a roll call vote, please?

Supervisor Marquez? Aye. Supervisor Tam? Aye. Supervisor Miley? Aye. Supervisor Fortunato-Bass? Aye. President Hubbard?

I vote yes. That passes unanimously.

And in closing, I hope, as Ms. Freddie Davis said, the long road was necessary. I hope the world is watching in terms of what not to do and not to repeat harms. So this is a history lesson for all of us. So I just really appreciate everyone's engagement on this.

We can't let history go by without a photo. Could we have all of the speakers and anybody that is here on behalf of the Russell City, item, come on up, let's take a group photo. You can come up here and line up in front of the dais. If you're here for the Russell City or you spoke on the Russell City redress item, come on up here, let's take a group photo. Why don't we have everybody coming up here?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, I gotta get that in there.

Alright, ladies and gentlemen, everybody take a mic down, please.

I would just like to say .

But I really like . You're very welcome. Thank you.

You're all welcome to stay for the next item. We have several more items. You're all welcome to stay. But we're gonna get back on with it. You have your mask on? Our next item is item 130, the registrar voters approving one of three actions. I'll just turn this over to staff for a brief report. Is there a staff report? Are we waiting for a presenter?

The interim registrar of voters. Oh.

you're very busy today welcome good afternoon president halbert and board members our office received the minimum wage initiative petition and we were able to verify the petition and found it to be sufficient with the required number of 49,370 signatures. We're presenting it to your board today to show the sufficiency certificate and the required actions within the board letter, which are one, to adopt the proposed minimum wage ordinance without change, place the proposed ordinance without change on the ballot for the November 3rd, 2026 general election, or refer the proposed initiative to one or more county agency or agencies for a report on the measures effects to be presented within 30 days, your board would then be required to take either actions set out in items A or B above within 10 days of receiving that report.

Does that conclude your report. Very good we're now going to take public comment on this item. And that means if you want to speak fill out a speaker slip. If you're online and want to speak to this item raise your hand online. We're going to ask the clerk to count up the speaker slips. We're going to devote an hour of public comment to this item, and we'll need the speaker slips to know roughly how many speakers we have.

50 speaker slips. So far, 24, 25 online. Okay. Okay.

So that means not everyone may not get to speak. We're going to have one minute for every speaker. We're going to ask speakers to speak, line up behind each other and speak one after the other. We're going to ask you to hold applause so that more people can speak. If you choose to disrupt the meeting with applause, then fewer people get to speak. I want as many people to speak as possible. We're going to say we often take three in person and then three online conversations. Let's take five in person because people that came in person, I'd like to get as many people in person to be able to speak. Five in person, then five online, back and forth. And if you're called to speak, you don't just line up one after the other so that we're not taking too much time getting out of the aisle. And if you're there before another speaker, go ahead and speak. It doesn't have to be in the order called, but do line up one after the other. So let's call the first in-person speakers in person. Come on, line up and take public comment.

Thank you, President Huff. I can get a moment to get the timer up one moment.

And I'm going to ask the clerk to stop taking slips and stop letting hands be raised if they're not raised already.

Bradley Gentry, Nigel Jones, Andres Pomart, Robert Apodaca, and Jason Goldblatt.

Come on up. You don't have to wait. You can come speak.

I'm Andres Pomar from Trabajadores Unidos Workers United, and I'm someone who grew up in the unincorporated area of Ashland with a mother who did domestic work and a father who worked as a custodian. Living by the minimum wage was never enough for my family. A minimum wage was never a living wage. Not having a living wage led to my parents eventually being displaced and prevented them to set roots in their old age. Alameda County is one of the wealthiest and most expensive places in the country. Yet many of our community members in low wage jobs report having to work multiple jobs just to survive while experiencing housing and food insecurity. Within our county, 39% of workers earned less than $30 an hour. Living with economic precariousness also harms the health of our working class communities. The MIT living wage calculator shows that even a single person with no children needs at least $32.31 to cover the basic cost of living in Alameda County. A living wage that includes all workers and ends exclusions to vulnerable workers will benefit and uplift all working class communities in our county. I ask

Next speaker, please. Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Jason Goldblatt. I'm the vice chair of the California Alliance of Family-Owned Businesses. I've owned and operated restaurants with my folks, my brother, and now my nephew, all throughout Alameda County since January of 1990. Over the past 36 years, our restaurants have served the community and employed amazing people. I'm here today to respectfully ask that the board move to study the impact of the proposed $30 minimum wage. An independent study from Harvard Business School found that even a dollar increase in the minimum wage increased the likelihood of restaurants closing by 14% and cut new openings by four to 6%. This is significant. My family has spent the past 36 years taking the care necessary to run businesses in this community. I'm asking that the board take the same care with this decision. I urge you to move forward with the economic impact study. Thank you very much.

Thank you, next speaker. Hello, my name is Nigel Jones, and I'm the owner of Kalabash Restaurant here in Oakland. And I support this initiative with the sense that we need to have a balance. As a Black-owned business here, a small business, it's difficult to encourage people to come into this industry. So for the most part, if they're not able to make a living, balance their needs, then then they're not going to be able to show up to work. And for me, I want my workers and my staff to be able to eat at my restaurant and support their families just like anybody else. Thank you. Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Robert Apodaca, the Executive Director of United Latinos Action. I have lived here. I'm the Executive Director of United Latinos Action. And I've been a resident of Alameda County for the last 45 years plus. And I've lived in District 3 for the last 23 years. I care a lot about my community. That's why I'm here to ask you to study this item before moving it forward. In particular, I'm concerned about the impact it will have on nonprofits and the programs that they operate and then the people that they're serving. Because the people that are serving, the residents of Alameda County are those who have the most urgent and compelling needs that are being met by these nonprofit organizations. And the big jump might be difficult for them to fulfill and may affect the people that we mostly care about. Please study this issue before moving forward. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Bradley. Right now it's hard for working people to afford to live. Too many families are working full time and still can't keep up with the rising cost of living. This campaign means a lot to me personally. I grew up in a single parent household in East Oakland watching my mom struggle to make ends meet. With few opportunities and not many positive role models, I made bad decisions that led me to spending five years in prison. When I came home in 2021, I was given a chance to become a carpenter. For the first time, I saw what it looked like to earn a living and build a future. That experience inspired me to help others who are trying to turn their lives around. That's why I joined this campaign. We worked overtime, in the rain, in the cold. We knocked on doors, listened to our neighbors, and collected tens of thousands of signatures because people want this and people need this. We did everything that we was asked us to do. Now it's time for the board to do its part and approve this measure because working people deserve a living wage for all. Thank you.

Conrad Freeman, you're on the line. You have one minute. Conrad Freeman.

Hi, good afternoon. My name is Conrad Freeman, and I am a family-run business owner in Alameda County. My business has operated here for three and a half years. I respectfully request that the board move forward with the study of the proposed measures economic impact on Alameda County. We have no idea what this measure would do to local businesses like mine. I already absorb additional costs that other businesses in the Bay Area don't have, including measures to ensure the safety of my employees and making sure my near my community is clean and welcoming to both customers and employees. Given the scale of this proposal and what's already known about the impact of much smaller increases, this measure deserves a serious independent study before it moves forward. Thank you for your time and consideration.

MP, you're on the line. You have one minute.

This is Mindy Petchenuk from Oakland, candidate for Oakland mayor, and I urge that this measure not be moved forward. This is not going to help the people who need it, and it's not going to help the business community at the same time. It's time for Alameda County to start getting to the root of the problem and actually creating real jobs, real revenue, and to bring down the cost of living. So at this point, there is no way this measure should be passed. We've seen this many times. You raise the minimum wage, but it does nothing to help anybody. So I am calling on you to not go forward with this and think about really solving the problem. It's about time that Alameda County really solved its problems. Thank you.

Claudia, you have one minute. Claudia, you have one minute. Tuan, no, you have one minute.

I urge the Board of Supervisors to take a serious study of the available data. We have other cities that serve as examples where the minimum wage is artificially high and not supported by the basic economic principles. What happened in other cities was restaurants started cutting hours on their employees and they started closing. Employees make overall less. because their hours were cut. And when businesses close, that's less service that the business provides the community and less sales revenue tax for essential city services. Moreover, We have to think about seniors on fixed incomes. If you raise $30 minimum wage, burgers could be $20. How is a senior on fixed income going to afford that? It's a tax on everything, all goods. It's a tax on families who cannot afford it. We really need to get at the root cause of the problem, which is... Can you hear me now? Oh, we need to get at the root cause of the problem, which is educating our kids, making sure that... more than 60% of our kids graduate from high school. Right now, a lot of them aren't graduating.

Aladdin Dino Samakye, you're on the line. You have one minute.

Hello, my name is Aladdin Samakye and I am a family owned business owner in Alameda County. I respectfully urge the board to move forward with the economic impact study of the proposed $30 minimum wage. I would like you to do this before taking any further action. I thank you for your time and consideration on this.

Claudia, you have one minute.

michael agostini you have one minute good afternoon president hulbert and members of the board my name is michael agostini and i am a family-owned business owner As someone who employs hundreds of Californians, I've seen firsthand how significant policy changes affect hiring, staffing, prices, and investment decisions. Regardless of where people stand on the proposed wage, I believe everyone benefits from having reliable economic data before a decision is made. I respectfully urge the Board to commission an independent economic impact study before taking any further action on the proposed $30 minimum wage measure. A decision of this magnitude deserves a clear understanding of its potential effects on jobs, small businesses, consumers, and the local economy. An objective analysis will help ensure that any political, any policy adopted is based on data and gives the community confidence that all impacts have been carefully considered.

Zach Goldblatt, Sitlali. Alana, Brian Avelis, Esmeralda Iglesias.

Good afternoon. My name is Zach Goldblatt, and I'm a family business owner in Alameda County. My grandparents, father, uncle, and I operate restaurants that employ many local residents across the county. I'm here to respectfully ask the board to conduct an economic impact study before taking any further action on this proposed measure. Every new cost affects our ability to invest in our employees, serve our customers, and continue growing in Alameda County. Before making a decision with lasting consequences, I simply ask that you have all the facts. Please move forward with an economic impact study. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Hello board, thank you we're here today because the registrar has certified our $30 minimum wage initiative a milestone for working class people in alameda county. In regards to the opposition, I want to remind everyone that $30 is a response to the rising cost of living. The Bay area is the most expensive region in the country, this is not something to be proud of so raising the minimum wage is the bare minimum. We have accepted a system where workers are desperate for a wage that is still far below what it actually costs to live here. The cost of living should go down. We should not be subsidizing poverty wages with our tax dollars just so businesses can stay afloat. If a restaurant owner cannot afford to pay their workers a wage closer to the livable standard, maybe they should reconsider their business model. We shouldn't protect profits at the expense of people's survival. Restaurant and business owners, will you continue being angry at the workers who make your businesses run? Or will you begin to ask?

Thank you for your comment. Your time is up. Thank you for your comment. Your time is up. Next speaker.

Hi, my name is I'm with Workers United and also with the Living Wage for All. This campaign was built by everyday people who know what it's like to work hard and still struggle to make ends meet. This milestone belongs to the working class people of Alameda County, the volunteers, labor organizations, and community members who talk to 100,000 voters who say this is important. Now that we have qualified for the ballot, we're seeing an organized opposition emerge, and that's not surprising. Their interests are that benefit from keeping wages low while cost of housing, food, transportation, and child care continues to rise. They may try to frame this initiative as too ambitious or too costly, but the real cost is forcing working people to choose between pictures. paying rent, buying groceries, putting gas in the car, and paying for childcare after a full day of work, especially for unincorporated areas like Castro Valley, Cherryland, and unincorporated parts of Habra where workers feel like they cannot talk about this since they don't have a city council.

Thank you for your comment. Your time is up.

So, hi, my name is Brian Aguilar. I've spent the last six weeks interning at Trabajadores Unidos, Corpus United. In that time, I've spoken to 141 separate people across Alameda County in places like Hayward, Fruitvale, Fremont, Newark, Pleasanton, Union City, incorporated cities like Cherryland and San Lorenzo. That's 141 unique in-depth conversations with mostly working class immigrant communities. Every day, the ability to afford to survive slips further out of people's hands. Almost every single person or almost every single time that I've asked if folks want a higher minimum wage, again, that's 141 times. They've shared with me how an increase, any increase could change their lives. A $30 minimum wage would help them and family members pay rent. It would help them buy food for them and their families. It would help them focus on one job, allowing mothers and fathers to spend critical time with their children. It would help them prepare for their children's future. It would help them pay medical bills. It will save lives, period. This is the reality. You've been given the research. You've been shown that 117,000 individuals want this. Don't let them down.

My name is Esmeralda Iglesias and I'm a field organizer with Trabajadores Unidos Workers United, which is part of the Living Wage Coalition. I'm here to ask that the Board of Supervisors put the Living Wage for All initiative on ballot this November. As an organizer who spends a lot of time around Alameda County, I hear firsthand from our community members about how they are struggling to make ends meet at a time when prices are continuously going up, while minimum wage only increases a few cents per year. They work two or three jobs just to stay afloat, oftentimes balancing that with taking care of their families. I have seen not only how this leaves them exhausted, but how this has dire consequences on their health. People should be able to not just survive, but to live well on one job. Moreover, I want to emphasize that 117,000 signatures is not a small fee and it emphasizes the will of the people. We just talked about what it means for black and brown residents to be displaced from Alameda County. And that also means ensuring that they can afford to continue living here.

Carrie Harper Howie, you're on the line. You have one minute.

This is Carrie Harper Howey. Hopefully you're able to hear me. I am a family business owner, and I am calling in to ask that the boards submit this proposal for study. There is absolutely no way that we should be making decisions about something as significant as this increase without having all of the information. And while I seriously understand and appreciate the desire of many people to have an increased wage, there are often unintended consequences that come from these sorts of things. And it would actually potentially be more irresponsible for us to take action without information and based purely on a desire that is not supported by evidence. Many have talked about the rising costs. There is no greater driver of rising costs than rising costs of labor. So I would just ask that this be submitted for study so that we can all make an educated and smart decision. Thank you.

Arlene Ladaren, you're on the line. You have one minute.

Hello, my name is Arlene Lateran, and I'm a family-owned business owner, a women-owned business owner, and I respectfully urge the board to please do an impact study. Let's make a decision based on data. I understand everyone's concerns and arguments, but let's make decisions based on data. Thank you for your consideration.

Marisol Sanchez, you're on the line.

You have one minute.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Marisol Sanchez and I am a family owned business owner. I respectfully urge the board to move forward with an economic impact study before taking any further action.

Thank you for your consideration.

Gary Slate, you're on the line. You have one minute.

Hello, this is Gary Slate, CEO of the Cache Valley Eden Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber represents well over 500 businesses throughout the unincorporated area. We support fair pay for workers, but we encourage you to move cautiously in considering an increase of the minimum wage. We strongly urge you to select option C to do an economic impact study in which county agencies would study possible outcomes of this increase before a vote by county citizens please study the impact of businesses economic development as our wage will be significantly higher than surrounding areas impacts to non-profits and the impacts of an entire county voting on something that only affects unincorporated alameda county giving those concerns we urge you to move carefully in considering this initiative move study is clearly needed to help voters before an informed vote can be cast. Thank you for your time and please consider option C. Brenda Grisham, you have one minute.

Good afternoon, this is Brenda Grisham. As a business owner in Oakland, California myself, We all know that the workers deserve wages that allow them to live with dignity, but we also have to make sure the businesses employing those workers can survive. If we raise wages without addressing the cost of doing business in Oakland, we could unintentionally eliminate the very jobs that we're trying to improve. employer taxes, employee taxes, insurance rates, and other costs that are skyrocketing. The study is vital for the survival of small businesses. I urge you to move forward with the economic impact study. The results are very important for both sides.

In person, Marcos Santos, Cynthia Salazar, Sonia Arana, Adriana Rendon, Miriam.

Good afternoon. My name is Marco Santos, outreach coordinator for Trabajadores Unidos Workers United. Here's a member of the Living Wage for All Coalition. I wanted to take some of my time today to relay a public comment by Teresa Salazar, a care provider to the elderly here in Alameda County and a member of Trabajadores Unidos who could not attend due to work. I'll be translating. Good afternoon. In recent years, cost of living has increased immensely in comparison to our minimum wage. It has filled me with such deep sadness to see my community struggle. sleeping in the street, not able to afford groceries. This is preventable. My question is why are corporations and governing bodies so quick to raise rent, groceries, utilities, gas, yet deny and delay a living wage for a working communities who pay your salaries in taxes? I urge you board of supervisors to stand with workers, not corporations. This sentiment is not only of Teresa Salazar, but of more than 100,000 voters across Alameda County. Voters from Castro Valley, Cherryland, unincorporated parts of Hayward. More than 100,000 people have their eyes on you now to put this on the ballot in November.

Hello, everyone. My name is Cynthia Salazar, and I am here as an organizer with Trabajadores Unidos Workers United and as a member of the Living Wage for All Coalition. I ask all business owners who are against this, why do you not see your workers as equals? Can you look them in their eyes and tell them that you do not think they should have a livable wage? Conrad Friedman, I'm sure that your small family business of the McDonald's you own makes more than enough profit to pay your workers a minimum wage. As an organizer, my job is to create relationships with our community members. Our conversations always lead back to not being able to make ends meet. So my question to you all is, are you okay with your residents working more than one job to make ends meet? Are you okay with your residents having fear of not having enough to pay their bills? We have collected 117,000 signatures. So we know that this is wanted and needed by your residents. So I urge you to please listen to your constituents and do not delay this. Tell your community that you listen to them and add this to the November ballot. Do not delay this.

Can we have an extra minute for interpretation?

Thank you. Entonces, hablando con mi comunidad, sé que salario digno de 30 dólares apoyaría a trabajadores de salarios bajos a tener mejor calidad de vida. Dejarían de tener hasta tres trabajos, pasarían más tiempo viendo crecer a sus niños, estando presentes en sus escuelas. Y también apoyaría a solamente pagar lo necesario para sus casas. La vida aquí está siendo más cara cada día, cada año, y solamente está subiendo salarios de centavos, ¿no? Y no podemos esperar más para votantes que decidan esto. Entonces, tenemos todas las firmas suficientes. Más de 100,000 votantes quieren ya estar en esto. Entonces, ahora les toca a ustedes decidir

So the speaker has gone over time. The translation is a separate minute.

Great. So she says, my name is Adriana Rendon. I'm an organizer with Trabajadores Unidos, Workers United, and I'm part of Living Wage Coalition. As an organizer that comes from the base, I have earned minimum wage for over 15 years. I lived paycheck to paycheck. I only had enough to pay my rent and food. I did not even have enough to take my kids to the movie theater. I talked to my community about the living wage for all, $30 an hour, and it would support workers, low-wage workers have a better quality of life. It would allow them to spend more time seeing their kids grow up. and taking them to school, not having to work three jobs. $30 an hour would just cover the basics needed to live. So we cannot wait any longer for you to have this on the ballot. We have enough signatures. Do not delay this. We need to vote now.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, my name is Sonia. I live in Oakland, have lived here for nine years. I'm also a member of Trabajadores Unidos Workers United. As a member, I have seen the work that has been put in to collect enough signatures, and the signatures show us community wants to see this on the ballot. pues traemos esta petición a ustedes para que pues la pongan en la boleta de noviembre del 2026 para que puedan apoyar lo que es esta medida. Esperamos que ustedes escuchen al pueblo porque pues el pueblo es el que manda realmente.

And we're here because we have enough signatures. We hope that you take this into consideration as you decide to put it on the November ballot and that you do put it on the November ballot because after all, the voters have decided they want this on the ballot. And at the end of the day, it's the people who lead.

Esperamos ver y que esto sea un total éxito y que podamos tener la victoria con el apoyo de ustedes. Que tengan buenas tardes.

We count on your support to make sure this is on the ballot, and we hope this is a success. Good afternoon. My name is Miriam Medellin Myers, and I'm a lead organizer with Trabajadores Unidos Workers United, also a part of the Living Wage Coalition. Workers did the work, and we did the research. We spoke to voters, over hundreds of thousands of voters across Alameda County. I myself did that work, talked to voters, and I wonder when people say to do the research, I wonder if employers themselves have done that research. Have they asked workers, do they have enough to live? because voters told us they do not. When I said that this is a 10-year phase-out, voters were surprised to hear that all employers would not even be impacted until 2037. By 2037, $30 will not be enough to live either. So we need to decide on this now. It cannot come soon enough. And I think this is especially the case in South Alameda County, which is where I led a lot of outreach efforts, talking to voters across Castro Valley, Cherryland and unincorporated areas where they don't have a city council to raise these concerns. Thank you.

Scott Rodrick, you're on the line. You have one minute.

Thank you to the members of the board. My name is Scott Roderick. I'm a second generation family owned business. When an elected body like this, whether it be local or state, reviews potential legislation that can have extraordinary impact, it is incumbent upon that body to seek the full study as to the vote's repercussions. And I think now is the case whereby the Board of Supervisors is considering passing the highest minimum wage in the entire United States. There might be really good reasons to review and pass, and there might be an equal number of reasons to suspend and study this extraordinary precedent. before the extraordinary dare i say unprecedented might be passed i would respectfully ask that this board do its fiduciary responsibility to the voters the workers and the business owners of alameda in seeking a full and well-regarded economic study as to the repercussions i would like to refer this board to option c to unpack the

On on take you're on the line you have one minute. And he the one you have one minute.

Hello to the board. My name is Anthony you all I am a family-owned small business owner. I respectfully request the board to move forward with an economic impact study of the proposed $30 minimum wage measure before taking any further action. This assessment must be done. It can be detrimental if it's not looked at. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Alyssa, you're on the line. You have one minute. Alyssa, one minute. Tony Panetta, you're on the line. You have one minute.

Hello, my name is Toni Panetta, and I am the Chief Impact Officer for the Alameda Health Consortium, which represents eight community clinics that provide preventive primary care services to all residents of Alameda County. We're calling in to request an impact analysis of the proposed measure with a particular focus in three areas. Area number one is interaction with the state healthcare minimum wage law for concerns around state preemption. and conflict. Second area is regarding the place-based policy framework for work that is completed in unincorporated areas of the county and what implications are for employees whose pay period covers work that is completed in unincorporated area or time that is completed in incorporated areas. And the third area is the cost of the county to both implement and defend court challenges as this moves forward. Thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this living wage conversation, which is important.

Leslie, you have one minute. Leslie, one minute, you're online.

Hi, I own a small family business and I am calling to strongly urge the board to move forward with an economic impact study before taking any action. Thank you for listening to my request.

Sean Piazza, you're on the line. You have one minute.

Good afternoon, my name is Sean Piazza and I am the chairman of the California Alliance of Family Owned Businesses and a proud family owned business in Southern California. We represent a hundred and family owned operations throughout California, including Alameda County. I'm here today to respectfully urge this board to study the impact of the $30 minimum wage measure. Because of the work we do, I see what happens to family businesses across the state when a major policy shifts, hits before anyone understands its effects. I can tell you it's rarely the outcome anyone intended. Alameda County would not just be raising the wage. It would be running an experiment that no one has tried before. I'm not here to tell you what that impact would be. No one can. And that uncertainty is exactly why the county needs to study its impact. My ask is simple. Study this before it becomes the reason family-owned businesses can no longer operate, serve their communities, and provide the goods and services we depend on. Thank you for your consideration.

Next in person, Daisy L. D. Laxey. Rinaldo Reed. Nicole Edwards. Janie Allegri.

So that's D. Lacey. I respectfully come up to the council, you know what I'm saying, saying that these are the people of your, these are the constituents, the people that put y'all in your seat that are asking for more money. I'm hearing the people that have enough time that they can wait. But I see the people of your city and county saying they need it now. So let's put this on November. Let's quit. These people voted y'all in. Let's do what they want because they signed their names. These people that got this. This money, small businesses, sorry, that's 11 years from now. So if you're worried about that right now, go read it. Onefairwage.org. You can go read the initiative. We already did the studies that you need to see. So just go read up on it and pass it. November, that's when we need that.

Hello, my name is Nicole Edwards, a single parent of three children. I believe that you really strongly should suggest moving forward with this because poverty is the creation of crime and poverty simply says we don't have enough And as you said earlier, certain people poured on your heart. I have one child, her father is dead due to poverty. I have another child, her dad is incarcerated, facing 10 to life because of poverty. I really beg you, please push this forward now. I'm a resident of Acorn Project, the most notorious place in Oakland right now. If we just had enough, if we just had enough.

Hello, my name is Yancy Alegre. I'm here in behalf of One Fair Wage as a former canvasser and my own experience as a person who has lived in Alameda County her whole life. As a former canvasser for One Fair Wage, speaking to the people of the community and hearing the strife they have to face, hearing the things they have to choose between and watching each signature be put down makes it not only a signature to me, but a story and a person behind it. Rather than thinking about 170,000 signatures, I think of 170,000 people with stories that agree it should be on the ballot to be voted upon. The cost of living in the Bay Area has gone so far up that people cannot catch up. They have to work multiple jobs to make ends meet, make basic human necessities, food, hygiene products, and clothing become a forethought as bills come first. There's no work-life balance because it only... because it is only so much work. Oh, sorry. There is no work-life balance because it is only work. So many cannot enjoy the wonderful qualities that come with living in Alameda County as they have the

Good afternoon. My name is Sarjaya Raman. I'm a resident of District 4. Thank you, Supervisor Miley, for representing me in District 4. I'm also a UC Berkeley academic, an author, an attorney. I have testified in over 200 state, city, and county legislatures on the minimum wage. I have worked with UC Berkeley economists and UC Berkeley trained economists at Movement Economics to produce two independent studies that we have sent to your offices that found a billion dollars in increased GDP as a result of this initiative 1,800 new jobs as a result of this initiative, absolutely no job loss or closures, 527 million additional dollars in tax revenue for you, the county. And this is in line with all of the data that we've seen over the last 50 years, frankly, from minimum wage increases in city, counties, and states around the country. As you know, you do not have the power to stop this or to change the language, which means that if it goes to delay in 2028, the time that small businesses have asked for to phase in this. Thank you.

Next speaker, please. Next speaker. We have about 20 minutes left for public comment. Let's get as many speakers as we can. Let's go.

Alyssa, you're on the line. You have one minute. Alyssa. Hi, can you hear me? Hi.

Yes. I am a concerned citizen named Alyssa Tran who would be very impacted by a $30, an increase to $30 in unincorporated areas. I would like to afford my car, a car, rent, and just survival in the Bay Area. Thousands of us have spoken and signed. Respect the signatures. Thank you.

Joseph Wong, you're on the line. You have one minute. Joseph Wong.

Hello, this is.

Go ahead. Joseph Wong.

Hello, this is Joseph Wong. Thank you for allowing me to speak on this very important matter. I am a small business owner. I am second generation and my parents came to this country as immigrants and started their business in the mid 80s. I have seen the impact of the financial pressures that we are all facing. And I am respectively requesting that the board take option C to study this so that all of the impact that this may cause can be studied and confirmed before we go forward on such a serious item. Thank you.

Julie Pernecki, you're on the line. You have one minute. Julie Pernecki. Harris, you're on the line. You have one minute.

Hi. Good afternoon, Board of Supervisors. I hope you guys can all hear me there. And I'm here with my peers. the Goldblatt family as well, Steve Peet's family. I am a owner of a family-owned business, and I want to respectfully ask that the board thoroughly study this. Some of the facts of our business after the $20 wage increase, which went up $4 in one shot, is that the employees were getting 135 hours less per employee. Imagine that. If you took three weeks less worth of pay home. And that's on the employee side. And we love our employees. We value our employees. They are the lifeblood of what we do. And then on the other side, on the business side, we still haven't recovered from the 2024 increase. In fact, we are about 80% of the way back to 2023. So I respectfully ask that you do these economic

Tim Morgan, you're on the line. You have one minute.

Good afternoon, board. My name is Timothy Morgan. I own a family-run business in Alameda County. And I think about a 77% increase in the minimum wage would directly result in my inability to not increase current employee hours and definitely not hire additional employees. You see business closed in California or leave California permanently, and we can prevent small business deterioration by really knowing the economic impact of these drastic actions. We have empathy for the cost of living in California, but it cannot be shouldered singly on small business. Thank you.

Jacob Brent, you have one minute.

Good afternoon. My name is Jacob Brent. I'm the legislative and regulatory manager for the California Retailers Association. We represent retailers big and small. I respectfully ask the board to study the economic impact of the measure. Retail is one of the largest employers in this county, yet they operate on thin margins while absorbing significant supply chain rent and insurance costs that threaten their ability to keep stores open. This isn't a concern limited to only a few retailers. It's shared broadly across our membership, and it reflects a real risk to jobs, store hours, and investments. independent research backs us up. Even smaller minimum wage increases have led to real business closures and job losses in retail, and a 30% wage goes far beyond this. We're asking on behalf of the retailers we represent that the county take the time to fully understand the impact. Thank you.

Next in person, Kantani Jackson, Jennifer Bisla, Lucas Sobranos, Paola Mica.

Hello, my name is Lucas. I'm an East Oakland resident, and I have family in Hayward and Castro Valley. I'm here to voice my support in raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour as soon as possible. I'm often speaking to workers in Hayward, Castro Valley, and Cherryland as part of my work at Trabajadores Unidos, Workers United. Just this weekend, we hosted a community forum in Cherryland with neighbors and residents of many unincorporated areas of Alameda County. In each conversation I've ever had informing residents, family, and friends about the effort to raise minimum wage, I've seen excitement, relief, and unanimous support for this proposal. The 117,000 signatures supporting this ballot measure reflect what I'm seeing in person. The working people of Alameda County are hard pressed to make ends meet with the constant rise in the cost of living. We need the political will to back our working residents. We're calling on you to ensure this measure is on the ballot this November. Our working neighbors can't afford to wait. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Mika. I'm an Alameda County voter living in East Oakland. I'm here to express the importance of increasing the current minimum wage and for getting a living wage on the ballot this November. So many families cannot afford to wait any longer. So please don't delay this and support getting a $30 minimum wage on the ballot this year. Let's move away from barely surviving day to day, which I wanna note that many are not even getting to survive, but are dying or are no longer with us. due to poverty and due to this lack of funds that everyday people can't get to, let's get to thriving. Safety and living with dignity is a right for all, not a negotiable for some. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Paola. I'm an organizer with Trabajadores Unidos, Workers United, and also part of the Living Wage for All Coalition. I'm just here to echo what all of my comrades have said, and I'm in support of this initiative to be put on the ballot this November. I spent so much time in the field talking to workers, door knocking, and everyone expressed the importance of passing an initiative like this. And in fact, people express that $30 is not even enough. So I urge you to be brave. I urge you to lead by example and put the initiative on the ballot this year.

Hello, everyone. My name is Jennifer Disla. I'm the National Deputy Director of One Fair Wage, part of the Living Wage for All Coalition. I'm also a proud daughter of immigrant parents, Dominican-American, Afro-Latina. My dad was in a union, and through his union wages, it supported my education, my housing, my health care, also my family quality time, including traveling back to my parents' homeland. That homeland, which sponsored 30 of my family members to come to come to the United States due to his wages. So I know the power of wages and I know the power of what Strong Wages Foundation has for families. And today I continue to hear stories time and time again about not making enough to pay basic needs like rent, groceries, and access to healthcare. So just imagine if people had the ability in your county to dream and rest. Having to work multiple jobs disallows for that. I urge for the board to pass swiftly and to not delay. Thank you.

San Andro Chamber, you have one minute.

Hello, can you hear me? Good evening, supervisors. My name is Emily Grego. I'm President and CEO of the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce. A $30 minimum wage is not simply a wage increase. It's a major economic policy decision that requires thorough economic and industry-specific analysis. Businesses operating on narrow margins may... are probably not able to absorb a dramatic increase in labor costs. They're going to have to raise prices, reduce hours, and quite possibly eliminate jobs. When businesses close, the impact extends beyond the business owner. Jobs are lost, commercial corridors suffer, and local tax revenues decline. Higher costs may be passed on to consumers, placing additional strain on seniors and others on living fixed incomes. We urge the board to fully evaluate these impacts before advancing a $30 minimum wage. Thank you.

Bobby Haynes, you have one minute.

Good afternoon. My name is Bobby Haynes, and I'm a proud, small, Black-owned business owner in Alameda County. I'm here to respectfully urge the board to study the impact the $30 minimum wage will have Running a business in Oakland brings costs that other businesses in the state just simply don't have to carry. So for many like myself, this isn't just another cost. It's the cost that could push us past what we're able to sustain. A change is significant, and this untested deserves to be understood before it becomes a law, not after. Thank you for your time.

Brenda Clark, you have one minute.

Hi, everybody. I watched NBC News this morning where business owners and professionals and community leaders gathered to talk about the impact of this pandemic. I could barely hear them from the screaming of people. It wasn't their new companies, but, you know, we want it now. We want it now. I just want you to understand what happens when you want to increase wages to the extent that you're doing. Not only now, in the future, when you get to $30 an hour, how are people going to be able to, even with that increase, afford the goods and services that have risen beyond their means? Because of this, you've got to do an impact study and you've got to consider senior citizens who don't get an increase. And we still work real hard, but we don't want to go back to work. By the way, Beverly Hills minimum wage is $15.50. Thank you.

Next in person, next in person, Sheep I, Wernard Prevard, Aiden Patton, Amia Brizendine, Prit, Piero.

Hey, y'all. I'm Xipe. I'm an Alameda County resident and an intern at Trabajadores Unidos. I just want to say, as a university student, I think study is important in making decisions. Yeah, in making decisions based on data that backs up those decisions. And I just want to say that there's been more than over 200 empirical studies examining the economic impacts of minimum wage and the ways in which this can be done that uplifts the people that you guys serve. So let's not pretend these studies do not exist. It's due to these studies that we learned that 30 bucks an hour isn't even a living wage now here in Alameda County. Let's not pretend that we don't see the degradation of our communities as a direct result of the stagnation of wages of everyday people. Do not delay this any longer or the further starvation, poverty, and deaths as a result of this stagnation will be on your hands.

Hello, my name is Aiden Patton. Earlier today at 11 o'clock, we had a discussion with the opponents of the bill. And during one of these discussions, one of the opponents had stated how when he was young, due to unforeseen circumstances in his own family, his family had to make the decision between sending him to college and keeping their family home. I come to you with personal experience. My mother has stage four breast cancer. By the time I was 16, I had two jobs to support my family in bills, groceries, and paying for her medical treatment. I do not think that anybody, much less the members of this community, one of the most expensive communities in America, should be making that decision every day. And every second that we delay this bill is the second that another body is ravaged by cancer and another home is sold out. I thank you guys for your consideration and ask you to not delay this any further.

Good afternoon, everyone. Supervisors, my name is Reverend Robert Lacey, Jr., City, State, and National Representative of the Bay Cities Baptist Ministers Union, Social Chair, Department of the California State Missionary Baptist Convention, and an investor and manager in Wise Choice Restaurant here in Oakland, California. I want to reiterate that if you delay this initiative with a study, it will still pass in 2028, but the phase in will remain the same. The small businesses like mine and others, St. Andrew's private school is one of them in a small church here in Oakland. will have a much shorter timeline to get to $30 an hour. Small businesses like ours will be forced to increase wages by $4 an hour in one year. No city, county, or state has ever been asked of any business to do that. We small businesses asked the campaign for a full 10 years to phase in, and they agreed, and so did the voters. And the same voters that sat you in these seats today have the opportunity to vote for this initiative to be on the ballot in November. So thank you for your time.

Hello, my name is Brittany Anna Piero. I'm a member of Black Organizing Project, a resident of Alameda County District 3 in East Oakland, and the treasurer of my fruitful neighborhood council, Beat 23X. I'm here to support a living wage for all initiative, and I want to ask you all, what would your life look like if you made $17.34 an hour? That's an annual wage of $36,000. Just take a second. I am proud to be an East Oakland resident and one of the most politically progressive and culturally diverse cities in the United States, which is also one of the most expensive cities in the United States. I support this initiative because I support my community and the financial efficacy of my neighborhood. As a Bay Area community, we have an opportunity and an obligation to lead with this initiative. The rapid effects of gentrification and inflation need to be stopped and we need to protect the people who make the culture, the heart, and the progress of the city possible. Thank you.

Yeah, my name is Patrick Settle. I'm an East Oakland veteran. My experience with working with Born Fair Ways, I was able to support, you know, I'm a business owner as well. It's True Anxiety Roots. I was able to find and open up a juice bar. So one K a week, I keep it, you know what I'm saying, the kids up the street. So that's a lot of money. So I strongly support, you know, the member wage being $30 an hour.

Next in-person, Iris Barrera, Malcolm Harris, Mark Dancy, Leidua Salazar, Edward Escobar.

Good afternoon, Board of Supervisors. My name is Iris, part of Trabajadores Unidos Workers United and Living Wage for All Coalition, resident of District 3. Time after time, I have heard from workers and families how on our outreach and just this past month focusing in unincorporated areas in Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Cherryland, about their struggles paying groceries, medicine, and also struggling paying rent, sometimes having to live with one or two other families in the same apartment, even though they're working two to three jobs. The Living Wage for All Coalition has been able to gather over 100,000 signatures, and you all already have seen the research. What else is there to study? There is a gradual increase to get $30 an hour for small businesses by 2037, so it's going to be on the ballot regardless. And it's your duty as border supervisors to respect the democratic process and let the voters decide.

My name is Malcolm Harris. I am a co-organizing director at the Oakland Black Organizing Project. And I am also a resident in District 4. And I was born and raised here in Oakland, born in Alta Bates Hospital. And I'm one of few of my family who's been able to stay here. I pay rent $2,400 a month. That is $28,000 a year. Minimum wage right now is $36,000, totals out to a year. How many folks can afford to continue to live here? I want to quote Supervisor Miley, and I appreciate your quote earlier about the importance of, I can't remember the Senate bill that you referenced, but that the voters have given you the opportunity to create discretion around your ability to move. You 117,000 voters have brought us to this point. We ask you to respect their wishes and put this on the ballot for no.

Good evening. My name is and I'm here. I'm the executive director at My Eden Voice. I'm here on behalf of our members to express our support for the initiative because our families deserve a living wage. I'm also from a family of small business owners. So I understand the challenges of running a small business and the importance of ensuring that your workers can earn enough to support themselves and their families. The goals are not mutually exclusive and they benefit from our local economy. Every day we organize alongside residents in the unincorporated area of Alameda County who are working hard to be and still struggle to afford housing, groceries, childcare, transportation, medication, and basic necessities. No one who works full time should have to choose between paying rent and putting food on their table. A living wage is about dignity, sustainability, and other opportunity for working families and the communities they sustain to thrive. Thank you.

Las pequeñas empresas de nuestros vecindarios, las que contratan localmente y mantienen el dinero circulando dentro de la comunidad, podrían verse obligadas a reducir horas, subir precios o incluso cerrar. That means less jobs, less services, and higher prices for the same families that this measure says they want to help. Before the Board of Supervisors advances with this, we need a study of full and independent impact. Our communities deserve real data, not suppositions, because the accountability and economic stability of colored families are too important to play with them.

If you want, I can make a shorter, more aggressive version.

Our communities of color are already carrying the weight of skyrocketing costs. Housing, groceries, childcare, everything, and a sudden jump. We're gonna start his time over again.

Please start over. In every outburst, we're gonna start his time over.

Let him speak. My name is Edward Escobar. I'm the founder of Coalition for Community Engagement. Our communities of color are already carrying the weight of skyrocketing costs. Housing, groceries, childcare, everything, a sudden jump to a 30 minimum wage without any serious economic analysis risk pushing those costs even higher. Small businesses in our neighborhoods, the ones that hire locally and keep dollars circulating in the community, could be forced to cut hours, raise prices, or shut down entirely. That means fewer jobs, fewer services, and higher prices for the very families this measure claims to help. Before the Board of Supervisors moves this forward, we need a full independent impact study. Our communities deserve real data, not guesswork, because affordability and economic stability for families of color are too important to gamble with. Thank you.

Let's get through more speakers.

This is your last speaker.

Hello. My name is Robert Batnich. I've been an employer for 50 years. I paid between starting... I'm going to reframe my mind. I paid up to, from minimum wage to up to $100 to $200 an hour, depending on the specialty. I think that the marketplace dictates what the wage should be according to that. And I also think that we should study this much more. I just discovered this two days ago about this meeting here that you were going to vote on putting on the ballot. etc. I think it needs to be studied by a professional group to see what the economic impact of this if it does go on to the ballot in the first place. Please consider this. Thank you so much. God bless you.

All right, that's about six of us who signed up. So that's six minutes. That's not like, that's not 600 minutes is respectfully requesting that you pardon

There's 18 more slips.

We have 18 more slips. So we're going to cut off and end public comment and we're going to deliberate among ourselves and make a vote. And if we have to clear the room, we'll clear the room. And if we have to clear the room, we'll clear the room. We gave an hour of public comment. Both sides were equally represented. If I give certain people time and not everybody time, that's a problem. And so we're going to bring it back for deliberation. And I'm going to ask County Council, is there any other staff report

Supervisor, I just want to remind everyone of the rules of the Brown Act regarding disruption of a public meeting. If individuals are being disruptive and they are then put on notice that they are being disruptive, you may then remove those individuals from the room. If you are unable to conduct the meeting because a larger group is being disruptive, you may recess and ask that the room be cleared and then allow individuals who are not disruptive to rejoin the meeting.

Thank you. So Supervisor Marquez, would you like to, you brought, no, that was a different item, I'm sorry. This is the Registrar of Voters. There's no other report from the Registrar of Voters. I'll bring it back for discussion. I'll just say that I have heard enough to know that we don't know what we don't know. I would like to refer the proposed initiative for additional study. which we will have presented back to us in 30 days. And then we will have the option of a narrowed option of either adopting right away without change or proposing that it be on the next ballot. We will have that come back to us within 30 days. I believe that will be September 15th. That would be my advocacy, and I'll make a motion when ready, but I'll ask us all to weigh in, and I'll start with Supervisor Marquez, Tam, Fortunato Bass, and Miley.

Before I weigh in, I do want to clarify the public comment issue. So just so I'm clear, we have 18 speaker cards just in the room, no one online. Okay, so I'm just going to respectfully ask if we could consider giving at least one minute for these folks to be heard.

The thing is... If you keep it up, we'll just clear the room. I would say if all five of us want to do that, I will be leaving because I have National Night Out to attend, and this item did not need to be on this agenda, but I allowed it to be out of respect for my colleagues. It could have been on a special meeting on a different day, but the bottom line is...

No, it has to because of the timeline.

We could have had a special meeting on as late as Friday. Anyway, does everybody want to do that? I'll have to leave the meeting because I have other engagements tonight. If four out of five of us want to have additional public comment, that's fine. I'll ask Supervisor Miley, do you want to have additional public comment or are you ready to deliberate? I'm ready. I was ready. Supervisor Fortunato-Bass. I would like to hear the final public comment. Supervisor Marquez.

it's not ideal to change the time, but I'm trying to find the compromise here so everyone could speak. So I'm proposing that we reduce it to one minute so we could get through the remaining speakers.

Supervisor Tam. I would prefer allowing speakers. So we don't have four out of five. I think that's what it would take.

So we'd only take a vote of three. But to clarify, you have only been taking one minute of public comment. We have. I'm sorry. I thought we were doing only one minute.

I apologize. I thought we were doing two. I apologize.

Just one minute.

So just to speak to the fact that at the beginning of the meeting, the board president said that we were taking no more.

hands and no more slips for public comment so if you are going to open this up to others then you need to allow those remotely the opportunity to raise their hands i apologize i was under the impression we were doing two minutes i stand correct it was only one minute so i just want to ask that we get through the remaining 18 speakers that are here in the room i understand we've already closed no longer accepting public comment in person or online

so i'm not asking to open it i'm just asking us to get through the remaining 18 slips at one minute each so i guess i need clarity from the clerk of the board were those slips put in before or have they come in after they were put in before the um they were put in before

I'll tell you what, I'll allow 30 seconds for each member.

I would not recommend that you do it. I would recommend that you remain with a one minute per speaker and put an overall time limit. If you can say another half hour, another 45 minutes, whatever it is, but you cap it in that manner so that you are consistent.

That means we have to also allow anybody online. Is online exhausted?

Yes. So what the clerk is saying is that those slips were in before you said no more selections. I would suggest that you establish you're going to do another 30 minutes or another 45 minutes or whatever your overall cap is. Continue with one minute per speaker for consistency and uniformity if you're going to open up the comment.

OK, I'm going to go for 18 minutes for 18 speakers. Let's go one after the other. It has to be up to a minute. You can also say ditto or thank you, but that's going to be it. And then we're going to very quickly deliberate. And do we have a name of all 18 speakers? I would like all 18 to be called and everybody line up one after the other and come on and speak. All 18. Let's see 18 hands. We got 18 hands. All 18 in a row. Let's get ready to speak. Who wants to go first? There you go, brave man. Come on.

Hello, everyone. My name is John Howard. I started working with United Workers for about in late May. In two and a half weeks, I became a coordinator. And doing those jobs, I went to a lot of registered voters' doors to have conversations. And 117,000 people believe that an adequate living wage should not be a privilege. It should be a right. For myself, this job gave me a breathing room. I was able to take my son to certain events, get him proper nutrition. I know everyone in this room believes that our children should have proper nutrition, correct? Okay. A living wage means that I will not be forced to have an additional job or a side hustle or have to do anything illegal. So I just believe that you guys should hurry up and let's hurry and get this thing on.

Hi, good afternoon, supervisors. I respectfully request you move forward with the democratic process. I'm here because we all know who benefits from refusing to include the 30 an hour minimum wage measure in the November ballot. Choosing to ignore that this measure would establish equality in black and brown communities is a choice. Choosing to ignore voices of folks juggling two to three jobs, the voice of single parent households, the voice of your constituents is a choice. Choosing to impede a democratic practice is also a choice. Now, there are enough signatures to put a dignified wage on the ballot this November. Over 100,000 community members signed, including local business owners. Will you continue to suppress us and silence us, or will you stand by democracy and give us the option to vote this fall for a reality that will bring several folks out of poverty? It's only a matter of time before other counties adopt a similar measure. Your legacy can be a revolutionary one where you are a part of the most inclusive minimum wage measure in the country or a disgraced one where you stopped the movement. We know you will do the right thing because you work for the people, for us. The people remember and we will vote out those who do not.

Thank you.

To the last speaker before you begin, can you come and state your name for the record? Daisy. And to any other speaker, can you state your name before you?

Yeah, my name is Jaylee White. I work for One Fair Wage and for IHSS. Like, I just want to speak in reality. So if you keep the wages the same, so the price is still going to go up regardless. It's been going on my whole life. I'm 46 years old. I'm a registered voter in Alameda County. Y'all just need to put it on the ballot so we can make this happen. I'm ready to vote now.

Hello, how you guys doing? My name is Tonisha Scott. I am a manager at One Fair Wage, and let's just be clear here, like for real. So here's the bottom line. $30 an hour is not even nowhere enough to live in Alameda County, and we all know that. Can you blue jacket, you pink shirt, can you? Can you guys make it off of what the wages are here? The people are in dire need, and what have we not seen? What are we not understanding? Go outside and take a look at the community. People are struggling. I'm struggling. Tomorrow, we're not asking for this shit to happen ASAP. We're asking for it over time. So let's do the right thing. If you, you, you, you, you, you, you can go to bed tonight and knowing that y'all could have made a change to help us folks, that's a whole bigger fish we gotta fry. Let's do what's right for the people. You guys are sitting in those better chairs right now because we did what's right for y'all. So make it right. Let's do it today.

I want to get through all 18, but if we keep, please go.

Alita Austin Torre. Some of you may not know who Lucy Parsons is. She started an eight hour a day work week. She was a black woman. Right now, the great migration has hit here hard. And I'm gonna give you the numbers. Oakland, 33% black, it's 19. Berkeley, 14% black, now it's eight. Hayward was 12% black and now it's nine. Why? We cannot afford it. I have lots of children in the work I do as an organizer, not because I was at Amazon at night, not because I was at Longamari at Jack London Square, not because I worked with Obama and helped him to get it where I even was able to work for the National Institute of Health. It's because in this place, we have to work two and three jobs. And unfortunately, we cannot survive this way. The great migration return means majority of us here sitting down may not be here till next year. It's urgency because we may be back down south where we can afford it. And that's not OK.

My name is Denae Davis. I'm here as an Oakland resident and for One Fair Wage. A box of chips is almost half, if not more than half, of an hour's worth of wage. We can barely buy a meal with an hour's worth of wage, so how can we pay rent? and literally any other living costs. I'm here and I ended up working with One Fair Wage to work with my mom because we needed to help support ourselves and I still can't even find a way back to school. And then by the end of the month, so I think we need more money and the people here need it. I mean, the people, the residents need it. Thank you and have a nice day.

All right. Good evening, board members. My name is Diego Perez, and as a freshly graduated high school student from East Oakland and an incoming college student, I witnessed firsthand the cycle of poverty that defines so many lives in our community. Growing up, I watched my family and neighbors struggle, survive living paycheck to paycheck, despite working tirelessly. My perspective was further shaped while working as a canvasser, speaking with hundreds of people daily. I didn't just hear their frustration. I saw their desperate hope for a fair chance. They aren't looking for a handout. They're looking for the dignity of a living wage that allows them to thrive rather than just survive. This initiative is more than a policy. It is a lifeline for the people of Oakland, and I strongly urge the council to move forward with this proposal and give our community the opportunity to build a stable future this November. Thank you.

Greetings, Board of Supervisors. My name is Janabo Kinchin and also my fellow citizens. I was raised in Oakland. Me and my wife are both small business owners here in downtown. We approve the measure fully. I also was a servant and canvasser as well as a coordinator with OFW, One Fair Wage. We must answer the calls of our fellow citizens. Please, today, Board. Evidence of the 117,000 signatures properly signed by the grassroots organization, One Fair Wage. and our fellow citizens, which were made up of volunteers, as well as the coalitions and other groups involved. I believe there is a misnomer, false statement that we often hear and often accept, which is that one person has to be flourishing for another person not to be flourishing. Despite the false statements, the truth there is abundance for all of us to be able to claim. We just, in this case, must exercise corporate ethics and place people above profits. Let's be clear. I'm not asking anyone, large or small, to not be profitable. Just asking us to not exemplify greed.

Thank you for your comment. Your time is up.

Good afternoon. My name is Diana. Earlier, I just heard my mom, Sonia, make a public comment about how hard it is for her to work two jobs and barely survive out of that. Let me tell you how hard it is for me to see my mom work two jobs. She doesn't have one day off. She works seven days a week. One job where she works from 9 a.m. to 4 a.m. One job where she works from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. And another when hours are offered as a caregiver. She comes home complaining about how much her body hurts because of all the hard work, physical work she puts in in order to afford and prioritize groceries and bills. $30 an hour would mean she would be able to spend time with me and have some days out to rest and enjoy each other's company. As a daughter of a mother who works two jobs, I ask you, the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, to make change and vote this into our ballot this November and stand with the working class of Alameda County like my mom. Thank you.

I'm the co-executive director of the Black Organizing Project. And when you collect almost 120,000 signatures and the registrar voter certifies those signatures, she has done her job. Thank you. You submit. It is so the voters can decide on a measure, not the board. And while many people think that voters don't know what's in their self-interest, we know damn well what's in our interest. This board has no power to stop this from going to the ballot. And when it does go to the ballot, hopefully this November, the same big money interest that raised Russell City will spend millions of dollars to say the sky will fall and few will pay attention to your damn study. and then the voters will decide and so justice delayed is justice denied both for workers and for small businesses who will have to make that jump of four dollars and out an hour so stop the harm stop pepper spraying young people stop displacing black families

Good evening, supervisors. My name is Mateo Ramirez, and I believe that everybody deserves a livable wage. An adequate living wage is a human right. It is easy for supervisors and opposers not to rush this because they are not the people who benefit from it. The supervisors in front of me do not worry about where they will sleep tomorrow and how they will feed their families. As a 17-year-old, I worry about how I will go to college without being put into debt or being a burden to my hardworking family. Thank you.

Good evening, Board of Supervisors. My name is Graciela Medina. I am a Hayward resident, and I believe that a livable wage is not a luxury, rather it is a necessity. As an 18-year-old, I have done countless side jobs, whether that be serving food to my community, hosting events that cost little to nothing for my community, or simply helping local organizations. I constantly worry about the fact that I... I can't afford to live in a house. I can't afford to make a rent. I can't even get a job. Our job market is terrible. I worry I will not be able to support myself. A livable wage, nobody would have to worry about that. You guys go home every single day and you do not have to worry about that. You are supported by us. We are the backbone of you and you cannot even give us that respect back. A livable wage is human decency. Shame on you for not seeing that. Shame.

Are there any other speakers?

No more speakers. Okay.

We're going to bring it back for deliberation. I would like to thank the speakers both online and in person that did participate. Glad we got through the last few speakers there. Um, and everybody got a chance to speak. So, um, I note that council is here for questions. I've already shared what I believe my motion will be. I've asked for comments from the board, Supervisor Marquez, Tam, Fortuna Bass, and Miley.

Okay. Thank you everyone for your engagement and patience. I know it's been a long day and this was supposed to start at four. So just really appreciate everyone's patience on this. A couple of clarifying questions. So I did read the board letter, the description, but I'm not seeing the actual language that would be on the ballot. Is that something that is still under development or can you clarify if it is in this document? I just, it's an oversight, but I don't see it. It's

So it is not an oversight. What would happen based on your board direction is if your direction were for us to move this to the ballot, then it was our intention to bring to you on Thursday at a special meeting the resolution that would consolidate the election, that would establish the ballot label question and take those other items that are required forward. as a normal course to do that in some instances historically we've only had a very few initiative matters but historically we have taken an approach where we in some instances just relied on the minute order that is you know your board acts and you get a minute order and we go from there but working on the ballot label question is an important next step that needs to be done and we would bring that to you on thursday

Okay, so based off today's action, should we land there? That is something that county council or WHO drafts the language, and is it done in consultation with the opponents?

It is not done in consultation with the proponents. We would draft that and provide it to you.

Okay. And then with respect to, I know there's a lot of questions. There's some areas that call out measure C. Could you speak to that in terms of what are the risks, the exposure? What can we, what do we know at this point in terms of existing countywide measures that have to do with wage increases?

So the ordinance itself does in one particular section reference the funds being generated by Measure C, the tax measure from a few years ago. It is, in our opinion, and having looked at it, we have concerns about the nature of the description of Measure C and the use of funds from Measure C. And we did call that out in our impartial analysis of the petition itself and recognize that there may need to be litigation to resolve the open questions regarding measure C. In particular, it is in subsection F of what they identify is excuse me, section 40010101020, thank you. There is a reference to the payment of the living wage, the minimum wage, excuse me, for family childcare workers, providers. And it essentially states that the intended revenue service for such compensation shall include subsidy payments from the state of California, which are not identified, and funds from Alameda County Measure C as set forth in Article 6 of Chapter 2.8 of the Alameda County State General Ordinance. Chapter 2.08 includes both aspects of Measure C, which is the early child care worker payments, as well as the 20% of Measure C, which is allocated to pediatric health care. This ordinance does not make a distinction in those funds. So all of those funds potentially may be available to pay for family child care providers. Okay.

Can I ask a hypothetical question? Please do. Should this get approved today to be put on? the ballot that's action one, your office would develop the language, the actual language that would go on the ballot. We would be able to review that on Thursday at a special meeting. Then it's up to the voters in this measure, even though as it reads, it's for unincorporated county-owned buildings and controlled. So I'm capturing that as lease. if there's going to be a legal challenge, wouldn't that hypothetically only come into effect should this be successful? November, are there bases to challenge it if before November, I guess is my question.

So a ballot measure can be challenged in many instances, must be challenged if there's a question regarding the language of the ballot question. There is a requirement of the law for that to be a pre-election challenge in order to make sure the language is appropriate. So even if we draft the language, there could be a pre-election challenge.

So there's no rule that could come at any time?

That could occur at any time once your board adopts the language for the ballot question, the label. Then the measure could be challenged pre-election. Oftentimes a court will say, I'm going to wait and see if this passes before we go into the merits because otherwise it's not necessarily a right issue.

That's the court's determination. Yes.

That is the course determination of whether or not the issue is right. And it depends upon the nature of the challenge that is made, because some things have to be resolved in advance. You know, is this constitutional? Is this even a proper matter for referenda or initiative?

And there could be multiple challenges.

It could be one or more multiple challenges.

And we as the county would have to defend that in terms of?

We would not, depending on the nature of the challenge. If your board adopts the ballot label, then we would defend the ballot label. Okay. But we would not be obligated to defend the initiative. The proponents of the measure would be obligated to defend the initiative. Our office would be present in litigation on behalf of the register of voters to ensure that we are fully compliant with our ministerial duty.

Okay. And then my last clarifying question is on the employers, the over $100 billion. I want to make sure I'm understanding the rationale clearly. Is it 100 employees and gross revenue over a billion? What if it's less than a billion?

is drafted, if there are 100 or more employees and a billion dollars in gross revenue, then the employer is categorized as a large employer. And so then they're subject to the wage increase, yes, under the faster schedule. If they have between 25 employees.

Let me pause. So what if they don't hit the billion dollar? Do they fall to the next category?

They fall down to the employer category.

Okay, thank you.

Supervisor Tam.

Thank you. I appreciate the speakers and the advocacy. I know this is a very important issue for especially our region because of the cost of living. The issues that I'm trying to sort through has more to do with health care since I serve on the health committee. with Supervisor Miley and the Unincorporated Services Committee meeting with Supervisor Miley, because this only applies in those areas. There was a measure that was passed by the vote actually under Senate Bill 525, It raised the minimum wage for healthcare workers in federally qualified health clinics to $25 an hour in July of 2027. So do we know how this proposed measure will interact with the statewide healthcare minimum wage law that was enacted in 2023? And the second part of that question is, there seems to be at least among the federally qualified health clinics that provide healthcare to the most needy and the indigent that rely on Medi-Cal, that there are ambiguities concerning employees who perform occasional work in the unincorporated and hop between that and the incorporated areas that may not have this initiative applied to them. And so, This is important to them because Medi-Cal as it stands now does not reimburse these clinics for any state mandated increases in the healthcare minimum wage. And the issue comes about like if a street medicine employee spends part of the week in the unincorporated area and part of the week in the incorporated jurisdictions, which wage standard would apply to that employee's compensation? And this is something that is particularly important in the unincorporated area with like Verso Vasquez that serves, you know, Hayward, Ashland and San Leandro and those regions.

So I would first call out that the proposed initiative measure defines a covered employee as any person who performs during their respective pay period any work. within the geographic boundaries of the unincorporated areas of Alameda County. So for those employees who are working sometimes in the unincorporated area and other times outside of the unincorporated area, they are likely to be covered employees because they are performing work within the unincorporated area. I cannot speak to SB 525 and how that would, in particular, how that would apply. My general read of the proposed initiative is that this ordinance would be layered on top of others to ensure that all workers who are covered workers reach the $30 level of hourly pay within the schedule that is proposed, even if there is another state law or another local law that gives them a lower sum. This is pushing them up to the higher level.

Do we know whether or not, even though this is not a state mandated but a voter mandated initiative, would this be covered for reimbursement by Medi-Cal or Medicaid?

We do not know.

Okay. Okay. Um, there are a number of questions that I have, uh, obviously concerning the potential impacts in the unincorporated area. And particularly when it comes to, um, some of the businesses that are operating on margins, would those questions be more appropriate, um, in, in the further research and further study, or is it something that we need to vet completely because I don't expect you to know the answers to some of the economic impacts

So as legal counsel, we would not opine on economic impacts. The proponents have, in fact, sent forward two studies, which we have reviewed to some measure. But in some cases, they present more questions than answers. And there are certainly some areas that I was reading earlier where I think some of their assumptions may be incorrect. So if you want more information before you take action, the option available to you is to ask a particular staff or consultants retained by staff to attempt to answer your questions and provide you with the report.

So questions like enforcement, monitor, compliance, that would be more appropriately referred to staff.

Certainly the cost of those efforts, the issues of who or which county employees or which agencies would be tasked with those efforts. There's a number of different models in various jurisdictions. And so those are questions that sitting here tonight that certainly I cannot answer. I do not know if other agencies are available to answer.

Okay. Thank you. Supervisor Fortunato-Bass, questions, comments?

Thank you, President Halbert. I first want to appreciate everyone who has been engaging in this meeting and throughout the process, all of the public speakers. And I certainly appreciated the proponents of the measure meeting with me and my staff and answering our questions. I appreciate our County Council for also answering the very specific questions I had as well as to some of the businesses and others who've contacted us more recently over the past day or so. I do wanna start by saying that I do believe that everyone deserves a living wage and a living wage from just one job, not two or three jobs. I also believe that everyone deserves to have a safe and affordable home. to be in the community that they desire to be and not be pushed out. As we've been talking about reparations and redress and being the representative of West Oakland and South Berkeley, where there has been redlining, there has been displacement of particular communities, including the black communities. I think it's really important that we look forward as to how we can create more equity and eliminate poverty, as one of the public speakers said. So the solution to poverty, or at least one of the solutions to poverty, is economic equity. And for those who don't know, that's why back in 2014, I was one of three proponents in Oakland who brought to voters the ballot measure called Measure FF, which raised the minimum wage with paid sick days. I want to be clear that what we are deciding upon today is not necessarily the substance of this measure alone. but want to place it on the ballot. And with that in mind, I believe in our democratic process. I recognize that over 100,000 people signed this petition. I believe that the coalition followed our democratic process, which is why the registrar is bringing this item forward to us. And those people who signed the petition believe that they were placing this measure on the ballot in November. I believe that we should honor the will of those voters and place this on the ballot in November. And in addition to that, I believe that as a ballot measure, we also have to make sure that we collectively educate voters about what is in this ballot measure. And how it will raise the minimum wage to $30 per hour by 2030 and exactly where so that is the unincorporated areas of our county county controlled and owned properties. Family child care providers are mentioned. Janitorial employers are mentioned. There's a lot between now and November that would have to happen to ensure that voters are very aware of exactly what they are voting on, who will be impacted, how. And also, we would have to be ready in the event that this is approved by voters to implement and enforce this. the measure and to be clear what the county's role would be. And so while I share a number of questions as have been raised by my colleagues, I do believe in our democratic process and I do believe that we should place this on the November ballot.

Is that a motion? Supervisor Miley.

Thank you, President Halbert. Well, yeah, let me also say, I want to thank everyone for speaking on this very important matter today. You know, both Supervisor Bass and I live in Oakland and both Supervisor Bass and I have served on the Oakland City Council. And I think both Supervisor Bass and I share the same values, but we're going to come to different conclusions on this. I do think the voters have a chance to vote on this, just not in November. It's going to be March of 2028 because we need to do a study. I think that's the prudent thing to do. I don't want to do anything that's going to impact the quality of life in the unincorporated area without a study. This isn't a measure. That applies to Oakland. This is a measure that applies to the corporate area. And I think the prudent thing to do is to do that study so we can get all questions answered. The voters will vote on it, not in November of this year, but March of 2028 would be the time they vote on this. So you and I share the same thing. We just come at it from a different perspective. Furthermore, I think if we want to have a living wage, if we want to have a living wage, it shouldn't just apply to the unincorporated area. It shouldn't just apply to Oakland. It should apply to the entire Bay Area, to the entire state for that matter. So that's why we need to look at the impact of this measure, how it will affect businesses, the quality of life in the unincorporated area. Because I think everyone who supports this has the best of intentions. I respect their intentions, but I want to make sure that their intentions don't lead to unintended consequences that have a derogatory impact on others. So that's why I think A study is important. We're going to give voters a chance to vote on it. It'd be 2028. Furthermore, I'm going to propose that after the study's completed, if the study shows so many weaknesses, loopholes, implications, unintended consequences, that I'm going to work with the county council and my fellow supervisor, as well as the rest of you, and maybe we'll put our own measure on the ballot in 2028. That would provide the voters an opportunity to vote on this measure if they think this is a superior measure or a measure that we think would be more palpable to the broader segment of our society. So that's my position. So I'm going to support the study.

So I have another question. I have another question of county council. What I heard was that we have issues with the language. that was submitted. So this is a process question. And I just don't know if somebody wants to circulate a petition and then present ballot language. Do they have to have the language done before they get signatures?

They do, and they did in this instance. They came with the full proposed initiative already drafted and prepared to go. Our role in that instance is to do an impartial analysis and to provide a summary of what action is being taken by that item. And then it goes to the citizen or the electorate to decide whether or not they want to sign on to that measure.

So when that happens, did we notice these discrepancies that we have problems with? Or was it, you know, how did it get this far? Or how could it have been done so that we wouldn't have these issues? Is there a way to do that?

Yeah, so we are to remain impartial in preparing the impartial analysis. Our role is not to make corrective changes. We are not allowed to make proposed corrective changes. As we cannot, and your board cannot at this stage make changes. It is a take it or leave it proposition. The matter goes to the voters as it is. We cannot change it.

And so it seems as though we're at a point where we have issues that I think you said may even need to be resolved with litigation. And so we're at a point where the alternative is they may have to, well, I guess if it goes on the ballot and passes as is, and we have issues, that's when litigation might occur.

If there are material changes, and that is the intent of your board for us to seek either a declaratory action with the courts so that they would interpret things for us, or that we believe is illegal or unconstitutional or otherwise challengeable, then that is when you would take that up.

Supervisor Muller, you want to weigh in there?

Yeah, just, and County Council can correct me if I'm wrong, we can put this on the ballot. after the study, but we can also put on the ballot in March of 2028, our own measure that seeks the same thing, but it's much more palpable, let's put it that way, and addresses some of the concerns that the body politic might have. And if both measures are on the ballot, this isn't the first time something like this has happened. um the voters could decide they want to go with this measure or the measure that we put on and the measure that gets the most votes would be the winning measure am i correct county council you are correct okay can you clarify that it's a process to supervisor miley's comment um if we decide to put our own

ballot measure on the ballot for, obviously, we're not going to meet the November deadline, so it'd be March of 2028, then we don't have a say in this existing measure, correct? Yes, that is correct. Okay.

We both want a ballot.

Okay, I just want to make sure that we don't weigh in on that process.

The only way that you would not have two competing measures is if in the interim we worked with the proponents to agree on an alternative measure that your board could place on the ballot and then perhaps the proponents would withdraw theirs if there were agreement on an approach. That is always an option.

They can also research the issues that we have raised and determine for themselves whether they felt they could be successful in litigation and surpassing that, or they could also seek to change their language, but they would have to collect signatures again. Is that right?

They would have to start over. The language is essentially as it is and cannot be changed except by the voters.

Okay. Well... So... I don't think I have any other questions.

I would also add that your board has the ability as opposed to doing a voter initiative to adopt your own ordinance without a vote of the citizenry.

Could you repeat that again? I'm sorry.

You have the ability to adopt your own ordinance if you wanted to pursue a minimum wage ordinance without going to the voters. But if there were then a subsequent voter-approved initiative, it likely would override your measure, whether it was inconsistency or any... areas where the decision would be made to the latter measure, the voter initiative would control.

Indeed, and I don't think we'll have any argument. That means voter approved initiatives surpass board approved initiatives. The power of the people is greater than the people in power, and I want you to know that. I agree with that, too. That said, we still have No, we still, we have grave, grave concerns. And that's what I heard from our county council. And so haste makes waste. I'm all for pushing this to March of 28, asking for a study. This is our meeting, guys. We don't need to clear the room and finish this, but it is our meeting. So I heard Supervisor Miley, you have support for a study that we would have to define the scope of. I think I heard that from Supervisor Tam. Is that what that is? I have that desire. I'm hearing that two other supervisors, Fortana Bass and Marquez, despite the concerns that we might have and have to hash this out in litigation and whatnot, want to put it on the ballot this Friday by having another special meeting on Thursday to approve the ballot language?

I haven't stated my position yet, but I do want to respect the process. And I do feel strongly about This is going to be litigated and that's the path we may have to go to get the decisions and the clarity we need. My only concern is at this juncture, I want to respect all the hard work and collecting the signatures. My only pause and hesitation is we don't know the fiscal impact yet. to the county, so that is why I would be open to the study. But at the same time, we do have to respect the will of the people. So I feel at this point that we proceed with having language come back on Thursday for us to move it to approval to the November ballot. And should it be challenged, then that also creates an avenue for us to get to some of these unanswered questions and provide more clarity. And if that doesn't work, we still have March of 2028. We still have the option of bringing an ordinance back ourselves and working collaboration forward. with the individuals that have led these efforts. So I see as a multi-pronged approach. We don't exactly know where we're going to land yet. But step one at this juncture is whether or not I support a study or putting it on the ballot. And my position is to put it on the ballot in November.

Just to clarify, if we vote to put it on the ballot, that back on Thursday. But it would also mean that we would not be able to work with the proponents on changing or pulling. It would be on the ballot.

It would likely be challenged, I'm presuming. And that would require additional analysis. And we don't know challenged by whom, but it's very likely to occur.

So just a couple of clarifying points. If the decision is you need to make a decision tonight on A, B or C. And so it sounds like there is some interest in B, which would be a motion to place it on the ballot. Returning on Thursday is merely a ministerial activity to formalize the additional steps that need to be done to complete that process. If the decision is C, then the direction would be to one or more county agencies to come back with a study on a particular point. But even if the matter were moved forward today to be placed on the agenda for November, certainly we could work with the advocates, but it is too late for us to do anything for November. They would have to be willing to withdraw the petition, the proponents, to withdraw the current petition in November with an agreement to work with us for a subsequent ballot initiative measure, whether that be a regular or special.

So again, I'm seeing that it's a split here. We've got three for C and two for B. So we can make the motion and we can... go through multiple motions if we want. Go ahead, Supervisor Fortson.

President Howard, I would like to make a motion to place the ordinance without change on the ballot for November 3rd, the general election.

I'll second.

Well, I'd like to make a substitute motion either which to say that I would adopt item 130C and refer the proposed initiative to one or more county agencies for a report and see if we get a second for that. I'll second it. So a motion's been made and seconded on a substitute motion, which we will vote on first. I would like to say that if that substitute motion passes, the next step would then be, I believe, to provide staff with the scope of that report. So I will ask for a roll call vote, please.

Supervisor Marquez? No. Supervisor Tam? Yes. Supervisor Miley? Yes. Supervisor Fortunato-Bass? No. President Halbert?

I vote yes. So with that said, let's discuss what the scope of a study would be. Supervisor Malia, thoughts on that?

Yeah, well, I would like to understand if staff consultants be retained to look into with this measure, what would be the economic impact on the unincorporated area, on businesses in the unincorporated area, as well as the fiscal impact to the county based on the breadth of this measure, as well as looking at the implications around Measure C, both fiscally as well as legally.

To add to that, I would like for the economic impact study, when we say look at the economic impact to Alameda County, I would like to look at it as the impact to small business owners, the impact to nonprofit organizations, the impact to medium and large business owners, so that we can understand the difference I would like it to have an equity lens, so to look at its effect on minority-owned businesses. And I heard comments that the job market is already terrible. I guess to confirm, an evaluation of the economic impact would include an evaluation of the job market. I would also like to ask that it would include an analysis of inflation the impact on inflation. And what I keep hearing is that when you raise the minimum wage, then all prices go up. When all prices go up, retailers make a margin. If you raise by a dollar, they're going to raise $1.30 or $1.50, and they're just going to make increased margin, increased margin. And the wealth gap actually increases because they are always going to take a margin on the increased price.

Right.

So what's happening is the wealth gap, will the wealth gap increase or not as a result of economic, this wage increase? Guys, let's, we're not, we're gonna take a five minute break. All right, we'll reconvene now and ask the clerk to call the roll.

Supervisor Marquez. Present. Supervisor Tam. Present. Supervisor Miley. Present. Supervisor Horton-Advaz. Present.

Present.

President Hubbard. Present. We have a quorum.

Very good. We're at the point now of deciding and describing the scope of an economic or analysis of this. I think Supervisor Miley, you had given feedback I had given feedback and I think I was at the point of really wanting to understand the effects of inflation and the effects of the wealth gap that inflation causes, okay? And the other comments that I made were, I think, picked up on. You took notes on that. Okay. Supervisor Tam.

Thank you, President Halbert. So just following up on some of your comments about the economic impact tied to that would be understanding the impact on employment levels, including reductions in hours, hiring freezes, or job losses. And then I mentioned I'd like to know how the county would monitor and enforce compliance and what the projected cost of that enforcement infrastructure administration would look like. And then whether the board needs to evaluate how it affects county contracts, service providers, and public sector budgets, but in particular the ones that we contract with the community-based organizations, we give significant funding to a lot of the federally qualified health clinics. And that was a major concern there. And then obviously, part of the economic study is looking at mechanisms to prevent unintended consequences like increased automation or relocating a business to neighboring counties or even neighboring cities that don't have this ordinance and how i think you guys mentioned it aligns with the regional economic conditions particularly with nearby counties especially given that we're near Silicon Valley, the projected effects on consumer pricing, especially for essential goods and services that are used by low-income residents. And I mentioned earlier how the measure would interact with state minimum wage laws and what legal administrative challenges might arise from that and what contingency plans exist if economic conditions change. Like I think in Measure C, there might be some provision if there's a recession or a major downturn in the economy or another pandemic happens or something like that.

Well, I know it wasn't the desired outcome to refer this for additional economic study. Supervisor Fortunato-Bass or Marquez, would you like to weigh in on what you would like to see if you have anything else additional to add? Supervisor Fortunato-Bass or Marquez?

Yes, while I really had hoped that we would have the votes to put this on the ballot November of this year, seeing that there's a majority vote to do a study, I will just say as a representative of this board on the first five commission, I do want to make sure that we look at the interplay between this measure and measure C.

For me, I think it's comprehensive what everyone else has already shared to my comments earlier. I am concerned and want to know more about the impacts on the county budget. Specifically, my understanding is county-owned property or controlled. So this would include the fairgrounds, the Coliseum, and the other 120-plus buildings we own, and I'm not sure how many leases, but I want to make sure that that analysis is conducted. And then specifically, I think it was already called out, our contracts with community-based organizations. As we know, they are typically the direct service providers for our safety net services, so have to understand the impact of that. And once this report is completed, I'm presuming it will be presented, come back to us at our next meeting in September.

The report needs to come back in 30 days and then your board can take it up at the meeting in September.

So it'll be emailed to us since essentially we're on recess, but we would take up reviewing the report in a public meeting on the 15th of September.

Your next regular meeting is September 15 after recess. Once the report is is available, and we make it to available to all or majority all of your board that will be required to post it publicly. So we will do so at that time.

And where would it be posted for the public to see? No, it urgent does not till September, the report will be done before that, correct?

So once the document is, which will be an item on an agenda, is provided to all or a majority of all of your board members, we are required to make it publicly available. And so we will work with the CAO on where it will be posted. I do not know.

We don't know yet. Okay, but it. But the goal is to make it publicly available. Okay. And then do we have a consultant in mind who could do this work expeditiously since it's very tight?

There is a consultant that our community development agency would recommend could embark on the study within the required timeframe.

Okay. Thank you.

Does staff need any more direction on this item before we move to our mass motion?

We just need a motion to direct us to move forward with the study with all of those items that your board has listed within the scope.

I'll move that.

I'll second.

Roll call vote, please.

Supervisor Marquez. Aye. Supervisor Tam. Aye. Supervisor Miley. Aye. Supervisor Fortunato-Bovs. I'll vote aye. President Halbert?

I vote yes. That item is completed. We'll now move to our consent calendar item, I guess. These are items, numbers.

131 to 153. Yeah.

We have approval of minutes. Let's do that first. Is there a motion to approve the minutes? I'll move approval of the minutes. Second. Second. Motion has been made by Supervisor Tam, seconded by Supervisor Miley to approve the special meeting minutes of Thursday, March 6th, special meeting minutes of Friday, March 14th, regular meeting minutes of Tuesday, July 14th, July 28th, and a special meeting of July 28th at 10 a.m., special meeting July 28th at 1 p.m. Roll call vote, please.

Supervisor Marquez? Aye. Supervisor Tam? Aye. Supervisor Miley? Aye. Supervisor Porton on the bounce? Aye. President Humbert?

I vote yes. Next item is the consent calendar items 131 to 153. Is there a motion to approve? I will move the consent calendar.

I'll second.

Motion has been made by Supervisor Tam, seconded by Supervisor Marquez to approve the consent calendar items 131 to 153.

Mr. President, I do not believe we took public comment on all items on the agenda except for the listed items. We moved immediately to the set matters.

Yeah.

Um, is there any, okay. Well, before we take the vote on the consent calendar, let's ask, is there any public comment on the approval of minutes or on the consent calendar or on any of the items that are on the mass motion?

I was given 19 slips when the meeting started at nine 30. I'm not sure who's still here.

You can call them all. And any online, if you want to speak on approval of our minutes or consent calendar or the mass motion, raise your hand.

John White. Samuel Ramey.

Just call them all.

Tim Murrow. Elijah Nguyen. Hope Johnson. Nicole Lee. Diadomi Brough, Mateo Ramirez, Grace Garcia, Kyla Mathis, Kantang Jackson, Kyron Thomas, Graciela Medina, Rakim Nayyolor, Kyla Mathis, Malcolm Harris, Zachary Norris, Iris Barrera.

Are there any of them in the room?

Yeah, this is for items, the minutes, the consent calendar and items two through 126.

Good evening supervisors and community members. My name is Mateo Ramirez with the Urban Peace Movement. I live in Hayward and I'm here to speak on SB 823. When the county first started talking about the treatment of youth in the SYTF back in 2020, community partners started organizing behind the banning of pepper spray. The use of pepper spray in juvenile hall has been banned in all but three counties, Alameda being one of them. Pepper spray is a chemical being used on our children, causing difficulty breathing.

So this is not on the agenda. We have, at the end of our mass motion, a time to make comment on any item not on the agenda. And you would be welcome to make this comment at that time.

Well, this comment has to do with the SYTF.

Which item are you speaking on?

Yes. Hold on just one second. Let me check that out. I mean, I'll ask County Council if this topic of pepper spray in juvenile hall is...

So I would have to defer to the probation department if this is within the scope of an item of that nature. I'm not familiar with item 97. I do not know what it pertains to.

So at my discretion, can I just allow the public comment and assume that it's close enough?

You may allow it.

Please continue.

Thank you. Alameda County Probation cannot claim a youth development or trauma-informed approach while using a weapon that traumatizes children. In a place that is supposed to help these kids, how does it reflect on our youth that they are met with the same treatment we meet animals with? The way we spray bears with bear mace, the way we spray cats and dogs with water, we are spraying these kids with a chemical weapon just because they misbehave. Alameda County claims they are for de-escalation, but other counties have moved towards better de-escalation techniques. When humans are met with fear and violence, how do we expect them to react? Our fight or flight is triggered. When a harmful chemical is deployed, how do we expect our youth to react in a situation like this? Is that truly de-escalation? Other states have proven moving towards more trauma-informed approaches works. So why have we not done the same? The supervisors sitting here before me have the power to end the abuse our children face. The use of pepper spray in juvenile hall is chemical warfare against the youth. So I call on you, supervisors. Supervisor Tam, Marquez, Halbert, Bass, and Miley, I call on you to stop pepper spraying our kids.

Hello again, supervisors. It's Graciela Medina. I'm a Hayward resident, as I already stated, and a member of the Urban Peace Movement. And I'm here to discuss SB 823, agenda item 97. A secure youth facility, FYTF for short, is supposed to be about growth and rehabilitation of our youth. Our youth are put into these facilities so that they can try to better themselves. Look, I hope we understand that. Why are we using this harmful spray on our kids? Our kids do not deserve to be treated this way. In June and July of 2025 alone, chemical spray was deployed 36 times against a population of just 65 youth. This happened nearly every single day. This practice disproportionately harms our black and brown youth, many of whom have already experienced significant trauma. Eight California counties already operate without chemical sprays. 35 states have already banned it. So why can't Alameda County be next? As community members, we want Alameda County to push for the safety of its people. This includes our youth. Juvenile Hall is supposed to be for growth and support and rehabilitation. Stating this again. Instead, we are seeing harm spread like an infectious disease. And how are our children supposed to grow and feel safe when they are being abused? As board members, you should be prioritizing the safety and the well-being of your children. We demand that you, the Board of Supervisors, calls for the ban of all forms of pepper spray immediately. Ban them and prioritize it in your agenda as you return from your summer break or whenever you seem as fit.

Hi, my name is Kiara Thomas and I'm with Urban Peace Movement. Is it really the safest option? You use excuse troubled youth to determine their future. You treat them like animals, you spray them and leave them in agonizing pain. It's sick, pathetic, and inhumane. We should be more focused on the rehabilitation of youth instead of continuing and worsening the trauma, which is the real solution, ending the cycle. We should have, why should we wait for our kids to die in order for us to care or notice? How are you not ashamed because I'm appalled that we even have to have this conversation. It's disgusting. So tell me supervisors, is it really worth our children's lives?

Good afternoon, board. My name is Elijah, and I'm here with Urban Peace Movement today to speak on agenda item SBA23 and demand a ban on using pepper spray in Alameda County's juvenile detention facilities. I think it's safe to say that as elected officials, it is one of, if not your greatest responsibility to protect the health and safety of the people that you serve. That responsibility does not disappear when a child enters juvenile detention. And if anything, it becomes even greater because those young people are vulnerable youth in need of rehabilitation. Staff at Alameda County Juvenile Hall use pepper spray, military-grade pepper spray meant to be used on animals about twice a week with children as young as 12 years old being sprayed, including youth experiencing psychiatric crises. On top of that, police use of pepper spray on adults has a risk of one death for every 600 uses. If that risk exists for adults, why the hell are we exposing our youth to the same dangerous chemical weapon? Juvenile justice is not meant to solely be punishment. Its main purpose is rehabilitation. Pepper Sprite teaches the exact opposite lesson. It tells young people like me that conflict is resolved by whoever has the most power and the strongest weapon. That isn't the value we should be teaching children who are supposed to be learning accountability and communication. A facility built on fear is not a safer facility, and better alternatives already exist. Many jurisdictions like Santa Clara have eliminated pepper spray and instead invested in crisis intervention, trauma-informed care, and verbal de-escalation. These approaches have improved outcomes for both youth and staff, and lowers costs by approximately $70,000 per incident associated with medical treatment, as well as workers' comp and lawsuits. Board, I want you to look me in the eyes when I say this. Any family's child can make one poor decision or one mistake and end up in juvenile detention. No parent should have to wonder whether that mistake will result in their child being sprayed with a military grade chemical weapon while in custody. The children in juvenile hall are not somebody else's children. They're Alameda County's children. And board, they could be your children, your nieces, or your nephews as well. But I shouldn't have to say that for you guys to care.

Thank you for your comments. Thank you. Next speaker.

Good morning, board. My name is Grace, and I'm here representing the Urban Peace Movement. I'm here to speak on the issue of pepper spray in institution juvenile halls and the related SB 823. The use of pepper spray is legal in Alameda County juvenile facilities. When in contact, pepper spray causes a burning in your eyes, temporary blindness, painful blisters, rashes, burns, and increased risk of stroke and heart attacks. The physical effects can linger for hours, but the emotional and mental effects can be lifelong. Pepper spray can cause triggers like trauma, Triggered can cause panic attacks, nightmares, fear of enclosed spaces, PTSD-like symptoms, and a fear of staff. In these spaces where our youth are the most scared, vulnerable, and unsure of their future, trust in staff is vital for the process of regrowth. Waking up in terror, never knowing if you'll be able to be safe or not, doesn't teach kids to grow. It instills distrust, fear, and resentment towards authority. And a place that's supposed to be dedicated to the healing, protecting, and encouragement in our growth. The use of chemical weapons at any moment being completely legal, encouraging violence, slashes any sort of progress that's ever been made. Board members, did you know that pepper spray is illegal during war and in combat by the chemical weapon convention? You heard me right. It's illegal to use during war, but completely legal in your juvenile halls to spray a chemical weapon in the faces of the most vulnerable youth by adults who hold much more power than them. Tell me board members, would you feel safe knowing at any moment you can be sprayed in the face by a chemical weapon, by something that stings for hours on end and leaves painful burns, by something that is banned in official warfare? No, you wouldn't. That's why we are calling on you to ban the use of pepper spray in juvenile centers to end the suffering of our youth and to protect those who are most vulnerable and need it most. Thank you.

I'm Zachary Norris. I'm the co-executive director of the Black Organizing Project, and I'm here in support of the Urban Peace Movement. Supervisor Miley, I respectfully disagreed with the decision that you just made, but I also really appreciated that 20 years ago you took a really brave and courageous stance in calling to stop the expansion of the super jail for youth and to relocate it closer to where families were being locked up from. And I appreciate that bravery. I think it's too late, unfortunately, to be a trendsetter Now, it was brave then because they were saying youth super predator. There were all kinds of mythologies about a coming youth crime wave that never materialized. And we saw across the country a national movement to actually downsize and reduce youth incarceration. Unfortunately, now the county is behind the trend. All other Bay Area counties have actually ended, most have ended youth pepper spray usage. And that makes y'all more vulnerable to being sued for being that outlier and continuing this barbaric practice. So I would just ask that y'all really use the power and the leverage you have over the juvenile hall to stop this practice, to do what's right. Because again, if you stop doing the harm, you don't have to later redress the harms. Thanks.

My name is Malcolm Harris. I'm co-organizing director of the Black Organizing Project based here in Oakland. I stand in support and in solidarity with our partners at the Urban Peace Movement. And I also want to name that we are in the 60th anniversary of the Oakland Black Panther Party. And in those 60 years, you would think that so much would have changed. Not much has changed at all. As a matter of fact, the interesting thing to see is that even as we're sitting here talking about health issues, that in your four years, Supervisor Tam, I'm curious about how you have taken into consideration the impact of pepper spray and other ways to be able to address and de-escalate issues versus the use of pepper spray or any other type of bodily... impacts when it comes to young folks and youth and the juvenile justice system. I encourage you in the same way that y'all who are so eager to move, Supervisor Miley and Supervisor Halbert, to move towards studies. Maybe you need to do another study. Since in the 60 years of the Black Panther Party, there's so much that has not changed. Maybe you need to do a study to find out what else needs to change in the lives of working communities, in particular Black and Brown communities. I ask you to take these issues into consideration and look at how These health-related issues can be addressed and changed as you all take such deep issues with other ways to look at change and inequities in our community.

My name is Rakim Naylor and I'm here on behalf of the Urban Peace Movement. How many screens does it take for the Board of Supervisors to take action to use your power in all the right ways? How many screens will it take to get to the center of corruption of our so-called justice system? How many screens does it take to get to the center of your souls? Why am I here is children are being pepper sprayed with chemical weapons of war. This is a crime on our children's humanity. It erodes trust between staff and youth. The kids that get sprayed grow up into women and men still mentally scarred. and not healed? How many screens does it take to realize the power you have? How many screens does it take to stop perpetuating the pain on our children? How many screens does it take to get to the center to break down all forms of abuse in our society and our justice system? Remember, you have the power to stop the use of pepper spray on our children here in Alameda County Juvenile Hall. We the people expect you to do your job gracefully. How many screens does it take to get to the center of our anger? How many screens does it take to get to the center of our hearts? How many screens does it take?

Good evening, supervisors. My name is Kayla Mathis. I'm the director of youth programs at Urban Peace Movement. Before I speak on item 97, I just want to remind you that delaying to raise Alameda County's minimum wage harms our people. Families working full time still can't afford rent, food and child care. So Supervisor Miley, Supervisor Tam and Supervisor Halbert, you all can afford to wait until 2028. The majority of our majority of our constituents can't. even afford to for next month. So please just, I want y'all to remember that. Now to agenda 97. For six years since SB 823 opened this conversation, community partners have called on this county to ban the use of pepper spray. And yet, only one unit in Alameda County Juvenile Hall has some sort of ban. Six years, one unit, and this unit only has 13 beds. I'm glad for the improvements in that unit, but what about every other young person in the other units of the hall? Are they not worthy? and the same protection. Alameda is one of only three Bay Area counties that hasn't banned pepper spray. That's not leadership, that's lagging. For 10 years, I've worked with young people across this county. They deserve better, not more trauma. If schools can't use pepper spray, juvenile halls shouldn't either. It doesn't deescalate, it traumatizes. We're not asking for another study. We're asking for a written phase out timeline to ban pepper spray in every unit in the hall. You have the data and you have the courage to act now. So thank you.

Well, that said, we've- I'm sorry, President Hubbard, we have five online.

for public comment.

Oh, okay. Let's have it.

John Lindsey Poland, you have two minutes.

I know you all want to go home. I've also been in the Zoom call since 930 this morning, but you have more than 100 items on your agenda, which we probably have not read most of them because you didn't know that item 97 does have to do with SBA 23 and funding for probation. So I support all the comments that the youth have made. and others have made. And I would say, if you are not going to ban pepper spray in juvenile facilities in the county, this particular item is for data for studying, which you just voted for another study for, that include things for moving forward restorative justice. and policy development research and reducing disparities. So why not pull this item from the mass motion and actually require that that particular study look at how the county, how probation department is advancing towards getting rid of pepper spray in juvenile facilities. The item I was going to talk about is item three, which is the capital improvement plan, which you considered last week in a special meeting. It was not noticed very far in advance. The Granicus recording was not available. So I finally just found out about it this morning, which it includes a new piece for Santa Rita Jail. It's not until fiscal year 30. It's not approved yet, but it's $182 million for... for electrical and core improvements of some kind. There's only like five words about what $182 million would be for. What I'm interested in is your knowledge of how those types of things get into the out years of the capital improvement plan. Where do they come from? Who decides them? How does somebody come up with $182 million for Santa Rita jail when we know that so many other things are needing money? How is that determined? You need to be on top of that. So I urge you to find out either today or in the future.

Paul Carney, you have two minutes.

Good evening, supervisors. My name is Paul Carney, and I'm the Chief Financial Officer at Ebaldi. I'm here to speak on item 60, the Home Together Fund. I want to thank the board and the county staff for the diligence you've brought to the development of the Home Together Fund, including the review, the follow-up questions, and the interviews. It has meant this fund is intentionally designed and well-targeted. We appreciate the thoughtful process. This fund is a critical resource to shore up local affordable housing providers like ours after an intensive shock to our industry. The pandemic's effects are still with us, and they've been heightened by rising insurance costs and shifts in federal funding and policy. Half of Ebaldi's Alameda County portfolio is permanent supportive housing, serving extremely low-income seniors, families, and formerly homeless individuals. Every dollar of unrecoverable loss we carry is a dollar not going toward the services and ongoing projects that keep their homes safe and affordable. This fund lets us keep our commitments to them. We respectfully ask for your approval today, and thank you again for getting us here.

Hang Moe's ear. You have two minutes.

Thank you. Hello, Chair and members of the board. My name is Hang Mosher, and I'm the Community Engagement Director at Satellite Affordable Housing Associates, SAHHA. We are a nonprofit affordable housing organization with more than 60 years of experience serving low-income families, seniors, formerly unhoused individuals, and people with special needs. Affordable housing and supportive services play a critical role in helping Alameda County residents remain safely housed. We are deeply grateful for the staff thoughtful process and recommendation on agenda item 60 and for the county continued investment in affordable housing and homelessness. At Saha, we believe housing is more than just a roof over one's head. It is the foundation that enables people to build the stability to thrive in the communities they call home. This funding will help Saha stabilize our operations and allow us to continue providing safe, affordable housing and supportive services to the residents who depend on us. Thank you for your consideration and support. We are proud to be trusted community partner and remain committed to serving Alameda County's most vulnerable neighbors. Thank you.

Madeline, Stacy, you have two minutes.

Thank you. Hello. I want to first really uplift the comments given by youth themselves. Many of the commenters, although I don't think they self-identified, are under 18 who spoke about item 97. I just want to really uplift and applaud their engagement. I think that that means that we should listen carefully. with even greater openness and intensity to what they're saying as the youth are our future and they're talking about themselves and those incarcerated in juvenile detention centers. I also, still speaking on 97, thought it was really appropriate that in the last item, You spoke about fiduciary concerns and issues, and that is definitely an issue with the use of pepper spray in the juvenile detention center. If there's an infraction or a lawsuit, I believe if I'm not misremembering, it was about $20,000 each time a suit was brought. That's definitely a fiduciary concern and something that you need to contend with as the Board of Supervisors. There are already methods of de-escalation. Pepper spray is not necessary. And I do want to address, because I'm sure it'll be brought up in later discussions, the kind of step down in the use of the quote-unquote less harmful pepper spray, Repulse. It's a water-based pepper spray. But I really want to emphasize at this time that chemical use A chemical harm is still a chemical spray. You're still using chemicals on these youths. And what happens with the water-based, I'm trained in riot control agents. And when you use a riot control agent that's water-based, it's easier to clean and rinse out, but it is still effective in causing harm. and being a deterrent because it still has capstation. It is still harmful. So I'd really like you to agendize this specifically when you return from recess.

Joanna Holden, you have two minutes.

Hi, board. It's wonderful to be back here. I'm here commenting on item number 29, the vote to approve Measure W funding for queer and trans services, specifically youth mental health support and gender-affirming care for Alameda County. Before I express my gratitude, I must express my grief. Nothing could be More beneficial for our low-income queer and trans communities here in Alameda County than raising the minimum wage, and that is not happening this year. So I'm feeling that grief. That said, I am incredibly grateful to the supervisors who have stood with our queer and trans community supporting the crucial work that the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center is doing to support queer and trans youth, adults, elders, to fight back against this federal administration that is hell-bent on causing us genocidal harm and violence. Alameda County has not always been a great ally in this area, but everyone on the board at present has chosen to stand on the side of justice. And for that, we're thankful. We look forward to working with you, not only in the year to come, but for the rest of the Measure W funding period. Thank you. Good night.

No more speakers.

Very good. With that said, we are about to vote on the consent calendar item. I think motion was made by Supervisor Tam, second by Supervisor Marquez. Roll call vote, please.

Supervisor Marquez. Aye. Supervisor Tam.

Aye.

Supervisor Miley. Aye. Supervisor Fortunato-Bass. Aye. President Hopper.

I vote yes. We're now ready for the mass motion. Are we prepared for that?

President Halbert, let me just make a couple of announcements. There's been a request to pull item 50, capital A, small Roman II by the author of that letter. And there's also been a request to pull item 104 by the department.

What's the one by the department? What item again? 104.

104. Okay.

Very well. Are we able to make a mass motion then?

Mr. President, I will move items two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. I have a question on eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Question on 15 and three. 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25. 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. Comment on 29. 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 49, 50.

50 would be as amended with small Roman 2 excluded.

50 as amended with small Roman 2 pulled. 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67. Question number 66. 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97 question. 9899 100 101, 102, 103, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 113, 114, 115, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, and 126. Second. I'm sorry. I just wanted to clarify, Director Gassaway, it's actually 67.

I have questions on not 66. I apologize. Just a clarification.

Item 47 and 20 were not part of the mass motion because there's a recusal.

Yes. So I second the mass motion.

Very good. The motion's been made and seconded. First item for discussion or comments is Supervisor Fortunato-Bass, item three.

Yes, I do have a question on our capital improvement plan. This was also mentioned during the public comment. Regarding the Santa Rita jail capital plan, there's a projected 182 million in FY30 for electrical system upgrade and core building renovation. I don't recall seeing that in previous versions of the CIP. And my question is, how did this amount get calculated? Was it in the previous... facility assessment. I'd like to know more about that estimate.

Thank you, Supervisor Kimberly Gassaway, GSA Director. So the capital plan previously for future projects had $200 million. in last year's approved capital plan. We did bring under several work sessions to your board. The master planning at the jail was underway, which we're looking at the facility assessment needs as in addition to that, the litigation projects and any remodeling that we needed to do at the facility. We have a number of experts who are involved in cost estimators on those efforts. So what you see in future projects at this time, we do know the two greatest needs right now is the electrical systems upgrade, which we have a number of experts working on that, including cost estimators. And we know that the core building or the intake area needs to be remodeled. And we're working with the sheriff and behavioral health on that, moving that forward. So those two big items are still in planning with the consultants involved in planning So we do know that we're roughly estimate 182 million, but that's a future project. It's still in planning and development. It's not even in design yet. Neither of those exact items have been brought to your board for approval. We're just giving you that so you understanding of the gap for the future capital plan as a whole. So these are not approved projects yet. We're not ready to fully be brought forward, but there are a number of experts working on them. electrical systems at the jail are include the solar, the micro grid that's aged at this time. So more will be coming to your board.

Just a follow-up. Last week in our work session, we did receive a supplemental presentation specific to Santa Rita Jail. I haven't had a chance to look, but has that presentation been uploaded to our website? I'm not quite sure if it was going to be under the budget documents, but just wanted to verify the materials that we received last Tuesday.

All of those materials should have been uploaded.

And where would they be, though? The budget website, I think?

It should be on the budget website. If not, it would be with the agenda. We can verify the exact location.

Okay. So if it's on the agenda, it'll be housed where we file all of our agendas under the clerk's tab on the website. But in addition, they should be with the budget documents.

It should be with the work session documents.

agenda and it would have been posted after the board received it last week but let's verify that okay yeah if we could just get in a common practice of making sure we post those we could direct members of the public but appreciate the update thank you next item supervisor tam item eight

Thank you, President Halbert. So item eight is an amendment to a standard service agreement that the county has with the Chabot Las Positas Community College to provide training. And this is a $31 million contract with an increase from 18 to 31. And it's spread over five years, right? Going to 2028. So this is obviously a critical part of trying to make sure we have the vacancies filled with child welfare workers because part of the training program includes child welfare workers. So I'm just trying to understand how much does the county get for the funding that we provide? I know they have to probably provide a match. Do we get a good pipeline of of staffing from this program?

Thank you for your question, Supervisor Tam. Andrea Ford, Agency Director for Social Services. I have with me Michelle Love, the Assistant Agency Director for Children and Family Services, and she will respond to your question.

So the training is for a multitude of people. It is for our foster parents, our local agencies, anybody that works with foster youth can access this training. We use this training in the department to additional training for staff, educational opportunities that we wouldn't be able to attend. We've been able to use this funding to send staff to trainings that we're required to go to so that we don't use county dollars to do it. Oftentimes there are trainings out of state that require more than one person. So we've used this funding so we wouldn't be using county funds to send staff on trainings out of state. In terms of the pipeline for child welfare worker staff, as you know, Chabot is a community college. So it isn't really a pipeline to bring staff in.

Does it go to Cal State East Bay and then come?

This does not. It's completely separate. This 4E training dollars benefits agencies like Seneca gets a large chunk to train their staff and foster parents and people working in the community. A lot of our large agencies use this training dollars. So this, think of it, this is just training with the primary goal to get additional educational resources into the hands of our caregivers and anybody that's serving foster youth. So our behavioral health partners get a portion to assist training ICC coordinators that work with foster youth. So it's kind of spread actually throughout the county with multiple people getting to benefit as long as they are working with foster youth.

Okay. Thank you.

I actually have follow-ups. Do we measure how many, like what is the cost to serve per person trained? Or how do we divide the money up among Seneca and the others?

So we sit down with Chabot and we divide it up. What we've tried to do when I first got in the seat, it was primarily just going to Seneca. What we look at is what are the training needs of the community, and then we try to spread it out from there. So every time we come up with a new provider that is benefiting what we're trying to do, we add to that contract. So, for example, one of the ways child welfare workers benefit is is we have a contract with Evident Change. Evident Change is the purveyor of our structured decision-making tool. So they do case readings for us to look at what's working, what's not. With the upcoming host of things we've had, we've talked to Evident Change. They're gonna do a case reading in our emergency response program So we can identify the areas for structured decision-making, the evidence-based tool we have. What are the areas we need to train staff specifically? So we're just not throwing out a broad-based training.

Does our staff get paid to go to this training? Can we use it for staff salaries or stipends of some kind to augment the pay that our people receive?

No, it is specifically for training. It's Title IV-E training dollars.

And that comes from the state? Yes.

I think it comes from the federal government to pass through with a match at Chabot.

And it doesn't go to train teachers. It goes to train people that work with foster youth.

Title III funds are for foster youth. So it's designated for people that are going to be working with foster youth. And in the county, we've tried to spread it as broadly as we could so that a multitude of partners can benefit if they're working with our system.

Okay. Any other questions, Supervisor Tam? No. I think the next one I have listed is Supervisor Fortson Abbas, item 15.

Yes. So this is for emergency food distribution, and I certainly support the social services agency and our partners to do this important work. I wanted to acknowledge that we have many different organizations including very hyper local organizations doing this important work of emergency food distribution. For context, there's over 100 community-based organizations that are part of the County Food Sovereignty Roundtable that our staff, as well as my office and others participate in. And I do think it's important to look at the strategic ways that we can strengthen our food system. And there's a lot of great work that organizations are doing that are very innovative, including addressing not only how to provide food during this time when CalFresh is being impacted, but also the ways that we can recover food, produce and grow food, process food, and distribute nutritious and culturally relevant food. So my point is that I think it would be important rather than sole sourcing these contracts before they expire in two years to issue an RFP and really making sure that we're understanding the needs, the resources and new innovations that are out there so we can do our best to provide nutritious, culturally relevant food to as many residents as possible. So, Director Ford, I know we've talked about this. I do want to ask, would you be willing and able to do an RFP before these contracts expire in two years?

Yes, Supervisor Forsnattle-Bass, I would be both willing and able to put an RFP out on the street to see if there are any new interested vendors. Thank you. Thank you very much.

I think item 24 and 29, again, Supervisor Fortunato-Bass.

Yes, item number 24 is an agreement with the Supportive Housing Community Land Trust Alliance to support operation of their community land trust and help ease the county's housing crisis for consumers who are experiencing serious mental illness and with incomes 200% below the federal poverty level. We have been working with this organization for a number of years and I have two questions for our agency director, which I flagged for her in advance. The first is, what has SHCLA achieved with the 5.8 million of county investment they've received to date? And the second is that the staff reports notes the county will support the organization while the agency transitions to independent operational stability by June of next year. I'm interested in hearing how the county will support them with that transition.

Good evening, Supervisors. Anika Chowdhury, Agency Director for Alameda County Health. So to your first question, Supervisor, of the 5.8 million or so that has been allocated to SCHLA over the years, they've drawn down about $3.3 million in funding. And what they've reported is that they've been able to leverage that funding to apply for additional funding in Contra Costa County, as well as to expand their strategic partnerships and organizational capacities with organizations like UC Berkeley, the Felton Institute, and a few other organizations and maintaining their core staffing and strengthening governance efforts. They also note that their near-term priorities are closing on the two properties that we've been working on earlier in the year that the county was not able to support and finalizing various contracts that they have with Contra Costa County. In terms of the board letter before you today, that is specific to $900,000 in Prop 1 bridge funding that we're providing for the organization. And the H&H team co-developed the scope for that with the Housing and Community Development team at CDA. And the goal there is to provide capacity building and technical assistance to help SHCLA transform develop a sustainability plan. So the idea is to help them maintain essential operations and diversify their revenue beyond Alameda County support. And also to specifically note that this is to support operational costs and provide more clarity around expenditures as they've not been able to fully draw down previous allocations. And really we're prioritizing progress toward them being able to master lease suitable properties or figuring out how to do feasibility assessments or doing more feasibility assessments and establishing more strategic partnerships. And in that strategic partnership space, it's particularly with regard to the board and care community within Alameda County. So you know, and kind of helping us potentially do some needs assessment there in terms of what the needs of the providers might be because we want to facilitate those connections. Thank you very much.

Anybody else have any other questions on other items?

I think the next one was 29, which is mine. It's just a comment. So I mentioned earlier that this month of August, we are celebrating Oakland Pride and Berkeley Pride. I am very glad that we are going to be launching the LGBT Q I a plus Community health access navigation and health equity initiative so. In terms of background folks may remember that last year at our Alameda county together for all act for all meeting. We invited our LGBTQ partners to comment on not only the disparities that that community continues to face, but the threats under the current federal administration. And since that advocacy, myself, Supervisor Miley and his team have worked with a number of partners to support growing our commitment to that community. So I really appreciate the work that various organizations have done together with AC Health. This is a $1.5 million investment for coordinated countywide efforts to increase access to gender-affirming health care, mental health support, crisis response and prevention services, and health care navigation for transgender, non-binary, and LGBTQIA plus residents. This is a collaboration with the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, who we heard speak during public comment, Pacific Center for Human Growth, Side-by-Side Youth, Lifelong Medical, and Bay Area Community Health. So I just wanted to flag that this is a real milestone, given the important work our health agency has done to document the disparities in this community. So really look forward to the progress of this particular initiative. Thank you.

Are we at 97?

Anybody that has any other comments on any other items?

If the probation chief could come forward and just talk a little bit about the status of OC Spray and what's going on so we can at least get that out in the public domain today.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Supervisor Molly. Brian Ford, Chief Probation Officer. In response to that question, I also want to note that I have personally gone down to Urban Peace Movement, met with their leadership team, met with most of the young people that showed up today. They've invited me to a town hall meeting in February where I spoke on a panel and it was specifically about OC Spray and the progress of it and all the things that we have done up to this thus far. So we've been very transparent about where we are. We spent five years meeting and conferring with the labor unions. We've reached agreement after five years where we've updated our use of force policy, where we've narrowed the scope and circumstances in which OC can be used. And it's only in a riot situation where multiple youth are fighting where another. Circumstance is if there's a hostage situation or if there's a threat to life. So those are the three circumstances in which it can be used. Our use of force policy also says that staff have to intervene physically first. So those are all changes that we have landed on with respect to OC spray. We are also in the process of removing the actual OC spray that we have and replacing it with a less harmful tool called Repulse, which is a water-based solution that also contains like a vinegar in it. So it does burn the eyes. It's an irritant, but it doesn't impact individuals who have asthma because it's not impacting your respiratory system.

All right. And the thing is, yeah, it's unfortunate that staff have to get hands-on in certain situations. But your staff have been trained in de-escalation as well, right?

Yes. De-escalation is the first order of business in any and all of our use support protocols.

Okay. Chief Ford, not that I expect an answer right now on the specific data, but it is a requirement of your department to track the frequency of the use. Is that correct? Yes.

Yeah, it is. And in fact, we've looked at this data as of recent. And from January of this year to July 31st of this year, our OC has been significantly reduced. On average, in 2025, we were using it about eight or nine times per month. Now we're down to one or two times per month. So it's been a significant decrease. And we've continued with the messaging for tour staff. So staff know that hands-on is the first order of operations.

Okay, and can we actually respectfully ask when you come to Public Protection Committee, I think we're looking at something before the end of the year, can we provide an update? Basically, what you just shared right now, so it could be a little bit more comprehensive for the public to understand. And thank you for having the meet and confer process. I think that's something that many people lose sight of in this county, but that is part of our responsibility with our labor partners. But I appreciate that the ability to find a different product and the decrease in actually utilization.

Thank you. So just to confirm. Yes, I think we heard that it's used almost daily. That was the public comment. That's just an error. That's just false information. And that came from an organization that you sat in on a panel discussion with?

Yes. I was invited in February to a town hall meeting where the discussion was primarily OC spray. Supervisor Bass was at that meeting. So, yes, we've given those stats out before.

Plainly just false. Okay.

I think the end person was referring to a specific two-month period of time, though.

Was it ever used daily? No, it's not used daily. We don't have any stats to support that.

In the past, was it ever used daily? We don't have any stats to support that.

You've been with us for a long time? Yes, eight years. Okay. Yes.

It just draws into question the validity of things that are said when... Some things are clearly just wrong. Okay. Thank you.

Could I ask just a quick follow-up? How is it related to

SB 823? So it's not really. That item that's on the agenda is a request to do a contract extension with a vendor. Every year we are required, our SB 823 subcommittee, to submit a plan to the state. That vendor's job is just to interview clients, interview families, and to update that plan and submit it to the state. How it's loosely sort of related is the first iteration of that plan five years ago, there was action taken by the advocate community to put language in the plan that required us to eliminate OC spray. And we made clear that that's a function of the meet and confer process. So just because it's in the plan doesn't mean that we could effectively accomplish it. But they sort of ignored that piece of it and have continued to advocate because it was written in the plan.

I think I would concede that The topic was very loosely, if even closely, associated with that item. Certainly. I allowed public comment. Maybe I didn't need to. Maybe it was off point. Maybe I didn't realize how long it would take. I didn't need to do it. But I thought it was important to hear so that we could also ask these follow-up questions with you and understand more of the truth of what was happening. And... You just spurred another thought in my mind. This is meet and confer subject matter. Yes. Did that come out in discussions of your panel or in discussions with this group? Do they understand that you would need to, that you already have discussed this with the proper labor union and that this is a meet and confer issue? You just can't just unilaterally stop that.

Yes, we lead with that as our primary point when we explain this to the advocate groups. I think they are still under the notion that the board has ultimate authority, regardless of our meet and confer requirements, which is why they come here and advocate. And similar to your comments about public comment every time that I've spoken with with the groups I always you know support and acknowledge the young people and to engage in their civic duty and to you know encourage them to to speak truth against power so I support all of that but at the same time we're educating them about all of the processes and things that we have to go to to make what they want to see a reality and I hope that it would be the truth yes I appreciate that

Any other items? I have several. Thank you. We're good. So I'm just going to point out under general administration, we have several very worthy grants of discretionary funding, $1,000 to Oakland Children's Fairyland, $1,000 to Camps in Common. This is Supervisor Fortunato-Bass, thank you. Supervisor Marquez, $3,000 to Hayward Education Foundation, $1,000 to United Seniors of Oakland. Thank you. Supervisor Tam, $1,000 to Alameda Education. 2,500 to Davis Street, 5,000 to Spanish-speaking Unity Council, 1,000 to Alameda Welfare Council, Daily Bowl, African American Chamber of Commerce. These are well-deserving community organizations that funding would be in peril if Senator Wahab's SB 1193 were to be signed into law. I think it's reprehensible that This funding, which is within our purview and should be within our discretion, is under attack. And so I encourage us to continue to stand up against that and to vote. And I support voting for these. discretionary funds to be spent in the way in which we see fit because we know our communities better than she does are there any other items for which we want to make comment on supervisor forsenato bass thank you president halbert just one more comment this is for item 113 um

This is really just a comment. Thank you for being here, Chief McDonald. So this is a license agreement between the United States Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons for the use of a building adjacent to FCI Dublin for the Alameda County Fire Department's fuel crews. I want to say that I am very supportive of this item. I have the pleasure of serving and representing our board on the Alameda County Fire wildfire, actually the East Bay Wildfire Coalition, which is Alameda County in Contra Costa, and the work that our county department does to prevent wildfires, to mitigate fires, and to respond is very critical. This lease would allow for a building in an adjacent area to house our fuels crew to allow for training. And I think it's really important. My main issue is that it's only for one year and I know we need a long-term home. I hope we can stay there longer. And I also want to appreciate that our chief was able to also have a conversation with members of the community, specifically community members who've been very concerned about the use of FCI Dublin, as we are also concerned for potential immigration detention or corrections. So I just want to say thank you to the chief as well as to our community members who are very willing to support this use, which is very productive, community-centered, and know that we want to continue the communication so that if the fire department can stay there for a longer time period or use more of that space, it would really benefit the county and our residents and wildfire prevention.

Supervisor Fortunato-Bass and President Halbert and members of the Board of Supervisors, I just want to say I'm Willie McDonald, the Fire Chief. This is really a great relationship that we've been afforded. It is the opportunity for us to have our crew aid, our fuel mitigation crew, who I think does wonderful work, very effective in fuel mitigation throughout the county, as well as throughout the state. And right now they're out in Washington on the wildfires that are burning there, where they've had multiple folks evacuated, multiple fires starting throughout the state. Our folks are going up there as well as we have two engine crews that are responding to the wildfires up in Washington. So it's a very important relationship for us to have to be able to have a base of operation for our fuel mitigation crew, for Crew 8, for them to have an ability to assemble, to meet, to be trained, to store their equipment, to park their vehicles, and just have an operation to have a base for their operation. It's a great community resource and a great community use. So thank you very much.

I just want to say Supervisor Bass speaks for me.

very good thank you thank you uh chief mcdonald if you could give uh first of all i i concur with the comments and uh you know had conversations about this early on and also couldn't wait till it was public and official so i want to publicly thank you i can't think of a better use of that space to repurpose for fire protection mitigation for our entire county and i know you have a a regional response as well, but also want to, in this moment, uplift Local 55 President Aaron Lee, who's relatively new to this role and really impressed with his outward innovative thinking on repurposing the space for a much new view. So just thank you for the quick turnaround on this, the collaboration, and I'm really excited about the future prospect of using this space for something that is beneficial to everyone's well-being. Thank you. Thank you very much.

I would like to just echo your appreciation of Aaron Lee, the new president or relatively new president of Local 55. Great to have such strong collaboration with our fire department, our local firefighters and the community.

He's doing a great job. He's a great partner. And he happens to be away with Crew 8 right now on the fires in Washington. Great resource. Thank you.

Any other questions or comments before we take up? Vote. Thanks, Supervisor Tam. You made the motion. Who made the second? Miley made the second. Roll call vote, please.

Supervisor Marquez. Aye. Supervisor Tam. Aye. Supervisor Miley. Aye. Supervisor Fortunato-Bass. Aye. President Halbert.

I vote yes. Next item.

Next item is item 20, and there's a recusal.

Yes, President Halbert. If I could have the floor to recuse myself on items. 20 and 47. On item 20, I need to recuse myself because, and Baycar has made a $500 contribution to my campaign, March of 2026. And item 47, I need to recuse myself, not out of any compensation or anything, but I always recuse myself on items dealing with the United Seniors. And there's a contribution coming to the United Seniors. So for those reasons, I'm recusing myself on those items.

That was 20 and 47.

I'll move items. 20. Let's do both. And 47. And 47. Second.