City Council - Regular Meeting

Right. Council, get ready. It's 3:30. We have a quorum. I call to order the close session meeting of the mayor and city council at 3:31 p.m. Good afternoon everyone. Welcome and thank you for being here and thank you to those who are viewing remotely. Madam city clerk, please call the role. Council member Sanchez

here. Council member Abara present. Council member Figueroa here. Council member Sheret here. Council member Kass I'm sorry. Mayor Pim Kenos here, Council Member Flores present, Council Member Ortiz here, and Mayor Tran here. Thank you. Moving on to public comments for close session. Madam City Clerk, do we have any public comments? No public comments. Thank you. Are there any comments or statements from the city attorney? No, mayor. Thank you. Thank you. Any comments from the city council? Seeing none, we will convene to close session at 3:30.

It reinvigorates us and lets us remember what we're here for, what we're doing for another year, and uh remember them and dedicate our time to them. And uh Pastor Stewart will actually be doing our speaking there. So come back, see him. We're going to release butterflies and have refreshments. So if you want to come, um we'd love to see all the public there uh on April 24th, 10 to 11. Big round of applause for the work. Thank you. Thank you so much for all the work that you do and everyone that's involved. Thank you. And the last presentation, we have a proclamation for sexual assault awareness month in the city of Sanino, April 2026, presented to Carmen Maduo Mado of Partners Against Violence. Yes, there you are. Thank you. Thank you. Proclamation of the mayor city council proclaiming April 2026 as sexual assault awareness month in the city of San Bernardino. Whereas April 2026 is recognized as sexual assault awareness month marking 25 years of national efforts to raise awareness, support survivors, and prevent sexual violence. And whereas this year's theme, 25 years strong, looking back, moving forward,

honors the resilience of survivors and the collective progress made by advocates, organizations, and communities working to end sexual violence. And whereas for 25 years, Sexual Assault Awareness Month has served as a call to action, educating the public, supporting survivors, and inspiring individuals and institutions to take meaningful steps toward prevention. And whereas sexual violence remains a significant public health and safety issue affecting individuals of all ages, genders, identities, and backgrounds with data showing that most survivors are harmed by someone they know. and millions of individuals across the nation continue to experience sexual violence in their lifetime. And whereas disparities persist with disproportionately high rates of sexual violence impacting women of color, American Indian, Alaskan Native uh communities, individuals with disabilities, and transgender individuals, underscoring the need for inclusive, equity centered prevention and response efforts. And whereas prevention begins with each of us through promoting consent posturing respect, supporting survivors, and creating safe, inclusive spaces rooted in dignity and care. And whereas we honor the courage of survivors who have shared their stories and the tireless commitment of advocates, service providers, and organization, organizations such as Partners Against Violence in the City of San Bernardino, whose work provides critical support, resources, and hope to those impacted by sexual violence. And now therefore, be it proclaimed that the mayor and the entire city council of the city of San Bernardino do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as sexual assault awareness month in the city of San Bernardino. The city recognizes and commends partners against violence for

their unwavering dedication to supporting survivors, encourages all residents to stand in solidarity with survivors, participate in awareness and prevention activities, and commit to fostering a culture of respect. consent and accountability presented on the 15th day of April 2026. Thank you.

Good evening everyone. My name is Carmen and I am the community outreach specialist for Partners Against Violence and I am so privileged to accept the proclamation on behalf of our agency. Uh, first and foremost, I want to thank Mayor Helen Tran and the city council of San Marino. Um, for those that don't know what we do, we are a sexual assault survivor service agency. So, we offer services like counseling, accompanyment, advocacy, education, and a 247 crisis hotline, all free of cost. As we stand here today, I am reminded of the 1,48 survivors from the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year that we service ongoing. Um, our survivors have shown immense courage in sharing their their stories and strength to allow us to help them through their healing journeys. This proclamation is not just recognition of our work from our agency but also government officials, local services, other advocates and survivors. Uh we actively choose to listen to believe and to support our survivors. We work towards the PAM mission of partnering to build healthy relationships, families, communities, and generations that are free of violence. We do have some upcoming events, so please check out our website of partnersaggainsviolence.org.

Thank you, K. Big round of applause. And you're located just down the street. Can you provide that address? It's just off of Arrowhead, correct? Yes. So, we are at 444 North Arrowhead Avenue in San Marino. It's right between Fourth and Fifth Street. Thank you. And at no cost. Everyone, thank you for the service and the work. Big round of applause.

Yes. And that is all the presentation we have for today. Big round of applause for all the presentations. Thank you. Okay, we will now move on to public hearing. Number four, approval of the issuance of revenue obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $15 million by the California inpric development authority for TIP property karas LLC in ward one. And just for the record for clarification, what was agendaized on the public's uh website, it says amount to exceed. It should say amount not to exceed. So that was corrected, I believe. Madam City clerk, can you confirm that

the the posted agenda is not corrected, but it is in the recommendation that it is not to exceed 15 million. Thank you. I am opening the public hearing at 5:39 p.m. Could staff begin with presentation on this item?

Madame, mayor, members of city council, I don't have a PowerPoint presentation on this item because it's a very short item. This is perhaps the third TERA hearing we have and basically uh TERA is a tax equity and fiscal responsibility act. Whenever you have an organization or an entity uh in this case it's a California Enterprise development authority who is trying to either purchase renovate or or otherwise do things to a particular building in our jurisdiction and they would like to float a bond. TERA rules require the city of San Bernardino because it's within our jurisdiction to uh approve a resolution to that effect. So this is not the city's money. It is not coming out of our general fund. We are just a pass through organization in this particular instance. Uh they need this resolution in order for them to move forward with floating the uh uh obligation bond in the amount not to exceed $15 million. So the recommendation uh for uh the mayor and city council to consider is one hold a public hearing and then adopt resolution 2026036 approving the issuance of revenue obligations by the California Enterprise Development Authority in the amount not to exceed $15 million for Tip Property Kittas LLC, a California limited liability company and or a related or successor entity. the borrower at 662 678 and 696 South Typicano Avenue in San Bernardino in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act and Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended

above. And number three, authorize a city manager or designate to take any further actions and execute any additional documents necessary to effectuate the tax exempt bond issuance for tip property kitas LLC. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have any requests to speak from the members of the public? Yes, we have one request to speak from Ron Alvarado.

Okay. Thank you. Good evening, mayor, council, neighbors. My name is Ronald Vado and I am here today as a resident of the first word and a candidate for the first word council seat. The public hearing regarding the issuance of up to 15 million in revenue bonds for tip property karita's LLC as south tippy canoe is a significant moment for the first ward. As someone who lives in the community, I'm always looking for how development impacts our neighborhood infrastructure and the daily lives of our residents. While I recognize that these bonds are issued through the California Enterprise Development Authority and do not represent a direct financial obligation for the city's general fund, the host approval we are discussing today is more than just a tax requirement. It's an endorsement of the project's value to Sanardino. I want to ensure that as we approve these fiscal mechanisms, we are also demanding clear tangible benefits for our community. We need to know that these investments translate into local jobs, improvement to to our surrounding streets, and a project that respects the residential character of our area. Transparency is paramount. In my professional life as a fraud investigator, I see firsthand what happens when oversight is lacking. We must ensure that any entity receiving the benefit of tax and SEP status in our city is held to the highest standard of accountability. I urge the council to begin asking the difficult questions. How does this project integrate with our broader goals for urban redevelopment? How will it impact traffic and safety?

Let's ensure that the first ward and in expansion the rest of the city is a partner in growth, not just a location for it. Thank you. Thank you. We have two additional speakers, uh, Patricia Nichols Butler and Richard Schmidt. you turn on the mic. Thank you.

Now it's on. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and council. I'm Patricia Nichols Butler. I'm the CEO and president of Community Action Partnership. Tip properties karas an LLC is actually uh controlled by community action partnership a nonprofit organization in San Frernardino County. We have been in this community serving low-income individuals for 60 years. Last year marked our six 60th anniversary and we were able to acquire after many years the property in which we provide services. And so what we're asking for is to be able to have this as a tax exempt financing. There is no cost to the city as in the staff reported as a pass through and it it will definitely strengthen our organization from a sustainability standpoint. These properties were built to suit for our organization and it allows us to provide critical services not only to the residents of the city of San Frernardino but through the entire county. Whether that's housing assistance, whether that's food assistance, we support over 250 organizations with food throughout not only the city of San Bernardino, but the entire county of San Bernardino. In addition to that, we provide lowcost weatherization services. I'm sorry, no cost weatherization services. We're the largest provider of utility assistance in this county and we're also the largest provider of emergency food assistance. So for us as a nonprofit organization, this means sustainability and continuity of our organization. And I believe that it benefits this city. We are fiscally sound as a nonprofit organization. And our track record, I believe, speaks for itself that we've been able to stand strong for 60 years. That's through the partnerships of not only this city, but the county and the many nonprofits that we work with in Sanernardino County. So, I urge this council and the mayor to please support this recommendation. It will help

another nonprofit in this organization be even stronger and have greater capacity to meet the needs of vulnerable residents in this county. Thank you. And I thank you. Uh Richard Smith is the chief financial officer for Community Action Partnership and we both are here in favor of this recommendation from the staff and thank you. Thank you.

There are no more speakers for this item.

Thank you. I'm now closing the public hearing at 5:47 p.m. for deliberation action. Do we have any discussion or comments from the council? I have a customer Sanchez. I've had the good fortune of getting to um tour uh Community Action Partnerships's current facility and I've gotten to know their uh their board and their staff and we are lucky to have such a world-class service provider in our community and I could not uh express more confidence in their uh in the quality of work that they do. So, I'd like to move to approve and second recommendation.

Okay. Thank you. Council, any other comments? Council member Ortiz, followed by Council Member Ibara. I I just want to echo I think um I appreciate everything that you guys are doing. Um and it's good to see projects like this moving forward and I know things take time and I think um you are the essence of patience as a virtue in the city and in the county. And so just thank you for not um looking elsewhere or giving up and that we're finally here and that your endeavors paid off. So um that's all I wanted to add. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Ibara. Yes. I I like

I'm sorry if you don't mind. Point of order just for a moment. Um I just I do have a conflict of interest that unfortunately I did not think of until now. My organization that I do work for actually situates its offices in the CAPS building. Therefore, I do have to recuse myself from this item. So, I do apologize. I will have to leave. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Flores. Yes. Question for Mr. City Attorney. I I currently sit on the board for CAPS. Should I recuse myself from this? I would recommend so yes. Thank you. I I'll pull my second and I'll recuse myself. Okay.

Thank you, Council Marine Bar. Thank you. I I just like to attest the good work that community action partnership has done in our community because I worked also with a nonprofit in the in the city and you know when there was utility assistance needed and we didn't have the funding community action partnership reached out to all those people that were calling us for assistance back during the COVID era. Um, so the work they do is uncsurmountable and you know to get a tax bond relief that that will be something that our way of giving back to community action partnership for all the good they do in the community. Thank you. Thank you. There's a motion. Uh, can I have a second? I'll second.

Okay. Council member Artist seconded. Um, any other comments? Seeing none, Madam City Clerk. Council member Sanchez. Yes. Council member Ibara. Yes. Council member Figueroa. Yes. Council member Sheret. Yes. Council member Ortiz. Yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. Thank you, council. Thank you to community action partners. You're doing great work in our community. Thank you. Moving on. Um we can call the two council members back to the DAS. Moving on to item number five, continuation of the public hearing of March 18th, 2026, short-term rentals. The public hearing was open on February 18th, 2026, 5:59 p.m. Continued the meeting to March 18th, and then continued to today, April 15th. Could staff provide an updated presentation on this item? Uh, thank you, Madame Mayor, members of city council. As the mayor rightfully stated, um, this item has been before you twice, and I'm hoping that the third time is a charm. uh I have tried to uh listen to some of the uh issues and questions and requests and I have tried as much as possible both in the staff report uh and in the PowerPoint presentation to address some of the uh some of the critical issues. Uh I'm just going to uh go with uh the presentation. So um I'm not going to dwell too much on the background because unless you want me to because we all know what the background is. I'm just going to go chronologically uh what happened in 2023 and then 2024 and then uh you know uh 20 on June 5 when we brought the item back to the city council uh council by a narrow majority said we want to ban so and and then we um some of the information in the background section also is we don't have an ordinance that actually allows this particular use. So part of what we're trying to do here is to is to

build some standards by which we would actually uh either regulate or or or ban the land use. Either way, we have to go into our zoning code and modify certain um uh uh parts of the zoning code including the definition thereof and where this thing is allowed or not allowed. Um uh okay, additional information. So, uh, a short-term rental will ensure that the use will be recognized as a bonafideed land use in a development code with a definition and accompany development standards. The city will adopt and implement specific revisions to the mun uh um um zoning code that would regulate the land use. So um if we ban the city will uh no longer need to rely on various uh code provisions that together prescribe uh vacation rentals. We will adopt and implement specific revisions to the code that would ban short-term rentals outright in residential zones. Um what are some of the uh advantages and disadvantages if we prohibit uh uh um uh short-term rentals? Uh it would create less confusion among homeowners. The proposed ban in the city will prohibit STRs in the fireprone areas of the city which would include properties in the re residential estate and the RL residential low uh density areas. uh the city would first need to identify those properties that are currently engaged uh in the short-term rental activity and officially notify them of the ban. Now uh some of the uh benefits of of engaging a third party to actually help us is they would provide a map similar to this one that actually uh

basically gives us a scatter point of where some of these uh properties have advertised uh online and and they would provide us with this information and that would enable us to kind of follow through with where they are. Um uh Deca Technology the company that we're currently uh engaged would also provide us with something similar to this uh this particular chart uh would show the fluctuation of the month or the months that are res uh that um uh vacation rentals are most active. You can see a peak point right there around October uh maybe because of Halloween. And then we also see a little peak point right about the middle of the year and then uh in the uh early parts of the year. So they'll provide us this kind of information and additional monitoring going forward. So uh again I'm talking about Deco Technology. I we've talked about the cost of what it's going to cost us uh to be able to uh use their services going forward on an annual basis. uh we have an option of either going with just providing us with where these uh locations are in the city or if we pay a little bit more they'll be able to uh uh collect toot and remit them to the city. It's part of the services part of the services that we provide. Um uh so we also discussed uh toot uh toot would be uh collected uh we will be they will be assessed to properties that actually uh do this kind of work uh um moving forward. So uh language about general general plan consistency and so on and so forth

is what you have here. um um and basically making a finding that uh regulating or banning short-term rentals aligns with key target number three, improve quality of life. Some people would see banning uh short-term rentals as improved quality of life uh and improving the city's appearance, cleanliness, and attractiveness. Now, I have to tell you that based on information provided to staff, there are currently about 108 properties that are currently listed on the different um uh websites for for these kinds of activities, Verbbo, Airbnb and and so on and so forth. So it kind of gives you an idea of how much leakage of revenue we have uh when we have 108 properties already engaging its activity and we have no recourse to collect anything out of it. And I'm going to circle back to the analysis that was done in 2024. It's on your staff report. It's um it's also an attachment to your report. Uh it's the one that identifies um what um uh other cities are doing with their fees and and some of the activities that that occur and how much we would ask for registration and and this is the one that has the beige um heading uh table with a beige top that kind of talks about registration. So making a comparison between the city of San Bernardino, Big Bear, SB County, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and Santa Monica. Now uh for San Bernardino under fees, we have some dollar amounts. Now those dollar amounts were just not arbitrary numbers. those dollar amounts uh was uh reached uh with the help of our helpful

finance department and they looked at uh the number of staff people that would actually uh touch a an application for for a short-term rental and they came up with uh the percentage of their uh of their um uh hourly rate and the amount of time spent. and they came up with uh some somewhere between $500 and $775. So that would be uh if with inspection, if you want these facilities to be inspected on a regular basis, it will be about $775 annually. With no inspection, it will be around $500, $550. So that will be the registration fee for each one of these. So if you take that $500 on the average, multiply by 108, that kind of gives you how much revenue we could collect today, and then when you add the toot to that, it shows you uh the kind of revenue source. Now, um I'm going to go back to um uh to the table. Uh again, we're talking about uh updating the development code, etc., etc. Now, if we ban, my recommendation is that we only ban them in areas that have uh the high high fire areas. So, we can still uh have the opportunity to have a short-term vacation rentals in places that are not highfire prone. The unfortunate thing though with that is those areas that are in the high fire high fire areas are the ones with the bigger properties, bigger acreages, and those are the ones that are most attractive to people to rent because it's got space. But we will still be able to capture uh uh um um uh um um resources from uh people who want to rent their town homes and condominiums

and single family homes not in the high fire areas. By the time we sort that out, we may be able to whittle the number down from 108 to I don't really know, but we have to study uh study the map to be able to figure it out. Uh so we had uh informed the uh city council last time that the associated uh potential contribution would be up to $324,000 annually. Uh but we have a cost uh of uh approximately $16,500. And um so what are other what are other cities doing? Uh other cities are putting guidelines. Uh, for example, one city uh is uh has a proposed fine for $1,000 a day for no renewals. Uh with no renewals after three violations, the fee is consistent with what other agencies are assessing for violations. Uh the city would would fine $1,000 a day. Outdoor noise disruption uh uh is generally prohibited between 1000 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. All agencies require an annual license fee. ranging from $100 in Santa Monica to $1,000 in Palm Springs. A fee of 500 to 600 has been proposed for San Bernardino. Uh all cities would restrict the number of STR licenses uh to no more than two, so no more than two STRs per uh address or per property owner. In response to council concerns regarding process and procedure for regulating and enforcing staff contacted the following cities and the county uh and the county of San Bernardino uh Big Bear, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Santa Monica, and San Bernardino County. Most agencies prohibit street parking or

parking uh on neighborhood properties. Parking must be on designated driveways. Uh per state law, ADUs are prohibited from being utilized as a uh as uh not as ADUs, but as short-term rentals. Some jurisdictions require an initial inspection followed by annual inspections. I would recommend that if you really want to get into this, all jurisdictions contacted require payment of I've talked about that a little bit. All agencies limit the number of occupants per bedroom. I've seen some no more than four per bedroom or some would say no more than six per the the house itself. Len to stay is not regulated by most jurisdiction so you can stay more than 28 days. Uh code enforcement is used by most jurisdictions for enforcing STR regulations. Uh city of Ranch Kukumanga utilizes two part-time code of code officers to regulate their STR program. The equivalent cost of one code enforcement officer one in San Bernardino is approximately $17,000 annually. So that would be um which includes salary and benefits um scope. So how big is this uh issue knowing that we have 108 that are currently active in our city? uh as far as the as far as the complaints we've received uh over the last four years have been five uh CRM 400 block of South D Street, one CRM uh one CRM at 500 block of of Edgarton, one at 400 block of Edgarton, and several complaints at the 600 block of Ashton Drive. I'm going to uh guess that most of these are basically noise related or public intoxication which would be something that the police

department would would would respond to. Uh uh um so as necessary uh depending on the scope of the problem when we actually get into it the city would dedicate one code officer specifically for this task but we have a team of code officers who are still available to address any of these concerns. Um so um um um this is a SQA um statement that I have to make. We conducted an envir an environmental evaluation uh with the proposed ordinance. It is exempt from SQA under section 15061 uh because it's an ordinance to regulate or ban short-term vacation rentals would not create significant effects on the environment as it regulates or prohibits short-term rentals in residential zones. So uh back to the recommendation uh there are three of them. One is to adopt uh ordinance number, you know, 2026 establishing a regulatory program for short-term vacation rentals in residential zones in the city of San Bernardino. Uh or adopt ordinance number MC 26- whatever banning short-term rentals in residential zones in the city of San Bernardino. and three that the council take no action and leave uh things the way they are currently. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any requests to speak from the members of the public? We have uh nine requests to speak from Jose Gomez, Alicia Navaro, Ron Alvarado, Guadalupe Ortega, Rosalyn Brashannon, Mike Hartley, Arvin Santos, Diane Adlawan, Eric Mesa. Thank you. Please state your name. You have three minutes and you can turn on the mic. Thank you.

Press the button. Okay. My name is Jose Jose Gomez and I live on Edertton which the map or the thing you just showed showed only two houses on Edertton and we actually have four houses on Edertton that are Airbnbs. Okay. We have one on Skyllock that's an Airbnb. In Halloween night in 2025, the Airbnb that was rented out on Skyllock and Edton, there was a rave or a party that constituted a mass of just people. We had over a thousand people. And as you see, we live on a hill. There's only one road access up and one road access down. They were parked on both sides. They had an OD in the house. The fire department fought itself to get up there. There were cars parked down below our hill. That was just tons of cars. That house has always been a problem for Airbnb. The other ones are kind of the same way. The one at the very top of Sky of Eden is the same way. We are a fire rated area. People that come there don't care about the property. They don't care what they're doing. They just want to get drunk and have a great time. And I understand there. They're young people. But when you're smoking and throwing it over the side of the hill and the hill is dry, what are you asking for? And I've lived there for 41 years and I've gone through seven fires on that hill. So, I'm not happy they're there and I won't be happy they're there and I don't plan on selling. But I live in the part of a house where it's on the corner of an access road and also Edertton. I live right on the corner. I've been very lucky. My house has never been hit and I have a duplex next door that I have to get a city permit to rent it. Those people don't have to get a city permit

to rent it. I'm required to. They're not required to. So, I don't understand why in a fire rated area that we would want to have Airbnbs. It's a moment for disaster because we go through another fire and lose three or four more houses. We have a house that still hasn't been rebuilt from the last fire because the people can't afford to rebuild it. And it's a nice neighborhood. I've lived there for 41 years. So, I'm asking you to really consider banning them from fire rated areas. If you want to put them anywhere in San Bernardino, I don't care because there's not fire rated areas in those areas. But where we live on that mountain, little east little mountain, it is a fire rated area. It's volatile. Anything can happen. And we cut our backyards. We trim. They uh what is it? Code enforcement comes, writes us a note. If we don't trim our backyards, we have to get them done right away. I cut all my palm trees. I've got nine of them. I cut them all the time, twice a year, to keep the fonds from being inflamed. Any fire will just burst those babies in half. And we have a lot of palm trees on that hill.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Mike Hartley. I cannot believe that we're still kicking this freaking can down the road. You need to ban them. If you guys are looking for revenue, go out there and get the people who are renting their homes without a business license. How about finding all your slum landlords and their freaking apartments? How about finding them? I love that Airbnb finding. That's great. Why don't we do that? We'd be rolling in the dough. Obviously, you guys don't drive around San Bernardino because I'm telling you right now, it looks piss poor and it has for a long time now. Instead, code code enforcement needs to be proactive, not reactive, not wait for a citizen to call. A lot of them won't because they're scared. Why are they scared? I'm not scared. But I'll tell you what, a lot of people are and they don't complain. They may complain to their bridge partners, but they're not going to complain to you people. They are scared to call code. They're they don't trust that it's anonymous. But the reason why Sanardino looks the way it does is because code enforcement is reactive. We got to stop that. All you're doing with these Airbnbs is adding chaos to chaos. The police department doesn't have the people to go out for a noise complaint. Give me a break. And code enforcement isn't going to go out there at night.

Just ban them, please. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. Have three minutes.

Hi. Uh, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today. My name is Alicia Navaro and I'm here because I care deeply about the safety of my family and also our East Little Mountain community. I live two houses away from our city councilman Fred Cherrett and we live next to two of four disaster short-term rentals. I lived in this community for 12 years and I've been through four major fires and um it's really been hard to come back and see the devastation on my neighbors and the whole community as a whole, how our homes look after those fires. And um we only have one safe road uh to evacuate, which is Etcherton Drive. And I've seen how difficult it has been for the fire trucks, the emergency vehicles to pass through there. Uh, and it it's difficult because we used to park our cars outside and um, ever since 2021, the city did permanently designated our um neighborhood. 90% of it is uh, fire lanes. Uh, which is fine with us because that really has helped our narrow road to remain clear for emergency responders to pass and also for us to evacuate in case of an emergency. But unfortunately since 2022, these STRs started appearing and creating a public safety issue. These STRs have been uh using they use them as large parties. They bring a bunch of vehicles. Uh they park on those fire lanes on the fire hydrants um on our drive they block our driveways. So they prevent us from even entering our own homes. They drive under the influence of who knows what. They have hit parked cars outside our fences, our walls. They smoke. They drink on the streets and um they even have used the

restroom in our property. So, I spoken to the owners of these STRs and they they tell me, "Well, we're going to clean it up or oh, we're going to um screen the people better." But they don't reply uh they don't comply to any of those responses. the STR STR owners, all they care about um is, you know, collecting their money. They don't care about the safety of our children, the elderly people that live there as well and families. Um so I'm asking the city council to please, please, please prohibit or ban STRs in these designated high fire hazard zones, especially in areas with limited evacuation capacity like our narrow hillside road. Our community shouldn't have to bear increased fire risks, blocked roads, and constant disruptions in exchange for these STR activities. So, please protect our community before a preventable tragedy occurs. And I really highly suggest for you guys to go and see how we live.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Good evening, council neighbors. My name is Ron Alvarado. I'm running for city council first word. Tonight we are at a crossroads. Do we adopt a regulatory program, implement a ban, or do nothing? The planning commission has recommended a regulatory path. But for a regulation to work, it must have teeth. As a neighborhood leader, my pro my priority is protecting the quiet enjoyment of our homes. We cannot allow our residential neighborhoods to be turned into de facto hotel districts where the host is an absentee LLC and the neighbors are revolving doors of strangers with no stake in our community or its future. If the council moves forward with ordinance MC1660, we must ensure that administrative capacity to provide strict oversight is there and we must admit it's not even there to meet our current needs. We have seen in the past how a lack of coordination leads to a misuse of funds. The permit fees and transient occupancy taxes collected from these rentals must be explicitly earmarked for code enforcement and neighborhood safety. Ensuring resources go to the streets, not just the general fund. We need real time sharing from hosting platforms and a 247 hotline that actually results in citations for noise or parking violations. If we cannot even guarantee that minimum level of enforcement, then we must seriously consider the ban and proposed an ordinance MC1661. And and to go with the fire stones, uh fireworks are also illegal in the fire stones, right? And uh and they're still used in there. The firestone is what the area north of the 210. So again, the west side and downtown is going to get stuck with the leftovers of the city with the loud parties with with the misuse. We're not a firestorm, but our b fire our buildings are constantly burning down. We just lost a church off baseline. The roof of

the food for less collapsed. This is just more proof of how we're overlooked. And to add to the prostitution on G&H Street, again, it's kept south to 210. It is allowed to fester in our communities and this must stop. Sanberino as a whole needs to be forward. We don't have a council member that speaks for our ward. We have to speak for our ward out here ourselves. We cannot be left behind. These if these if there is a ban, it must be a ban in the whole city, not just in the north side, not just in the fire porn areas, which again fireworks are illegal there. Fireworks continuously happen. We need a ban in the whole city if it's a ban to happen. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name.

Thank you for taking up this really important issue. I'm another one of the residents of Edertton Drive and speaking for basically everyone on our hill. We had a community meeting last week and we had maybe 10 residents, a lot of whom can't be here tonight for medical reasons or work reasons or other reasons, but were unanimous in the threat posed to our lives by um the unregulated use of of these Airbnbs. This only started happening a few years ago. One family started buying every house that went up for sale and turning them into party houses. Um, so it's not somebody just renting out a spare bedroom to somebody who's in town for the weekend. They're they're rented specifically for the purpose of having rowdy, loud, unregulated parties. And in addition to the fire danger, and I've also been here almost 30 years, so I've been through multiple fires, and it's scary. Um, the last one, you can't have a fire truck and a car go past at the same point, at the same time on some of the street at the narrowest part of the streets. So once the fire started and the fire trucks were there, the cars couldn't go down. We had to literally walk down this very steep incline to those of you who know what used to be the castaways. We had to walk down that really steep slope because our cars couldn't go down because you can't get a car and a fire truck through the narrow part of the street. And speaking as a resident of like the upper part of of Edertton, I want to also call your attention to the fact that the emergency vehicles don't just come for fires, they come for medical emergencies. And I'm going to be 80 in a couple months. My next door neighbor is a few years older than I am. He has had a stroke. He's been in the hospital in the past year for a heart condition. two doors down next to the worst party house. Um there is a a woman who was in her upper 80s who had to be brought here

by her daughter to live with her because of her fragile health condition. She's needed the ambulance twice in the last year. And at the far end of the culde-sac is our wonderful neighbor Ed who's going to be 97 this weekend. And he's had to have the ambulance come a couple of times in the past year. So, it isn't just that we need the road access clear and get rid of the stuff to get the fire trucks through, but we have more frequent medical emergencies than we have fires. Thank goodness we don't have the fires that often, but we do have very frequent need to get uh those same vehicles up the street to deal with medical emergencies and you can't do it if they're blocked. There was one night where they and I was shocked that you only showed two incidents on Edertton because we're constantly calling to complain about all the violations, but one night they did send out the police and the tow trucks and everything and it took about an hour to clean out the culdesac. Well, what happens if anybody on the culde-sac is having a heart attack or a stroke or some some other serious condition, they could they could die while we're waiting to get the traffic cleared. So, thank you. Thank you for taking action.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Guadalupe Ortega. I was born and raised here in San Bernardino. So, I consider myself an active member of this community. It's it's also my home. Uh, it's also the place where I conduct business. I'm also a short-term rental operator and most importantly, I'm a mother. This business has given me something incredibly meaningful. The ability to be a fully present, full-time mom while still providing for my family. It allows me to be there for everyday moments that matter without choosing between my child or financial stability. This business doesn't just support my household. It supports people in our community, local cleaners, gardeners, handymen, maintenance workers who rely on this home for income. So, when we talk about short-term rentals, we're not just talking about properties. We're talking about real people, local livelihoods. I want to also acknowledge the concerns that my fellow neighborhood people have uh addressed today, which is uh safety, including fires, overdoses, nonsense behavior. Those are serious issues, and I do believe they should absolutely be addressed. But those situations are not the reality for responsible hosts like myself. They are examples of individuals who are already violating the law. I understand concerns have been raised about noise, parties, and neighborhood impact, and I agree those issues should definitely be taken seriously, but some of these concerns are already being addressed currently under uh current

laws. For example, San Bernardino Municipinal Code Chapter 8.54, which enforces noise limits and quiet hours, and San Bernardino County Code section 84.24, which prohibits excessive noise and disturbances under a reasonable standard. So, these issues are not just short-term rentals themselves. It's making sure that bad actors are held accountable. I also want to acknowledge the concern that the city might not have enough personnel to monitor and enforce the regulations and I understand that concern. But short-term rentals today are not unmanaged. Platforms like Airbnb, VBO, built-in accountability, including verified guest identities, verification, tracking, review systems, and help uh help flag problematic behavior with a a permit system. 24-hour contact requires and clear uh penalties. Responsibly is placed directly on operator, not solely on the city.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

Good evening, mayor and city council. My name is Eric Mesa. I'm here. I'm speaking regarding the short-term rentals. I'm not a corporation. I'm not an investor. I'm a homeowner. A son helping his mother get ahead. My father passed away. So this is why I'm taking care of my mother and stepping in helping her and a helping hand. She came into this country not knowing English as an immigrant and in some ordinance instead of banning. I have a small ADU on my property. I live on the site. I see everything. I manage everything. I take full responsibility to everything. And this this isn't passive income. This is active daily work day and night. And the income for that unit helps us stay afloat, covering bills, property taxes, and rising of cost of living. I understand the city is considering different options to regulate to ban to take no action. But I want to be clear, a full ban does not solve the problem. It punishes the wrong people. There is a big difference between large investors buying multiple homes and local homeowners like myself who live on the property and do things the right way. I'm not taking housing off the market. I'm using the space already have responsibly. Also like platforms like Airbnb, Verbboing already have a built-in protection. Parties are not allowed. There are systems in place and flag and block bookings to suggest over occupancy. They monitor messages for risky behavior and neighbors have a direct line to report disruptive properties. These safeguards already exist and they work on the combined with local enforcement. If you're going to move the forward with regulation, I ask you to consider something fair and balanced. Require short-term rentals. Move forward with regulation. And I ask you to consider something fair for Sanino and the people. That way, if someone expands and buys another home here, they are still part of this community, not an outside investor with no accountability. Because if you ban short-term rentals completely, you're not hurting big investors. They'll supply and move on. You're hurting like myself, local residents, business owners, and stay afloat and build

something great. You're taking away a safety net, a source of stability and opportunity for families to move forward. I agree there should be rules, but instead banning everything, create a system that supports responsibility, require owner occupied properties, require Sanino County residents, and enforce noise and parking rules, and hold actors accountability because the problem isn't responsible homeowners. It's lack of enforcements, systems, and processes on the ones who abuse it. I'm not asking for a special treatment. I'm asking for fairness. Let responsible homeowners continue to operate while you regulate ones causing problems. Because for me, this isn't just a business. This is how I help my mother and protect what we worked hard for. Don't ban the opportunity. Regulate responsibility. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

My name is Arvin Santos. Um, I'm here to I know that you're considering to ban short-term rentals because of perceived cost of regulation. However, a total ban is an oversimplified solution that damages our local businesses and jobs much more than it improves the city's finance. I want to address the concerns about the neighborhood safety and the bad actors. Platforms like Airbnb has evolved. They have been established strict multi-layered screening process and automated technology to flag and prevent high-risisk bookings before they even happen. Airbnb implemented sophisticated AI screening to flag party house risk before a booking even happens. Airbnb estab established a 247 neighborhood support line and robust host reliability system that removes removes poor managers. If the city's primary concern is cost of oversight, the solution isn't to kill the industry. It's to implement the sensible registration fee that makes the program self-sustaining. A ban doesn't just affect property owners. It hits the invisible workers just that keeps our city running. Think think of the independent housekeepers. Think of the local gardeners, the handyman, electrician, plumbers, smallcale decorators, and co-host who manages the properties like myself. When a guest stays in a short-term rental, they are not just eating at the at the restaurant. They are walking down the street to our local cafes, shopping at the boutiques, pumping money into our neighborhood restaurants. This foot traffic is the lifeblood of our small business community. Removing STRs means removing those customers for these small local businesses. Instead of a ban, let's work with like platform like Airbnb to report bad listings and enforce permits and fines. This is a cost-effective solution of the problem

and local uh workers will retain their jobs and small businesses continue to thrive. Please don't close the doors on the future of the travel. Keep city of San Bernardino open, accessible and vibrant. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

Good evening. My name is Diane Adluan and I'm a local STR host here in San Bernardino. I'm also a nurse and a mom and like many families right now, I rely on this income to keep up with the rising cost of living. Inflation has made it incredibly difficult and this has helped me provide stability for my family. I followed the March 18 council meeting and I heard the concerns especially around enforcement, budget, and neighborhood impact. One thing that stood out was cost. From what was shared, whether the city regulates or bans short-term rentals, both require funding, and even with fees from platforms like Airbnb, it may still not be enough. The problem is not the industry. It's a small amount of bad actors. On March 18, it was mentioned that most complaints are coming from fewer than 10 properties out of 108 properties, which means the majority of hosts like myself are operating responsibly. However, after hearing other residents, I do agree in implementing a system that's been that bans these irresponsible short-term rentals. So, I have to ask, are we considering eliminating an entire industry because of these because of fewer than 10 properties? We're not running party houses and we're not disrupting neighborhoods, only a few. And I'd like to share something that wasn't mentioned. Well, well, my other um the other host mentioned it already, but Airbnb has good neighborhood uh policies, quiet hours, and anti-art party measures and systems that actively flag high-risisk bookings. If someone even mentions a party in their messages, it can be flagged and they may not be allowed to book. So I urge other residents to please use that hotline to call and maybe we can uh

resolve this issue and report those bad actors to Airbnb. There are real consequences consequences listing reported for part parties are or repeated issues can be penalized, suspended or permanently removed. And on top of that, most responsible hosts like myself are to use occupancy limits, noise monitoring, crowd monitoring to prevent these issues from before they even happen. The system to identify and remove bad actors already exists. If short-term rentals are banned, I respectfully ask mayor and the city council members who will be responsible for the loss of income that families like mine and local other workers depend on. This isn't about host. It's about an entire network of local jobs, cleaners, maintenance workers, and many others who rely on this income. So before the city spends more resources or takes away income from residents, has the city considered partnering up with platforms like Airbnb?

Thank you. Thank you. There are no more speakers for this item. Thank you. I am now closing the public hearing at 6:32 p.m. for deliberation action. And now it's for council to comment. And I do have council member Ibara followed by council member Ortiz.

Thank you, mayor, and thank you public for coming out to speak. Um gives us two different perspectives and how to address this. Um I believe I also requested our staff to give us a revised um Decker Technologies agreement and I still see the September 2025 one. Um I checked online right now and it shows the Yeah, Council Mat, they are going to honor that that that agreement. So, it's not changing. That's why we don't didn't update it. Why can't they provide something in writing to say that? Why are we relying on an old contract? Um, I think it's in writing. I just maybe didn't include it in your um in in your thing. Yeah, but they did they did confirm that they will honor uh those numbers.

Okay. And it says here that they're willing to talk to us um on the phone and confirm. Yes. are available right now and I I have to get because I I I don't feel comfortable with even pursuing an agreement if it's not current. No, I have to get my phone and then I'll dial the number and then I'll put it on speaker and then they will Do you want me to do that? And I don't think you could do that. Um please staff confirm. I I just didn't see the newer copy and I've been asking for it for the last two meetings. How hard is it to get it?

Correct. Council member Barara, if your concern is the price um being consistent, um um the community development director had confirmed it is. And what we can do is you could do the action if that if that makes you more comfortable based on the condition that the price is still the same as was shown. You could do that type of action and that would that would and I've asked for it several times already. I I just don't know why it's not included here. Yeah.

Um but besides that point, um I also want to address um of course the banning. If we're going to ban one area of the city, it has to be done across the whole city. Um I I hear what everybody's saying because frankly we did it with the fireworks and you know the when if they can't light them up on the north end, they'll light them up on the south end and the south end also has um areas of high fire um possibilities. So, it's one of those things that if we're going to ban something, we can ban it. But I wanted to ask the question, if let's say we do a regulation portion of it, can Decard I I saw the cost. If we were to hire code enforcement for just this, it's going to cost way too much than what's revenue that city's going to get. um if we hire Decard, if they can flag those properties that are have been constantly a nuisance in those neighborhoods to be shut down. Um and then the city I don't know if we can do something of imminent danger if the if the property owner continues to rent out the property even after being flagged as not suitable for rental. Um there's something I I I want to see if Decard can do that also. um because like this you know I understand the families are trying to make ends meet and this is a source of revenue for themselves but if it affects the whole community ADA f uh first responders access I'm really concerned with that. Um so we have to find ways of solving this. I I'm not against businesses, but I'm also not in favor of um causing these problems to our senior citizens or people that need emergency services throughout our city. Those will be my only comments and I I I've been, like I said, I've been asking for that revision and it hasn't come through. There's been contracts that have come to us that were not completed and in the end we see exorbitant amounts

of money being asked for from the city. Okay, that's that's my concerns. Thank you. Thank you, Councilwoman. Council member Ortiz, followed by Council Member Sanchez.

Thank you, Mayor. Yeah. Um, no, I think I think city manager, the staff needs to do better than wanting to get on the phone during the middle of a meeting because Councilwoman Abbar did ask for this multiple times. And the point of this was so that we made sure we have all that information in front of us to make the decision we needed to. So, if you think that's an acceptable answer from staff, then we're on two very different pages right now because I didn't appreciate that response to her and I'm just going to let you know that right now. um or to any council member, be ready, be prepared, or stop wasting our time. Thank you. So, next, when we look at a map that says where are they? My question is where are we? There's 108 households right now that are up for discussion in a six in a city with roughly 65,000 households, which means that we are taking out of cons consideration roughly 64,892 other households that aren't hosting parties when it's convenient for them. And so where is that in this conversation? Because when we buy our homes, one of the things that is about these attractive areas, especially in these in these wider populations, is that we aren't inconvenienced with people using them as a crash pad for their entertainment purposes when we are paying our property taxes, when we are investing into a community for a certain quality of life. And so, um, I I heard that speaker. I I I it's interesting when I hear people referred to as hosts and not homeowners. So that's that's a little difference of a context of conversation for for someone because when you talk about someone coming here to walk to a boutique or go get somewhere to eat in some type of district, that's literally not our city. And that's the problem is we do not have a city that's built like that. Um which is why we're looking for these type of investments. I have another issue. Um,

and I Councilwoman Abara hit on this about us delineating the type of enforcement where we do it based on fire zones and and and Mr. Alvarado is absolutely correct. We have this tendency of pushing whatever we don't want out of the top of the city and into the heart of the city. But you can still light a house on fire even if there aren't trees around it. When people are in backyards, when people are shooting off fireworks, when people are partying, when people are drinking and doing whatever they want to do, we don't have the enforcement to regulate these things. And $364,000 a year isn't even going to rebuild a home in a non-fire area. So, when we look at the type of compaction, when I you talk about CRM, here's what I want to know, Mr. um uh Elliot. When you talk about the CRM that come through for these specific homes, do people call in specifically and and complain about an Airbnb? Are they noise complaints? How do you distinguish in a CRM system what is Airbnb related versus what is citywide related?

Madame Mayor, Council Member Ortiz, yes, they would in this particular instance, they would identify them as uh uh vacation rentals. So, what if they don't know that? What if they're just like, "Hey, the neighbors down the street are being super noisy right now and there's a big party going on." Well, to me, if that was the complaint, it would be a wrong complaint to the wrong it would be the right complaint to the wrong agency because a code enforcement of when you get a CRM uh and you're complaining about somebody being noisy, that is not something that a code enforcement officer would immediately respond to. You said they're classified.

That would more that would be something that a police officer or the police department would they would respondse to those kind of disturbances. So are these not classified as CRM? These are classified as CRM, but the way they were reported, they're not reported for instant action. These the CRM when they come in, it is something that we would investigate if they come in the night before. Sometimes they're coming through the um um the call center, for example. We access that information. Yes, we access that information. So these are not live calls that something is happening right now. Please send a code request. No.

So how does PD then if if calls come in at the evening? Then I guess someone's calling a noise complaint, how are they then classified? Do we know if they are Airbnb related or are they just general noise? Because we say there's only four. But do our neighbors know that? I I don't know how the police department classifies uh these kinds of calls, but I you know, so that we have two officers here um in the uh in the chambers that can address that if necessary, but I'm not here for this item, but you know, it's that's

okay. So So when we say there's only been four, that's not actually accurate. How, city manager, how are we categorizing this when we stand here and give a presentation and say there's only four calls? Is that accurate? So, Councilman Ortiz, you have a good point. Um,

based on the calls, um, it when they identify and they call in, they're calling if they're calling about, um, a short-term rental, then they hit that category and that's for, there may be other noise complaints or other complaints that may be related to it that they may have coded it or they may have called it in a different category. It's hard to um, determine that, but you may be right. There may be more calls than that on this, but but what my experience has been is if short-term rental a short-term rental tends to be a problem. Usually people will identify it when they call that it is a short-term rental, but you may be right that there may be some other calls,

but we don't have a history. We don't we don't have that that put into this presentation because I to say there's only been four issues with 108 different houses. The math ain't math for me because this issue isn't just on Edertton. This issue is over by Yamaba. This issue exists down um by the Orange Show when there are raves going on. This issue is over by the golf course. I think Valencia Rston is one of the general areas that people come over and complain in. So, so what I find is that to centralize a problem to one specific portion of the area without actually being able to truly calculate the calls in the consistency of which they're coming in because we do not classify them as such. Cuz why would your neighbor know someone down the street decided to rent their house out? And I wouldn't believe for a second that anybody's going to let some strangers just randomly show up to their house on a weekend and rent out a single family home that them and their families live in every single day and just be like, "Here, have a full run of it." So, I think there's more to it. What are we doing for the business? I think what you've created here is is still so many more questions than answers because what it comes down to is we just don't have the capacity for this. You can have every rule and regulation in place. A ban is really the only way to get on a map, see what's being listed, and then go site it because after the fact isn't working for residents. Um hopefully we're going to get some type of revenue. Isn't working for residents. Mike Hartley said it great. Right. I mean, we just we just we just don't have it here for all of this. And so, um, I I support the residents and what you're saying about fearing your home burning down, but I think we we all are because internally and I think the council we well I can't get in specifics. We talk about this. We may want something at a 33,000 level, but the problem is is we

cannot execute from the inside out. The city doesn't execute. It's why we have slum lords. It's why we have prostitution. It's why we have vacancies. It's why the city burns because we can't execute from the inside of city hall to the outside into the city. And that's the same way I feel about this. So, thank you. Thank you, Council Sheret.

Thank you, Mayor. I thought there was someone ahead of me. Uh, a lot of of what I I I've knows my position. I've been in favor of a ban from the beginning. and in order to uh and that alleviates the problems of banning it in the north end and not in the south end or vice versa. Um and tonight we've heard uh I believe there were nine speakers. It's about 50/50 as far as for or against. We have 108 uh roughly short-term rentals. Airbnb may be a great organization and they may have uh mechanisms in place to deal with a lot of these issues. Uh there are other short-term rentals. Airbnb has become Kleenex for tissue. It's a generic term and the real term is short-term rentals and there's a number of organizations that that do them and I'm I'm sure they all have their own rules, regulations, and what have you. Um, I agree with my colleague that says we just don't have the resources and we're talking about two different kinds of of uh resources. We're talking about code, but the issues that are we're experiencing with some of these problem uh homes are police issues. And um out of 108, all you need is about five in a year that experienced what was experienced up in my neighborhood. And full disclosure, this is an area that's a problem without a doubt. But all you need is five of those. And I guarantee you the resources used that one night would be probably a third or more of what it would take to eat up all the revenue that we're getting. So I'm not

sure, as they say, the juice is worth the squeeze for let's say a hundred uh really good hosts as they call them. Uh but the eight or 10 or 15, the small percentage of bad actors, we are not Palm Springs. We are not Coachella Valley where they've had stage coach. They've had uh all the events down there. They've got the polo fields. They've got restaurants. Um as was said earlier, we are not a walking city walking to restaurants and and spending money at boutiques. That is just not who we are right now. And so I do I still support the ban because I think it's the easiest way to really deal with it. And I'm sorry for the uh hundred or so uh uh good hosts that that are doing this to uh to increase their income or to supplement their income. I think most of them are really uh to to make a lot of money, not just to supplement their income. I don't think it's so that they can pay their rent. I don't know that. I haven't done a survey. But I think I had a couple of of owners button hole me at one evening and they said how great it was for them. Um and and it was like $300,000 a year that person was making on what he was renting. Now whether it was good renters or bad renters or problematic or not, I don't know. But I don't think $300,000 I is a supplement supplement to his income so that he can survive or so that he can purchase food and gas and pay his rent. So, um I don't have a problem with the concept of short-term rentals, but I think the major issue that we have in this town is um who's going to do the who we don't it's been said we aren't

taking care of some of the issues that we need to take care of right now. I don't think that we're at full capacity either in the police department even though we've budgeted for it or in code enforcement and that's budgeted for. So, um I I think the the easy way, and I'm not looking always for the easiest solution. Um but I I think the maybe the fair way is just to ban them. Everybody's under the same rule, and everyone's banned. And it's not just one area or one type or on a hillside or not on a hillside. Uh and by the way, there is a uh properties that are on hills that are south of uh the 210 freeway. So, it's got nothing to do with fireworks and it's really got nothing to do with the hosts. They're good people. I'm sure most of them are doing it for the right reasons and they're trying to be good hosts. It's that one time that the the tenants get out of hand and destroy a neighborhood because of a fire on a windy night of a cigarette butt, whatever. And these those people, they get in their cars and they drive back to their homes. And what what were they here for? They were here for a rave. Uh they weren't here for the polo matches. They weren't here for a football game uh a professional football game. They weren't here um uh I don't think they're coming to uh Yamaba uh because those are one night events. People are coming into town and they they drive there and they go home. So I again it's a it's a complex and a difficult issue and at the very least I and I don't know I may have overlooked it Gabriel but do we have a list that just says this this this and this is approved. This this this and this is not allowed. Do we have that list? I sent

you a list that we had two or three years ago. Um I've got it on my phone. I sent it to you. Uh it was done um a and I pointed out the fact that that it there was a clear banning of certain um activities in certain areas and I don't see that anywhere in the backup. Do we have a clear list of of things that that are not allowed and that are allowed? Um council member Sheret exhibit C. Um um maybe you don't know and you know so

I don't think we do and we did when we first brought we've been kicking this thing around for four or five years and it's ridiculous that we can't come to some resolution on this and I think the uh the answer is is a a full ban and I'll make that motion. I'll second. I don't believe the votes are there to do it but I'm going to make that motion. We can try. Thank you, Mayor Paul Temp, followed by Councilman Frigoa.

Um, I first want to thank all of the public commenters that did come to speak regarding this issue. Regardless of what side that you're on for banning or not banning, thank you for coming and expressing your viewpoints and especially for the homeowners that are living in the situations that are impacted. Um, I just want to, you know, to the individuals that are living on streets that do have different characteristics. I don't think their intention is to disenfranchise and push, you know, these Airbnbs to other parts of the city. Um, I think a lot of times we mischaracterize situations as such. Um, we do have a diverse city. We do have neighborhoods that literally only have one point of entry and exit into those communities with very narrow streets and that are in very high firerprone areas. I know I have them on my ward. Um, so neighborhoods like that would be an absolute concern with inviting Airbnbs in those communities. Um, so regardless of where we stand, whether we're going to ban or not, I do want to take that in consider consideration because again, um, there are neighborhoods that do have very limited ingress and egress into those communities. Um, I think really what is at the center of whether you're for or against is enforcement. And I think that is still what is lacking in regards to whether we ban because someone did say it and I have to agree it's an oversimplified solution because banning still we have to enforce. There is still going to be illegal short-term rental operators in the city. Just because you ban something doesn't mean it's not going to happen. So still is a question is how are we going to enforce um there's some estimates here of 324,000 for potential revenue obviously and this is the same point that I brought up when it came to the firework ban we ban it we don't have any revenue

so if staff could hopefully appine in regards to what the course of action would be for enforcement if a ban was to take place in the city of San Frernardino Madame Mayor uh Mayor Prom uh canals. So um if a ban was going to take place, the first thing we would have to do is we would get in touch with Decarder Technology. They would be the ones that would actually show us where these activities are taking place because right now uh we don't know. And the the scatter map that I showed earlier that shows where the registrations are, they will be the ones that would show uh when are homes advertised and when are the advertisements pulled and that's how they know whether or not it's been occupied. So if they advertise and then the ad the ad is pulled, they mean somebody got into those homes. So we would start with that list and then we would have to go and and send them a letter and inform them that your uh your activity so uh is banned. Now the p that picture basically is we're spending money to ban the activity but we're not getting the resources out of that service. So we're going to pay somebody to actually monitor that but what are we getting in return? We're not getting anything in return. Now, uh, if we regulate it, at least we're going to say we got a registration fee. We can limit the number of people, uh, in the homes. We can limit, uh, a lot of different activities, uh, inspections prior to inspections afterwards. I mean, if we really want to do this, we can do this properly. It can be done. you know, many jurisdictions are doing this and and it doesn't take uh you know, an army of of of code enforcement officers or whatever to to regulate this process. Uh you

know, you register, you pay the you pay the fee. If you violate any of the conditions stipulated uh in the agreement uh more than twice, you know, the the permit gets pulled. So, you can't you can't regulate anymore. So, at least we know who is doing what in the city. uh if we ban it, yes, we write them all letters to say thank you very much and and we we continue to monitor them and then we kind of start writing letters to them and saying you're in violation of blah blah blah blah blah. I mean, we've got all kinds of other unforeseen expenses like legal fees, people challenging the city's rights to do whatever. So, uh it's uh to me uh all things considered and I I totally respect uh you know just taking the easy way out of banning it. But San Bernardino in my perspective is not a major destination for anybody for this to be a uh an issue that we can't really put our arms around. Now during the rave events, yes. Um, you know, um, you know, uh, council member Figurero, I did mention about how we can maybe get some additional funding from from the RA activities. I realized that we don't have a contract with the RA people. Uh, uh, the um, what is that place called?

Insomniac.

In the Insomniac, we don't have a contract with them. they have a contract with uh with the the state facility down uh you know in our city. So that is part of of the challenge uh you know that we have is yeah we can go and identify these people but we're paying money to find these things uh because we don't know who they are. Now neighbors can turn in neighbors and say they're operating. But for us to legally do it and do it properly, we have to go by you placed an ad on such and such a date. You we we found you online and and you know you are you you you're renting your house for Airbnb or verbbo or whatever. And that is how the easiest way to go about doing this so that we're everybody's uh on the same uh level uh level playing field. That's the that's the way I I would approach it.

Um my next question um for the option to regulate um within the resolution that was um created, it leaves the kind of openness or vagueness for us to as a city council at a later time come back with the actual stipulations of the violations. Is that correct? Am I interpreting that correctly? Uh well um if you look at um one of the exhibits in your uh staff report, the one with the uh beige uh colored heading says registration, it does say that um what if we decide if we decide that we like what we see in the column that says San Bernardino, we can adopt those uh in addition to uh whatever action the city council decides to take tonight. So for registration uh they will register. Uh they will pay a fee uh to register. Uh there is uh enforcement activity which is if you violate you get start getting issued $1,000 a day and so on and so forth. And you have the opportunity to add anything else you think might be um uh relevant uh to regulating his activity. I mean, the the the purpose of this is for there to be some kind of a a dialogue between the city council and staff so that we know exactly what your concerns are. We can bring this forward to you again. uh you know and then we will still continue to have the same issue because we want you to identify what are the specifics what makes it work for you. What would you like to see in this regulation because we have shown you what other jurisdictions are doing about it. So if you like what you see then we can adopt these same standards. Uh they're not very um uh extraneous in

my in my opinion. uh the the fee for registering is about $500 and or $600. Uh and and and so that fee now becomes something that we would collect like I mentioned earlier. Multiply that by by you know by 108 properties, you know, we we get, you know, we we we get some additional revenue from that. Yeah. So so uh I mean I I just see a lot of I see a lot of pluses. Uh I I to me uh I don't really see most of the disadvantages, but I know they are there. But of the $324,000 that was estimated, is that estimation include that

uh possible $500 fee? Uh could you say that again? Um the $324,000 estimate that was provided. Is that inclusive of that $500 fee?

Oh, no. No. So you have that $500 fee is actually on top. So the $324 $24,000 is the toot that we will recoup depending on how much you rent your property for. So that's so if you rent your property for $1,000 per whatever the city gets a hundred. So if you multiply that by several properties, that is where that $324,000 comes from. So if it's $1,000 a month uh in a year, that's a,000 time 12 for one property alone. and then you multiply that by several properties. That is what that $324,000 is coming from plus the uh registration fee which would be uh every time you you know you register. Another way to control this is to limit the number of

city manager has a comment.

I would just say to clarify and to just simplify it, there's two two financial aspects. one is you would have um the 324,000 that's estimated but um that's just an estimate that is similar to your bed tax or toot or whatever you want to call it that you get in a hotel. Then there's the code enforcement which is what Gabriel was talking about that would be separate and that would be going for code enforcement efforts um as far as the code enforcement as far as the fee and then any fines that we do for code enforcement. Um, and I can see both arguments to this issue. I've actually dealt with this issue way too long. I've dealt with this issue, I hate to say it, since the 1990s before you even had um or ma maybe early 2000s before you even had Airbnb and v Verbbo and all those other companies. I did when they used to advertise in the newspapers. So, so um so there there's definitely legitimate arguments to both ways. there's quality of life arguments, but then there is if you regulate um what what what I've done one city when you regulate um it actually doesn't create that significant more work because what you do is um when there's police calls, there's police calls, then that gets funneled to the um code enforcement, then they do the follow-up the next day. And then if you do a regulatory process, you would actually be sending out letters to the individuals. It's a little bit more controlled environment.

Thank you, Caser Figureroa, followed by Council Artis.

Uh, yes. Thank you, Mayor. Uh, in fact, some of the questions I had were already addressed, but I'll just I guess I'll say them again or share a couple of other things also that um there are parts of of the city that that are south of the the 210 freeway and and I'll just mention a couple in in the third ward that do have some of those same issues that are present in the north end, right? I can think of Meridian and Mil Street where there are a couple of hundred homes in that area and they literally just have one way in, one way out. And so, uh, you know, then there's Congress Street, Belleview, where the the streets are so narrow that as it is right now, it's so difficult to even to navigate your way through those streets as well. But that there are other parts of the city that do have some of those same issues. But um currently the the motion on the floor is uh the adoption of ordinance MC1661 which is the the ban. Uh hypothe if this were to go through what what would be the anticipated costs associated with um enforcing this? I guess council member Fugar. So the associate cost would be um the uh contract amount uh from our um u deck of technology which would be the $16,500 that uh they would now uh basically uh do research on the properties that are uh basically operating this business. And then that'll be admin administrative cost on our end because the city now has to send a letter out on our on our letterhead and I think we have to pay the postage. Um I don't think that responsibility would be uh the responsibility of Decard Technology. Their job is just to basically flush these things out to us and tell us where

they are and and so on and so forth. So we would have uh 165 uh and then we would have additional costs for mailings and and things like that which I cannot make any assessment at this particular time. But I think a first class postage stamp uh these days cost almost about 90 cents. And would that be times 18? Please. And as far as code enforcement officers available to to continue enforcing a ban

since that falls under your department, do you have a a rough idea as far as what that cost would actually be? Uh um madame mayor, council member Figura, as I mentioned earlier, uh we have a team of code enforcement officers who currently uh monitor different uh sectors of the city. In addition to that manpower, we are willing to actually dedicate one officer uh to this effort in addition to the resources of other officers that would actually help. So, we we don't we don't anticipate um um any kind of significant hardship from doing this because once we do it, uh hopefully it's a one-time thing. We we send a letter out. uh if there's still strugglers uh you know um uh Deca Technology we continue to uh alert us to who those are. We can continue to send the letter and then it becomes an issue where if the activities still continue, we start issuing uh you know violation notices and then we can if they continue to operate then uh there might be opportunities for citations and and getting additional um uh resources. if they fail to pay and if they you know there it's a long process for us to actually get anything back from from whatever site.

Mr. City Manager.

Yeah. So to simp to try to simplify it, whether you have a ban or you have a regulation, you're going to have basically the same um cost for enforcement under either scenario because 108, you're not going to just um increase um exponentially the the number of um short-term rentals just because you have a regulation. Because right now people are doing it, but they it's because we just don't have a regulatory environment. So, you're going to have pretty much the same cost. Where you're going to have an increased cost if you regulate um where you'll have the increased cost is you'll have increased cost because you'll need to set up a system where you have people have to register and all that. So, you'll have that increased cost if you regulate where you'll have a little bit increased cost if you decide to do a ban because you're still going to have the cost um for instance for EARD u or Decker. Uh you're going to have that same cost, that same base cost under either scenario. You're going to have that cost. So, um, whatever that cost is, you're going to have that same cost. But then if you have the, um, ban, what you'll probably have is, um, you'll be looking at that and then you'll have to send out letters and things like that. You'll be able have some enforcement costs on that, but you won't have any registration. You won't have registration revenues come back, but you'll have enforcement revenues that come back. And that's what I was trying to figure out is that the the scenarios that were being described uh what is the cost of the ban and then what is the cost of of regulation, right? Because one is going to have a little bit more than the other. And so with the with the ban uh and that's all I was just trying to figure out what is the actual cost because now this is the what the third this is the third time we're having this hearing, right? And so I will be asking this again for the third time and you you've kind of alluded to it earlier as far as the raves are concerned, right? Prim that's the the main and primary reason why so

many people from come in from out of town is is for that purpose. Do we have the ability? Are we legally allowed to assess some type of a a per ticket fee? let's say $2 per ticket or a dollar per ticket uh in one event just for one rave. I we get about a h 100,000 uh people coming in for one weekend. That right there is a h 100,000 maybe even 200,000 depending on whether we do a dollar or $2 per ticket, right? Um and that doesn't even include like cannabis events because we allow currently under our our code I think we allow up to six, right? And so if we do a a $2 ticket on on theirs, that's I I don't think theirs are as big as the as the Ravves, but they they'll probably bring in maybe 30 to 40,000 people. And so what I'm trying to get to is are we allowed to put a fee on on tickets sold for special events, special event tickets to help enforce uh a ban if we are to go down the road of a ban or to help supplement if we are to do just do regulation.

Um Madame Mayor, Mr. city manager. I I think um I we'd have to go through legal and make sure that we could actually put a fee on the tickets or I could have finance director um evaluate that. Um I think that revenue ne necessarily would be connected from my experience into the short-term rentals because I think those are events and you'll have you have a lot of people coming in and out that are not even staying in short-term rentals. That would be more for other types of activities, transportation, traffic enforcement, parking, other types of things. Uh we'd have to evaluate as far as what the ticket cost would be, but I don't think it's going to apply too much to the short-term rental.

The frustration of the council tonight, staff, please listen. They have asked these inquiries. This is not the third time. I think that's the problem. They can't make good informed decisions without all the information that's provided, that's needed, that's asked three times. So, please, legal, staff, city manager, listen to what the council's asking. They're getting frustrated. And so, we don't even know if they can make decisions tonight with all of these inquiries. I'm just saying that tickets at the event, it's going to be hard to create that nexus to short-term rentals. So, I think that would be a different conversation outside of short-term rentals.

Understood. But again, It goes back to the the making informed decisions. Okay. Um

and I'll just Yes. And I understand and this is why I've asked the third time now. Are we allowed to do that? What would that look like if we did or if we're not so I can just get off of this topic, right? Because I' I've asked it a few times a and I get it. I understand that it's difficult to make a connection from ticket fees to short-term rentals, right? But then because those those people that are coming in aren't necessarily using the short-term rentals. But I would also argue th the people that are staying at our hotels are paying toot and that toot is being used for things that those people that are at the staying at the hotels aren't using the resources for. Right? We we're able to use toot to help fund our parks or other services in our city that the people staying at hotels aren't using or utilizing. Right? And so I'm trying to understand how I I'm making the counterargument, I guess, to your point, right? Is that if if people who are coming in and paying a ticket fee is is difficult to make a connection to short-term rentals, then what is the argument for people staying at hotels and paying toot for services that they're not ever going to use?

And so I'll just leave it at that. Thank you. I would actually think your your point's well taken because I think actually what I think we're almost on the same page because I think what I was saying is the ticket fee is actually I would consider more of a general revenue similar to the toot. So, I would I would urge you not to tie it to the short-term rental only or the enforcement, but how that could work towards general services for the city. And I can have the finance director look at ticket fee and then how that would benefit us from a financial revenue situation. So then it would be up to the council at that point come budget time to allocate certain funds for that. So I so we're on the same page and it would go into the general fund,

right? And then it would then be up to the council how to utilize those funds. Concerns me, but I I I you know that will be shortlived. We kind of have a New Year's resolution type of governing sometimes where we we have these ideas that are short-lived and we don't follow through on them sometimes. So it it that's why I wanted to tie it down to that specifically so that we can't uh then change it later on down the road. Right. So that's all. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member. Good question, comments. Council member Ortiz.

Yeah. No, I I thank you for that. mayor prot um council member fora because I mean honestly like I feel like I'm sitting in front of an Airbnb commercial and it's really annoying because we don't have the information. We've asked for it three times. Could you imagine for one second if we sat on three consecutive meetings and talked about homelessness, talked about economic development, talked about parks, talked about getting back into city hall, talked about paving streets the way we are for 108 houses that we can't even regulate. And yet we still have to come back and ask the same question and the same question because you're not prepared. And if you're not even prepared to ask questions which have already be preempted to you, how prepared are we for enforcement? And that's the frustration. If you can't even get the basics, what do you tell people that you're going to be able to do when they have a problem at their homes? And so I look I just think this is why we got to take it off the table because you can't even justify to me first of all that a stamp at 90 cents a piece at 108 we can't invest $97 and we'll up it for tax can't go to $98 to send out 108 letters. I'll tell you what go send it certified and pay $5.80 80 cents and invest $572 to let people know you cannot break the law in the city of San Bernardino and rent your house out. And if you do, here's a $5,000 fine. What about just putting us at a space, Gabriel, where the city of San Bino is not somewhere you can just do whatever you want. It's not a free-for-all. You just have to be a part of the enforcement and follow the municipal code. Because what I hear is nothing but excuses of why other people get to come into our city and do whatever they want and it takes more more money to to let them do what they want and then not even think that we would be reducing if we had enforcement in a ban. Well, we would decrease the number of homes that are

registered in the city of San Bernardino, which would ultimately start reducing the cost of enforcement because some point maybe one or two people wouldn't follow it, but the majority of these great hosts who follow the law would say, "This is not acceptable here. So, we're no longer going to register. Get online, look at where the blue dots pop up, and go write a ticket." I just I just don't get the inefficiency of government. It is just such a waste and a drain on taxpayers that we just can't do something and streamline it. So, I'm sorry for my frustration, but my god, why is this so difficult? Why is everything in the city of San Bernardino such a difficult task?

Thank you, council member. Council Sheret, followed by Sanchez, followed by Ibara. Thank you, mayor. And I might remind everybody here that this isn't the third time. It's the third time with this council,

so it's about the sixth time. And it should have been banned a long time ago because we had a council that agreed to ban it and the staff did not come back in a week or two or a month with a ban. It would have been that simple. We would not be here today and those 108 good hosts would probably not be be renting there. And um my my question is um well, one is if we were to ban them and we find someone that's not complying, can we find them $10,000 for not complying? I mean, is that a legal question? Is there a does uh is there a point where we can uh ban someone $100,000 for breaking the law for breaking our laws? for breaking San Bernardino laws. I you know that's the point I think we're trying to make here is that San Bernard we've got to change the way we operate here and we cannot be the stepchild of the county and we've got to start standing up for what's right uh for our citizens not for 108 good hosts but for uh 230,000 people that live here. So, do we expect those 108 good hosts, if we ban them, do we expect them to break the law? Because we don't because there's no consequence if they break the law. They they there's no fine. And so, we go out there and say, "You can't do that. You don't do that." But, do we find them $10,000, make sure we collect it, and then little by little, uh, people aren't going to be there. It's the risk is too is the reward isn't worth the risk. and San Bernardino becomes known as a place that you don't do short-term rentals. I this is not this is not rocket science and I don't understand why it has taken us

this long to do this and we've been on this subject here tonight for an hour or more and it's taken up more time than some of the more important issues that we have in this community and a simple ban there's going to be a cost associated with it. There's going to be some enforcement associated with it, but eventually we'll ban them and people will know they're not banned and they won't do it in here. And if they do it, they should pay a penalty.

Thank you. There's a motion and a second already on the ban. Um, council Sanchez, can you make it quick, please, so that we can go see go the motion in the second. Thank Uh so uh I would encourage I would wager that most of my colleagues um who expressed some of their frustrations didn't take the opportunity before the agenda was posted or even after the agenda was posted to ask these questions to staff and I would encourage my colleagues to make sure that they're not using this and as an exhibit to publicly fogg um our staff. So what I would like to do is I mean they do have some valid points and I do believe that uh that there are questions that need to be answered and it's reasonable that those questions get answered. So I would move to continue this item for

I would move I would move to continue this item for is a substitute motion council member. Yes. So I'd like to make a motion that we uh continue substitute motion sub. Yes. Okay. Uh, I'd like to u make a motion that we continue this item for 30 days so that staff can answer all the questions. Uh, if I can answer if if staff can answer all the questions that my colleagues have and I would also encourage my colleagues to reach out to staff and ask those questions before that council meeting and not not use we did two council meetings ago. Council member let council member Sanche please.

Yeah, you know the mayor herself mentioned that we can't make good decisions without the information. there were some valid questions asked. I encourage staff to reach out to my colleagues and my colleagues to reach out to staff to get those questions answered and then bring back this pretty contentious item within uh 30 days. So with either at the next council meeting or the meeting to follow, council member again a substitute motion, correct? That's some uh council member bar.

I I don't know how many more times we have to ask publicly at a council meeting for revised information. Um because I'm reading the Decard information. Decard has a good proposal. I'm just asking for an updated one to make sure that we are with the current proposal that they have. Um everything that we've discussed as far as enforcement, notifying those owners, they do it already. Um it's just an an just us approving them. Uh making sure that they are going to contact all these current homeowners that are renting out their properties to to abide, you know, by by whatever enforcement we want to do or regulation we want to do. We want to make sure that if our city staff can't handle it, which it seems like we can't. We're not being proactive. Just as Mike Hartley mentioned for years, we've said we need for code enforcement to be proactive. Do not wait until an an a neighbor reports another neighbor. That is a disservice to our city because then we have code enforcement going after that one person that's getting reported and everybody else gets ignored. Um, we don't have the capacity to enforce. I would love to allow for Decker to do the work that our staff can do it, but I cannot do it with an expired proposal on our agenda packet. I've asked for it for three the past three meetings and it still is not showing up. Simple as that. Um I'm okay. We're regulating, but ban the bad actors. Get them out of the city. if they are continuously violating um the city rules causing havoc and preventing for emergency vehicles from accessing those areas or even the homeowners from leaving the area should a fire arise then they should not be operating in our city and they and we should be finding them for the damage they're causing our neighborhoods.

banning them. I don't know how much banning is going to help, Fred, because they're already operating. And like we had a uh a speaker say right now, we have some that are not even listed on this map that are operating as short-term rentals. Who's to say that we really have 108? I think we have more in our city that we don't know about, and they should all be paying their fees. Thank you, Councilwoman. There's a substitute motion to um continue this item. Is there a second?

Seeing none, we're going to go back to the original motion, the motion by council member Sheret uh to ban um and seconded by council Ortiz. Madam city clerk,

the motion would be to approve um section three of the recommendation, which would be introduce and read by title only and wave further reading of ordinance MC 1661 of the mayor and city council of the city of San Frernardino amending section 19.02.0 050 basic provision def definitions in chapter 19.04 residential zones of the city of Sanernardino development code SBMC title 19 banning short-term and vacation rentals in the city of San Frernardino. Council member Sanchez. No. Council member Bar. No. Council member Figoa. Yes.

Council member Sheret. Yes. Mayor Pro Tim Canas, no. Council member Flores, yes. Council member Ortiz, finally. Yes. Motion passes 4 to three to ban short-term rentals with council member Sanchez Ibara and Mayor Proim Canaz voting in opposition. Thank you. We now move on to city manager update. Mr. the city manager,

madam, mayor, and city council members, I want to give you uh an update first. Is this the right one? I will make sure. Okay. First, um there's there's a 55h hour full closure at University Parkway this weekend. The SBCTA will be closing the underpass and all ramps in both directions for 55 hours from 9:00 p.m. on Friday, April 17th through 5:00 a.m. on Monday, April 20th. The um work is is what will put in place the final configuration of the new diverging diamond interchange which has already reduced congestion at one of the San Bernardino's busiest interchanges. Second, last Thursday, EV Reality celebrated the opening of their 9 megawatt Big Rig EV charging center on Mil Street. The facility hosts 76 fast charging stalls, will be open 24 hours a day, and can fully charge more than 200 electric trucks a day. They also announced agreements with three local trucking companies. This facility is believed to be the second largest EV truck charging facility in the United States. Records and manage and information management month. Over the past year, the city clerk's records and information management team of Diane Grant and Manny Hernandez have demonstrated exceptional dedication in maintaining and safeguarding the city's records, supporting transparency and accountability within the organization. The team has responded to over 2400 California Public Records Act requests and processing more than 250 subpoenas. In recognition of these outstanding efforts, the city has proclaimed April as records and information management month. See, I want to on some city news. Federal budget funding for San Bernardino Police Department mobile

command post. Congressman Pete Aular has submitted a 1.95 million community project funding budget request in the upcoming 2026 and 27 budget for a mobile um command post police department. The funding is contingent upon approval of a budget by Congress. Love your block voting and recipient announcement. Today is the last day to vote for your favorite proposals among the 12 Love Your Block project finalists. Vote at the city home homepage or grab grab a flyers with a QR codes to be which are in the back. The top six proposals be announced at the Court Street Arbor Day Festival on April 25th and will receive up to $5,000 each to help their Route 66 Route 66 themed community-based project. Under events this weekend, adoption fair this this Saturday at the animal shelter. Animal Services will be holding their spring into love adoption fair at the shelter on Chandler Place on Saturday, April 18th from 11 to 4. There will be an adoptable dogs and cats, food trucks, pet vendors, and a familyfriendly atmosphere. Adoption fees during the event are only $25 dollars and will include a spay or neuter, vaccinations, microchipping, flea treatment, and deworming. Third annual Inland Empire History Festival. The Inland Empire History Festival will take place on Saturday from 900 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Norton Air Base Museum on Third Street. There will be historical um societies, museums, local authors, musical entertainment, Inland Empire, baseball mascots, and face painting, radio personalities, and food. The National Orange Show Fair opened in the San in San Bernardino a few minutes ago and will be run through Sunday,

April 19th. Play games, ride rides, listen to great music, see racing pigs, camels, sharks, stingrays, birds of prey, stingrays, and some pretty pretty good food, too. Admission is free on Wednesday, April 15th with discounted tickets available online every other day. And for those who believe in the curse, there is no rain forecast during this fair. This I'm going to add one other thing to my updates based on the last conversation on on um short-term rentals. I think it's important based on that last conversation that um I let the council know and this is a statistic that's been out there but there was a lot of discussion about code enforcement and resources and all that but I want to say with the same resources we've had code enforcement under the current management under um Christy who's the current code enforcement manager in 2025 we had 16,726 inspections were conducted by core enforcement. Previous year in 2024, there were 6,492. That's because new processes were put in place, not more staffing. And I think we need to when you keep saying, how much is costing on staffing? What we need to do put systems in place to be more efficient. And that's what we've been doing. And you kept asking the question, that's what we've been doing. It's not always about the dollar. It's also about what are you doing within the dollars you have to be more effective. A second thing that code enforcement did is they had a saturation day on Wednesday, April 8th. Code enforcement conducted a saturation day operation which they call um under Bday covering the first, third, and sixth wards in response to increased case loads in that particular area. During the operation, staff addressed a total of 107 code cases and CRM. This effort resulted in 24 notices of violation, 23 administrative citations,

24 extensions granted, 12 follow-up appointments scheduled, and 24 cases closed. And so, I want to congratulate code enforcement because they are trying to put new process in place, understanding our fiscal situation. They're putting new process in place to be more effective for the community. And I think based on the last conversation, I want to make sure that you're aware of what they're doing within the resources we have. Thank you. Thank you. Great job, staff. Thank you, Council Ortiz.

I just want to thank you so much for coming back to the city of San Bernardino. It it really is uh amazing to have you here and you're such an asset. And this is what it looks like when we retain and then when we sometimes lose, but then come back to our great employees. And so it it's been an honor knowing you and thank you so much for what you're doing for code enforcement. Truly appreciate you.

Thank you. Next is uh public comments. Before we go to public comments, uh we have 73 speakers uh tonight. I'd like to call for a fiveminute recess. Let's take a break before we sit through those comments. Please five minute recess. We'll be right back at 5 7:36. council. I need a quorum. Okay, moving on to public comments. At this time, public comments will be heard for items on the open session and item not on the agenda. Okay. To address the city council, everyone must complete a speaker card and provide it to the city clerk. Only those speaker cards turned into the city clerk will be allowed to address the city council. No late cards will be accepted. Just make sure as your name is called. Please line up behind the podium. We have two podiums available for your convenience. Please pro proceed to either one as soon as your name is called. You'll have three minutes. Please state your name. Please note your name will be only called once. If you do not respond when called, you may forfeit your opportunity to speak. If you require Spanish interpretation, we do have an interpreter on

I just lost a quorum.

I just lost a quorum. Yeah, we got it. I'm back. If you require Spanish interpretation, we do have an interpreter on site. Please raise your hand at this time to indicate you will need interpreting assistance. In addition, we have interpreting listening devices available in the back. We ask that you please observe proper decorum and do not speak out of turn or make comments from your seat. If you wish to address the mayor and city council, please be sure to submit a speaker slip. If you speak out of turn or disrupt the meeting, a word may be given and or you'll be asked to leave the meeting pursuant to government code section 54957.9 and penal code 403. Secretary. Secretary. Area

Municipal. Thank you. Gracias. We have about 73 speakers tonight. Each speaker will have three minutes. Madam see the clerk. Damon Alexander, Prince O. Leon Madlock, Tony Chandra, Jeremiah Maddox, Scott Olsen, Eric Marquez, Ron Alvarado, Jasmine Robles, Sandra Madison, Al Pazo, Tanya Smith, Christian Shaughnessy, Kim Calvin, Dolores Armstead, John Scholenburgger, Lydia Savala, Nori Ruiz, Jessica Esavl, Denise Perry, Ricky Van Johnson, Quincy Charize, Jan Jan Robinson, Alandre Nodal, Connor Bush, Mike Hartley, Alicia Nash, Crystal Kalara, Betty Ford, Betty Grant, Evie Robertson, Joyce Smith, Barbara Scott, Lisa Chapman, Sandra Jackson, Virginia Stewart, Patricia Williams, Melania Garcia.

Thank you. Please state your name. You have three minutes.

Thank you, Mayor Council. I am Damon Alexander. I'm asking you to walk back the center of Treasure Ortiz because I love the city and I love and and I love this council. And I don't believe that the facts presented on April 1st warrants a censure for these following reasons. First, council member Ortiz stated many times to the public that she had never never been arrested and that the pattern of conduct by which the city established showed evidence that council member Ortiz indeed had been arrested on June 22nd, 2006 for 243 domestic battery on a person. But you cannot use that against her because it is her past and the only things that she is guilty of is lying to the seventh ward residents in the city of San Bernardino. Then the city presented the arrest of Dr. Ortiz on March 7, 2015 by LAPD for 243 battery on a person for you cannot use that against her either for the same reasons. Again, she is only guilty of lying to the wards seventh ward residents in the city of San Bernardino. Her bankruptcies nothing more than mismanagement of her personal funds. Then on March 25th, 2025, Council Member Ortiz filed a $2 million lawsuit against the city. It took 5 years and she waited until she held a seat of power. Sounds like a money grab, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, but you can't use that against her either because it has not been adjudicated. Then on February 27, 2026, for the first time as long as it can be known, a a letter of cease and desist was issued to her. and I quote from the letter, "It had come to the city's attention that you, Council Member Ortiz, have engaged in a pattern of conduct directed towards city staff that raises serious concerns about the professionalism, your harassment and misuse of authority." End quote. I cannot believe I'm saying this, but I have not witnessed nor heard Treasures violate this cyst and decease order. Thus, this center appears to be punitive in nature, and I know we are better than this." Then San Bernardino District Attorney's Office filed a criminal complaint on Dr. Ortiz for violation of

632 ANC for unlawful recording confidential conversations. The city cannot use this censure to censure her because she has she has the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. I must say, let's look at your decision. Then this council member Ortiz in an attempt to conceal her criminal arrest by impersonating San Bernardino personnel, which is another criminal violation of 538D section 2C. The question is, why didn't the council direct the city attorney to file a criminal case with the district attorney's office? We have directed the city attorney to file cases with lesser evidence. If there was anyone else in this room who impersonated San Bernardino personnel, anyone in this EV in this chambers, we would be in handcuffs. But I have digressed. For these reasons, I have stated, please reverse your decision. Let us be the council of fair and just. Thank you and good night.

Thank you. Next speaker, if we state your name, you have three minutes.

Mike Hartley. Uh, I was going to go uh have dinner because I didn't have dinner, but I wanted to make sure that everybody knew that Christy roll letter is the best. And I wish we had 20 of them, but we don't. But I can tell you in the fourth ward, somebody on next door sent over in front of an apartment complex where somebody had thrown out all this trash out on the lawn, a couch, clothes, sat there for two weeks. I saw it on Next Door. I emailed Christie and I said, "This is the problem with Sanino." The next day it was cleaned up. What I am saying, I got nothing against Miss Ro letter. I am saying we need to be proactive is what I am saying. We need to hire more code enforcement officers. You expect her to do it with 18 code enforcement officers? Drive around the city. It's freaking impossible. It's just not going to happen. We've got to get it cleaned up. And I feel like the system itself still needs to be worked on. There is no when when you turn in a CRM, they close it out. Well, a lot of people who don't know the system think, "Okay, well, it was taken care of." Well, no, it wasn't taken care of. All it was was put in the system. Now, if it's cleaned up, I don't see a reply saying it was cleaned up.

It's like there was no follow through, no followup. Sometimes I drive by the violation and it is cleaned up, but I never got any kind of notice saying it was cleaned up. And let me tell you something, my fuel now is costing me a lot of money because I drive around. I want to make sure they're cleaned up. But again, Christie, you're doing a great job and I I hope you continue to stay with Sanino. It's a it's a tough job. Thank you. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

My name is Leon Madlock. I serve as a advocate for the homeless in the San Bernardino region as well as Southern California. I want to uh commend Mayor Fran and and the uh city council for the work that you are doing with the city with the homeless population. You're building a a nice building at a start to help the homeless get off the street. Over 30 uh families are being addressed in that situation. And I do see the problems that are facing in San Bernardino over 3,000 homeless here in this in the city and over 5,000 in the county. And I see what is going on and I see the template that you have in place a template that to change the things and anytime you put a template in place it is a pre-esigned pattern mold or model used to create a new consistently and efficient system. So when you go through a uh with a template, you have growing pains and anytime you have a template in place, you have to grow into that template. And I see your staff growing in. Many homeless have told me they are happy to see what is happening. They're happy to see that buildings are being built and places are being put in place. And I see the uh I also see the uh uh ownership with you and San Bernardino uh uh college that they they are training clinicians and uh mental health professionals there because that's where the problem at a lot of our homeless veterans as well as the homeless period have mental health issues. We have we need more clinicians trained to go out in the community and help not only to feed but to uh show them how to get assistance. I believe if you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day. But if you teach a man how to fish, he he eat for life. And we need to teach that to all our people that are less fortunate that need help. Over over 3,000 people are still homeless in the San Bernardino area, but we are working on it. I see what you have in place. It's very

important that you stay the course and stay together. You know, don't get don't let outside entities come in and take you off course. You have a good thing going. stay the course and keep getting uh uh people off the streets because they need it. And they're hurting. Not only people on the streets. I was I began to pray when I started here today. I seen the the the discontent on each side. But you have to keep in place the program that you have. Eventually, you'll get a breakthrough. I see the the numbers coming down in the in the community as as it pertain to homeless and the working poor and the people that are on the streets. Yes, the numbers are coming down, but we can do better than that. We are better than that. And we must do it. I served in the 82nd Airborne for many years. We had to be anywhere in the world in 24 hours. I lived out of out of a duffel bag. I'm telling you, it can be done. Not only that, it will be done. This is the will of God concerning the earth in Christ Jesus. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes. Good evening, honorable mayor and common counsel Ricky Van Johnson. Aoma Unity Center cordially invites you to attend the following events. On April 18th, our fifth annual Earth Day celebration, also the grand opening of our advanced agricultural hydroponics and aquaponics lab. In June, AOMA will celebrate our 10year anniversary. 10 years. In October, we will host our harvest festival, host a Susan G. Kleman breast cancer awareness walk, and our scholars will host a voter education for forum entitled your vote is your voice. In November, AOMA will participate in a national STEM steam day. In December, AOMA will host our annual toy and coat drive. During the year, our weekly events include our industrial automation and robotics lab, our Ann Charerelle's community garden with 16 harvest throughout the year, our Girl Scout troop, our Koma Speaks podcast and youth documentary club, San Kofa Saturday, and our Golden Natures where seniors stay active, connected, and empowered. Special programs at ENOMA include our drug and alcohol awareness prevention program which provides peer-to-peer counseling and the Borugard family therapy group a behavioral health service provider. Our partners include UC Riverside, California State University, San Bernardino, San Bernardino Park and Rec Department, San Bernardino Municipal Water Department,

San Bernardino Unified School District, San Bernardino Community Hospital, the Yahavia Tom of San Manuel Nation, and many others. Our s our supporters include Congressman Pete Aguilar, Senator Eloise Gomez Reyes, Assembly Member James Ramos, Supervisor Joe Barker Jr., the Westside Action Group, and many others. Let me tell you this. It would be hard finding a community center in the Inland Empire that offers such a wide varieties of service thoughtfully designed with our community in mind. Mayor and common counsel, I request that you carefully listen to the stories that the AOMA family will be sharing tonight and do the right thing. extend a Koma Unity C Center's lease for three years with options. I thank you for your time and may God bless you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

Um, good evening, mayor and members of the city council. My name is Prince Ogipe. I am a senior district representative for Senator Eloise Gomez Reyes and I am here on her behalf. The senator sends her regards and thanks you all for the opportunity to speak today. Um, Senator Reyes is proud to stand in strong support of Akoma Unity Center and the vital work it has provided to the San Bernardino community for over a decade. Since 2016, AOMA has served as a safe, empowering, and transformative space for young people and families, offering free educational programming um that nurtures creativity, builds confidence, and fosters leadership through innovative programs in digital arts, coding, robotics, mental health support. Akoma has created meaning

who generously gave us a grant to further our participation and enabling us to engage in activities that enhance our lives as we grow older and wiser. So you see the AOM center has provided for us who have remained in this community the opportunity to continue to live a much more enriched life and at the same time has provided richness and comfort in the lives of others. Thank you. We as acting productive taxpaying senior citizens ask that you approve the lease renewal with the Koma Center. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. have three minutes.

Good evening, mayor and council. My name is Tanya Smith. I'm here because there is a lack of communication and accountability in this city. I've reached out to the mayor's office multiple times. I've heard back from the police department, but from the mayor nothing. It is deeply unsettling to wonder, is the mayor ignoring me because I am homeless. Do you believe that that being on the house doesn't count? If a developer came to you today with a $50,000 plan to improve a city lot, you would be giving him a ribbon cutting ceremony right now. I come to you with a $47,000 project to save lives. I can't even get a received notification. Is the value of the project based on the math or the person that's giving it? I'm also here because our community is being bullied. Police are taking our property and survival gear without notice. This is a direct violation of the fourth and 14th amendment. The ninth circuit ruling in the Leon versus the city of Los Angeles is clear. The government cannot seize or destroy property without due process unless it is a life-threatening problem. You must provide notice. And don't try to cover this up by calling it trespassing. This is an illegal smoke screen. Many of the people you are sweeping have been in the same spot for years. Under California Penal Code 602, you cannot use trespassing as a loophole to bypass the notice required for cleanup. Every time an officer ignores this, you are opening yourself up for and the city for federal litigation. My pilot pro program cost $47,695. One civil right lawsuit will cost you 10 times that. Furthermore, the government and the ADA recognizes drug addiction as a disability. The individuals are protected class. When you treat people with medical conditions like criminals to be harassed, you are violating federal protections. They deserve treatment and sta stability, not constant displacement. Finally, the city just received the HHAP6 grant. That state mandate requires a housing first approach. That money was not given to you to fund more police sweeps or to ignore emails of the people that grant

is supposed to help. On Sunday, I mean s I emailed sever you with the business plan for APN015128119. It is a managed high dignity solution that includes cozy space hygiene units and a seismic power panel to eliminate fire risk. Even private land owners could could profit if they follow this plan. Mayor, I'm still waiting to hear from you and council. Start following the law and respect the grants requirement. We are your neighbors. You can ignore my emails and turn away from the podium, but we are not invisible and we are not going away. The only question we have is is whether you will work with us or will you fight against us in court. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'm reading this on behalf of Hardy Brown, who is disabled. I am a resident of the sixth ward since 1961 and a homeowner on California Street across from the AOMA Unity Center which I attend meetings with the seniors. Sometimes it is a time for us to fellowship and talk about the great history and legus and legacy of those black and Latinos who made the Westside community. It has not been easy because from time to time decisions were made by our government leaders on the city council, county board of supervisors, school board members, and state legislators who thought they knew best what we wanted or needed. We are here tonight to request a unanimous vote to negotiate and renew the lease of the EOM Unity Center as a demonstration of your commitment to them. The lease should be for a minimum of five years since they have been a good tenant since 2016. It is a center that children and seniors gather to be informed citizens to help improve the lives of all of us. Thank you for your attention and service to our city that we all love.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes. Ice solo cow. emphasis. Foreign Homeless.

And foras. My name is Alberto. You already know me. I live in San Bernard in I live as part of the San Bernardino airport communities and I continue to come here to ask you for a resolution regarding the flock cameras. I do not agree with those cameras and a large part of the community does not agree with them either. They are more of a business opportunity for you and other corporations than a means for those who are supposed to protect the community to actually do so. Therefore, you should have them removed. I also insist that you expel ICE from our communities. They only cause panic within the community. There are many people who have been arrested and have subsequently gone missing. I demand an answer regarding this as well. Furthermore, I want to emphasize that given the vast amount of money allocated to the San Bernardino Police Department, instead of protecting us, they assist ICE. That is not their job. I demand that you defend us. You hold the positions you do thanks to the community to use those positions for good, for the well-being of the community, not for your own personal gain. And please use these meetings to address our petitions rather than spending so much time debating something as simple as the Airbnb issue. You would be better off discussing and proposing fair housing and rent prices. Because with a minimum wage of$,550, you can't even afford a tiny room. That is why along with our mismanagement of funds and misplaced priorities, there are so many homeless people. If you refuse to stop building warehouses, many

of which sit empty, then use them to house people living on the streets. Finally, I have one or two questions for all of you. Do you really pay attention to us and actually listen when we come here to comment because sometimes it looks like to me that you're preoccupied with other things and just giving up. I need your answer today. Have you discussed the public petitions that we've brought to you before? Because I have not seen any responses. Thank you. Gracias. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes. Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Betty Grant and I am a golden aer of a unity center. I am here today to speak in support of a unity center and its lease renewal. A coma has been a meaningful impact meaningful has had a meaningful impact on me by providing fellowship, access to resources and education, intergenerational opportunities to connect with our youth in the community, reducing isolation and providing opportunities for civic engagement. A coma is more than a program. It is a safe space where we all ages of community feel seen, supported and empowered. It provides consistency, care and camaraderie that we depend on.

A coma community center is vital in that it provides opportunities and alternatives to underprivileged youth which might might otherwise become involved in undesirable activities. Therefore, I as a community member of over 70s something years, community volunteer child advocacy, I strongly urge you to support the continuation of AOM Unity Center's lease so that it can continue serving scholars, seniors, and strengthening our community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

All right. Good evening, mayor. Good evening, council. My name is Dustin Christensen. I am the owner and operator of Sundowners Family Restaurant. We have been a staple and a tradition in Fontana and here in San Bernardino for over 40 years. I want to talk to you all today about some accolades that the city of Sanino has received recently. In a study from Wallet Hub, the city of Sanino ranked 151 out of 182 as the least peaceful and serene places to live. It ranked the dirtiest city in all of America. And it ranked 175 out of 182 as the least safe space or se least safe place to live behind cities like Chicago, LA, and Oakland. That's a failing grade because we got a score of 38 out of a 100red. Currently, there are over 1,500 hobos living on our streets, in our parks that terrorize us and our communities. drive up and down East Street, Third Street, Rialto, you will find that they defecate on our streets. They harass us. They come into my restaurant and try to steal the food off of my customers plates.

My god. Unfortunately, we try to call the police to have them trespassed, but a lot of the time it's like the boy who cried wolf. We call, but it's the opposite. We're calling because there is a wolf, but nobody can come because we're underfunded. And due to the limited ability that our great police officers try to do, but they cannot. Due to this, a known addict and hobo physically assaulted and punched my general manager in the face the other night. Luckily, he was able to defend himself and scare him off, but again, he couldn't call the police because he knew nothing would happen. I asked this council, "Do you need your constituents to suffer like Arrana Tusca did in North Carolina when she was stabbed on that bus? Who do you want in your constituents to be offered up as tribute?" Now, I offer two solutions. First is simple. Let's turn on all the lights on East Street. Let's turn on all the lights in the parks. Let's make it bright so that they cannot allow to be have these evil acts done. Secondly, if San Bernardino cannot afford to turn on those lights, I will go doortodoor and form a coalition and get the money myself so that we can turn on those lights. The last thing I would ask is for this council to come up with a resolution so that we can get the uh Prop 36, which is already voted for and passed by the city, the state of California to get the funding so that our police officers can actually do their job and protect us. Please remove the violent offenders that are hurting us so that nobody else has to be offered up as tribute. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

Good evening, Mayor TR and city council members. My name is Denise Gibson Perry. I am a golden aer member at a coma unity center. I'm here to speak to you about my concerns about your support for a Koma Unity Center and its lease renewal. A coma has been a meaningful very meaningful impact for me on a personal level, providing me a chance to reconnect with individuals I went to school with right here in San Bernardino 50 plus years ago. Not that I'm that old. Uh also I learned about we have done since school I learned about what we have done a lot of have done since school days. I have gained awareness access resources medical research for the elderly education as offered by dignity health the how to tell the difference between a stroke and a heart attack or all about dementia. To start, we have a 20 plus minute workout to remind us we better move it or lose it. We experience opportunities to connect with our youth by attending their various ceremonies. Additionally, a coma unity center offers a chance to reduce isolation among the elderly and even the young. Also, it provides opportunities for civic engagement as when US as stated prior by someone US representative Pete Aguilar visit us and engaged us in conversation. That's why part of the reason why I'm here. A coma provides more than a place for people to gather. It is a safe space

where people of all ages in the community feel seen as opposed to marginalized. supported. They feel supported and empowered. It provides consistency, care, and camaraderie that we do depend on. I strongly support the continuation of a unity center lease renewal, thus affording uh a continued servicing of scholars, seniors, and the youth in the community, strengthening our community. And lastly, I want to thank Dignity Health for their dedication and our well-being and their financial contributions. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

Hello, council. My name is Miriam Netto. I am a resident of the seventh ward and um I also own a home in the sixth ward. Um I'm here today with the Sanino airport communities and asking you to please uh consider uh the contract that you guys have with the flock cameras. As we know the flag com the flock cameras have not done well in different cities. Other cities have also stopped working with them. Not because uh you know it's not doing some of the work that some of the police hope that it can does but it's also because the data doesn't actually belong to the city or to the police. it can belong to the actual company or cororation corporation that is pay paying for it and funding it and they can ask for that data anytime. I would suggest that instead of you putting $84,000 to go into this flaw cameras, we were talking about code enforcement, you know, which improves quality of life, put that money into code enforcement that can support quality of life. Put that money into some of that infrastructure. I don't agree necessarily with the word hobos, you know, that the owner use, the sandowner owner used, but I agree that we need lighting in our streets. I I agree that we need more infrastructure and more security in our streets. Put that money towards there. More importantly, put it towards a center like a Koma Unity Center that's in the six ward that needs programming that supports career education and facilitation from actual community from family to family. That is such a great resources. You want to look at quality of life, you want to look at community, look at those areas to really fund it and not areas that are going to sell our data and surveillance and are going to racially profile us here in our city. So, please consider getting rid of that contract. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes.

Good evening, mayor, council, neighbors. My name is Ron Alvarado and I'm a candidate for the first word elections June 2nd. Tonight's agenda includes several items that are vital to our city's future. But I want to speak first on the lease renewal for a Koma Unity Center. As a seven-year veteran of the city of San Marino's parks department and now chair of the city of San Marino's parks commission, I see firsthand the value of programs that leave that breathe life into our public spaces. A coma is more than just a tenant. It is an engine of energy of and hope for the west side. This program provides a sanctuary and a springboard for our youth. And renewing this lease is a commitment to the continued springboard for our youth. It is a commitment to the continued rehabilitization of our community that has often been overlooked. We need to support organizations that have proven they can deliver results and foster a sense of belonging for our families. Like Mr. Flores, like the Nicholson Center, we had long before 15 years ago, I was at the Phoenix Center that where is now. I was there as bankruptcy and city mismanagement forced that community to lose something special. We cannot allow that to happen again. This council needs to be unanimous and in support for a coma and to make sure it has a long lease. On the theme of community investment, I also want to voice my strong support for the partnership with Great Alternatives. Bringing no cost solar and green job training to our disadvantaged neighborhoods is a win-win. It builds generational wealth and provides technical skills that keep our workforce competitive right here in our home. However, as I look at these investments alongside the East Street median safety improvements and the million-doll ADA safe self-evaluation, we must talk about

the how. As a professional fraud investigator, I am acutely aware of the risks that come with large-scale funding. We cannot afford to continue this cycle of mismanagement that has historically hindered our city. We must prioritize adding administrative capacity to provide real oversight and coordination for these grants. It is essential that we have the staff and systems in place to audit every dollar. We need to ensure that resources are actually hitting the pavement and reaching our neighborhoods, not being siphoned off or misdirected. The residents of the first ward and the entire city to serve that their talk tax dollars and grant funds are serving the public are in our streets not lining the pockets of your political donors. Let's support the programs that work like a coma. Let's a coma is doing the job of the parks department and we should be supporting that. Let's support also with strict accountability to ensure that our city's resources are reaching the streets that they intended for. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes. fores. Thank you. Hello, my name is Rosdio and I'm a member of the San Bernardino airport communities. I have appeared before you several times already to address the issue of the flock surveillance cameras. The reality is that you have failed to take our concerns into account and have yet to implement any changes. These cameras remain in place, infringing upon our privacy and collecting personal data, both mine and that of other residents. For me, this means I can no longer carry out my daily activities freely as my every step is being monitored. I have lived in Sanernardino for several years without the burden of being under surveillance and I wish to continue living with that same sense of peace and security. Therefore, I demand that you completely terminate your contract with Flock. I further want to acknowledge the hypocrisy in this

council for pointing out that your staff has been requested with the same questions again and again, and you don't have the answers, yet we're here again and again with the same requests, but you can ignore our petitions.

Thank you, Kasias. Next speaker, please state your name. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Christelle Kalara, and I'm here with my peers, Trinity Flores, Jaylen James, and Shelley Bowman. We are junior social work students at California State University, San Bernardino. We're asking for your support on our community advocacy project for our social welfare policy course. Our focus is on homelessness in San Bernardino, an issue that came up repeatedly in a recent community needs assessment we conducted last month. As future social workers, our mission is to uplift undeserved communities. We chose this issue because many unhoused individuals feel unsupported despite the resources available. Many face mental health challenges that make it difficult to confidently seek help. And from what we've observed, there's a strong need for more accessible support and encouragement within our community. While we're still students, we've created an action plan. We are collaborating with Mary Mercy Center at to host this small event where we provide hygiene bags for unhoused individuals. Our event is scheduled for Wednesday, April 22nd, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. And we are excited to directly engage with the community and provide support. We also plan to share important mental health and community resources through both conversations and flyers. While we are not licensed professionals, we aim to provide informations that can guide individuals to towards services such as shelters, food banks, and other support systems. Many unhoused individuals may not have consistent access to the internet. So providing this information in person can make a meaningful difference. Ultimately, our goal is to remind this community that they are not alone. We hope our efforts encourage individuals to seek additional support and feel more confident accessing available services. With your support, we hope to continue and expand these efforts to provide consistent and meaningful assistance. We truly appreciate your presence and support as it would help reinforce to the community

that there are people who genuinely care and are here to help. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you. Next speaker, please state your name. You have three minutes or six minutes. Good afternoon. My name is Mavia Costa and I am a member of the com San Bernardino airport communities surrounding the San Bernardino airport. I am here to demand that you cancel the contract you have with Flock. Instead of wasting money on those cameras, our community needs parks, less pollution from warehouses, street lighting, and street repairs. Council that flock contract now.

Thank you. Gracias. Next speaker. Please state your name. You have three minutes.

Lydia Saval. I'm here to address the animal services department. Three items and specifically uh an update with regard to uh death, misuse of funds, and information management. With regard to death, I have a story to share with you. When I was about nine or 10 years old, I went to the grocery store with my mother. And of course that was a long time ago. And she said to me, "I'm going to leave you in the car. You're going to lock the doors and you're going to wait for me and I'll be back very quickly." She says, "Now, what would you do if somebody came to the window and pointed a gun at you and said, "Open the door." And I said, "I'd open the door." She said, "No, just let them shoot you." I thought, "Wow." The reason she said that was,"I would rather know that you were I would rather find you dead in the car that in some vacant lot knowing that someone did terrible things to you." Well, at that age, I didn't know what the hell she was talking about. And of course, years later, um, I understand. And with regard to death, you know, how we die, it's inevitable. I'm not a polyiana. I know that there in my opinion there's no such thing really as a as a nokill shelter. But how animals die is important to them also that they die humanely. Uh and that's what I'm here to address is that the numbers being omitted from the recordkeeping 50% are not reflected anywhere in public documents. And that really royals me that I have to spend an hour and a half or two hours sifting through data to identify that half of your inventory is ends up dead and that needs to be recorded. How can you improve a problem if you're pretending that there is no problem? So that I have an issue with.

The other is the misuse of funds. I was lamenting that, you know, it's a shame that our vehicle isn't out there as is the Palm Mission vehicle. And then I discovered when I was conversation with Georgia that, well, that's because our vehicle isn't up to par as grand as their vehicle. And the reason it's not up to par is because even though we got 1.2 million for the vehicle, only 75,000 was for the truck portion, 10,000 for the wrap, and 590,000 for the actual vehicle. So where did the other half a million dollars go? So you got half a million dollars there. You got $300,000 that was for spayneuter. We didn't see that either. And we had $200,000 for operating expenses. So I suggest to you that there really should be an audit of those funds that were meant for the community that we never saw. And if you don't want to hire someone to do it, I'd be more than happy to do it myself. I've got the general ledger. I've got the subsidiial ledger. Or you can get Ron Alvarado to do it. He was a fraud a fraud auditor but that needs to be accounted for.

Thank you. Next speaker please state your name. You have three minutes Gonzalez. Good afternoon. My name is Mar Gonzalez and I've been a resident of San Bernardino for over 20 years. I am here once again to ask you to not renew the contract with these agencies. with the flaw cameras because they are a threat to our communities.

Who are just gathering data on our community and the this data is going to ICE. Alonita.