City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to a regular meeting of the Burbank City Council on Tuesday, September 15th, 2026. Please join me for a moment of reflection. This moment is intended to begin our meeting with the positive and collective support for our beloved community. The City Council welcomes everyone joining us this evening. We encourage you to take a moment to reflect on our community and the work we will be doing tonight. Although each of us has our own unique reasons for being here, We are united in our passion for our wonderful city. As we pause, let us consider our individual contributions a

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. Ready, begin.

Good evening, Madam City Clerk. How are you doing tonight?

I'm doing well, thank you. Please conduct the roll call.

There will be two periods of public comment tonight. Members of the public may comment in person or remotely for all comment periods. In-person commenters must submit cards before the public comment period begins. and remote commenters must be in the queue with their hands raised before the public comment period begins. The first public comment period is for general public comment on any matter concerning city business and or any agenda item. If you are here in person and wish to speak during the general public comment, please submit a yellow public comment card to address the council to our c

Good evening, everybody. We have four presentations tonight. And our first presentation is the presentation of declaring September 15th, 2026 as National Voter Registration Day in the city of Burbank. And tonight, I invite Madam City Clerk, Kimberly Clark, to join me. She got more. Different stickers tonight to join me at the podium. Madam city clerk, here you go. Do I read the proclamation first or do you want to talk first? How about you talk first and then I'll do the proclamation after.

Absolutely true. All right, so I'm going to read the proclamation, National Voter Registration Day, whereas National Voter Registration Day is a nationwide, nonpartisan civic holiday dedicated to ensuring that eligible Americans have the opportunity to register to vote, update their voter registration information, and access trusted information about the registration process, and... Whereas collaboration among election officials, civic organizations, libraries, and educational institutions can help expand access to reliable voter registration information and reach eligible voters where they li

All right, so who wants to be stickers distribution? Had to do some kind of sticker passing out today. All right, second presentation today is a presentation of a proclamation declaring September 20th to 26th as National Forensic Science Week in the city of Burbank. I invite Police Chief Raphael Contero and Forensic Specialist Supervisor Carly Lott to join me at the podium. Okay, you're gonna join me. Okay, so please introduce yourself and say a few words about this proclamation.

All right, did you wanna say a few words too? Okay, so I'm gonna read the proclamation, then we'll take pictures, all right. So proclamation for Forensic Science Week, September 20th to 26th, 2026. Whereas access to quality forensic analysis greatly improves the investigation of criminal activity, and can lead to the exoneration of the innocent as well as the prosecution of the guilty, and whereas forensic science plays a critical role in public safety and crime prevention and continues to evolve in its role as an important component of the criminal justice system, and whereas forensic practit

They're on a scene. Unfortunately. Do we need to even out?

And on a similar theme, the next proclamation is for National Crime and Intelligence Analyst Appreciation Day. I invite, was the police chief this time? No, okay, again. Backup and crime analysts Alexis Gobble and Brittany Lirian to also join me at the podium. You wanna read your next round? You do, okay.

Wonderful, great. So for the proclamation for National Crime and Intelligence Analyst Appreciation Day, whereas crime analysts play a crucial role in the safety of the city of Burbank by collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data, as you just mentioned, Whereas the work of the crime analyst helps to identify crime trends, predict criminal behavior, and optimize the allocation of law enforcement resources. Whereas crime analysts employ advanced technologies and analytical techniques and problem solving skills to provide law enforcement with vital insights. And whereas contributions of crime a

And one, two. Who's that in the back? That's my son, that's my son.

It's always awesome to see your mom get recognition. And our fourth and last presentation is for the proclamation declaring October 4th to 10th, 2026 as Fire Prevention Week. And I invite Fire Chief Danny Alvarez to join me here to read some words before I read the proclamation. Welcome.

Absolutely. So Fire Prevention Week. Whereas fire remains a significant public safety concern with the greatest risk occurring in the home, making fire prevention and public education essential for protecting our community. And whereas the 2026 Fire Prevention Week theme is charge into fire safety. Safe charging is a superpower. Okay. Reminds me that many of the devices we rely on every day, smartphones, tablets, power tools, toys, and other rechargeable electronics are powered by lithium ion batteries, which must be used, charged, stored, and disposed of properly, reduce risk of fire. And whe

You made it through all the presentations. Next up, city manager report. Do you have a report tonight?

Thank you for your presentation. You have your hand up, Vice Mayor. I see you going.

I don't have any questions. I just want to applaud you for coming here tonight and addressing the rumors, miscommunications, or questioning your integrity. Because I, as a council vice mayor, support your action 100%. And I know you were telling us the truth. But I do appreciate you standing here addressing the community, addressing us, and telling us the truth. So thank you for doing that, and I can tell you there's a lot of people in this community who supports you 100%, and they're behind you, and they know you are telling us the truth.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Chief, for coming down. I was at the event on Friday, and there were things I learned seeing it in first person. the amount of leeway that these federal agents are taking, the liberties that they're taking for themselves and pushing the limits, if not breaking them, it was astonishing to watch. So I appreciate you coming down here and talking to us tonight.

Thank you, Chief. I know it's not easy. You and I have talked at length, and I know you have an open-door policy for anybody who wants to talk to you at length, any resident who has questions. So I appreciate that because that is an opportunity for you to share exactly where we're at and the challenges we're facing. And I want to stick to that word you used, challenge, because that is the time we are in. I know there are things that folks would like to see. I can tell you there are things I would like to see. I would like to see ICE abolished. And I know that there's a lot of frustration becau

Thank you, Chief. And switching gears, can I ask you a hypothetical? If ICE were to call in under all of the statutes and laws that you just mentioned and ask for information on somebody's book that they saw on the website and you all said no, what could happen?

Essentially, one of the folks on your watch could go to jail. And that's why I want to just point that out for the community, the challenge, right, that we are under in this seat, in your chair, because in many of these situations we may, and I'll speak for myself, but I know we've had conversations on this, We may feel that something occurring is not right. Obviously, we're not aiding in any way. But there are the federal laws that preempt where we can stop the buck. And so again, I will say it. I do think this is incumbent on the federal government to stop putting us in these situations. They have the absolute power to do so.

And I want to be clear, they were combative towards anybody asking questions in that moment in place and time.

And that's what I want to put out there. I want to be very clear about the challenging situation that puts you in, that puts your entire department in, all of us in here, and And I thank you for every day getting up here and doing your best to meet the moment. Because again, this is not something anybody in our shoes or in your shoes has been asked to do. So thank you. I appreciate you speaking with members of the public, coming here to speak with us. And for what unfortunately will be a continued situation as we try to find a way to mitigate it at the level that we can here. Thank you. And on

Chief, thank you for always coming and being transparent and answering questions. I thought it was extremely unfair and reckless for someone to post that video. Obviously, your department's being used for political gain, and it's sickening. Did it say anywhere on the video that your department, through an independent auditor, OIR, reached a gold standard of policing, one of the best in the country? No, it did not. No, it didn't. Did it state that the department reached a CLIA accreditation for the next four years? No. And did anyone reach out to you prior to posting that video to ask you some questions before they went live?

No. Like I said, it's really disappointing that you're being used for a political tool on this issue. I got your six.

Thank you all. Thank you for your presentation on this today. I can imagine how hard it must be to say what you said. I was there at the 9-11 event as well. And I agree, it was extremely disrespectful to our 9-11 event for them to appear at that time. They did not care whether we were in the middle of an event. It was frustrating for us all around. And you were in the middle of talking when they drove up. So what I also want to say is that after it all went down, that I have to say that you stayed. Myself and Councilmember Perez, we stayed until every single community member left. So we talked

Yeah, I agree. It was a very problem-solving-focused conversation, I felt like, even through all the challenging questions, so appreciate that. And I just want to finally say that I also agree that ICE has no place in our community, and ICE should not be here, and their tactics have absolutely no place. I have no objection to the rule of federal law of them. There's federal law that there's ways to go about that that is not the tactics that they use. And so for me, that I do not... I do not think they have any place here, and it's very frustrating. But I appreciate your having been there and b

Great. Thank you for the report. All right, now is the time for general public comment. I'll be calling out the speaker's name as well as the person who is next in line to speak. In order to keep public comment moving in a timely fashion, we have a designated seat in the front row for speakers who are next up at the podium. Remote participants wishing to speak during general public comment who have not yet joined the speaker queue may do so now by dialing star nine by telephone or using the raise hand feature in Zoom. Please note, if you are calling from a blocked or private number, you will b

All right, so that's 29 speakers. That means you have two minutes each, all right? Two minutes each. Okay, first up we have Wendy Vitilich, followed by Cynthia Pease. Wendy, there we are. Okay, welcome, you have two minutes.

Thank you for your comment. Oh, I appreciate those jazz hands. Well done. Next up is Cynthia Pease, followed by Liz Rossi.

Next up is Liz Rossi, followed by Ron Bax. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Ron Bax followed by Gary Brick. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Gary Brick, followed by Strawn Martins. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Strawn Martins, followed by Jim Lane. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Jim Lane followed by Mark Scroggs.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Mark Scroggs, followed by Maxine. Welcome.

Thank you for your comments. Next up is Maxine, followed by Diana Pulver. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Diana Pulver, followed by Liam Moody. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Liam Moody, followed by Katie Moody. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Katie Moody, followed by Susan O'Carroll. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Susan O'Carroll. followed by Rosalie Salvato.

Next up is Rosalie Salvato, followed by Mike Stage. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Mike Stage, followed by Ali B.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Allie V., followed by Nolan Sutherland.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Joe Pimienta followed by Val. Welcome.

Next up is Val, followed by Dustin Blakenship. Welcome.

Thank you for your comment. Next up is Dustin Blakenship followed by Gemma.

Thank you for your comment. Next up, and my last card in person, is Jomo. Welcome.

All right. That was my last speaker card in person. We have completed in-person general public comment and will now be moving to remote comment. For remote commenters, it's recommended that you are in a quiet area with audio turned off on other devices, including your TV, to avoid feedback when you deliver public comment. Participants will be identified by either their name or their last four digits of their phone number. As a reminder, if you are calling from a blocked or private number, you will be introduced as anonymous.

Please be prepared to dial star six on your phone or follow on-screen Zoom prompt at that time. Please note that your name will be listed on the record exactly as shown in Zoom unless otherwise introduced when speaking. Madam City Clerk, how many speakers do we have on the line?

All right. Thank you. There being no further public comment, I now declare the general public comment period closed. Now is the time for a brief response from city council, city manager, and city attorney. City manager, city attorney, yes.

Okay. Sounds good. All right. Who would like to go first, Council? Council Member Anthony.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you for all the speakers coming down. First off, Mr. Bax, you probably already know this, but if one tenant is trying to get the deposit from the other two, they're probably trying to run a scam on their friend. So you stick with what you're doing. You're doing the right thing. Gary Brick, Mr. Mayor, you've sat in this seat So I know you've served this community and I want to give you grace here. I watched a young man, I believe he's Russian born Armenian, on a work visa, here in Burbank, aspiring to become a singer. He came here for music. He was taken away to Go

I'll be brief. I wanted to get to the end of this. what is happening not just around the country but to this individual in particular on Wednesday was deeply disturbing to watch in real time. And the last thing I just want to say is to compare that young man to the 11 Saudis 25 years ago killing thousands and thousands of Americans. It's deeply disturbing to see that comparison. I'm happy to talk with you about this offline, but there are so many other things that are happening that are locked in with this conversation. It's not lost on me that 9-11 was the direct result that created ICE. I wo

Who would like to go next? Anyone else? All right.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Just want to thank our forensic science folks and our evidence team for all you do for our community and solving crimes. Your work is important and you probably never get the recognition for what you do. So I just want to say thank you. Thank you to our fire chief and fire prevention week. Again, it's preventing fires and trying to figure out ways to stop fires from happening to begin with is key. I know in my community we have safety checks all the time because we're in a high brush area. Ms. O'Carroll, you got your response and thank you for your email today. from the

So we're going to get to Flock and how we're going to make our community less safe. We'll get there. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Who would like to go next? Okay, that's for Chris.

Well, thank you for those of you who came to speak. I know there are new folks we had in the room, and thank you for all of you who this is your first time coming here. Thank you for the folks who spoke on ICE and the incident that happened. To Wendy, I believe she spoke, she asked about the mask ban. Thank you, Mr. City Manager, for answering where that is right now in the process. And I do want to add that Congresswoman Friedman right now has a federal mask ban going through the works, if you want to follow that piece of legislation. And then thank you, Chief, for clearly stating it was a di

Thank you. Vice Mayor, you want to go next? Yes.

Thank you. Well, first, I want to start off acknowledging all our city staff and their great work. Madam City Clerk, thank you. Good job. Keeping the election alive and going out after the students. It's a lot of work, but thank you for doing that. I know. your heart is in it, so I appreciate it. Also, congratulations to the police department, both the forensic team and the crime, I think it's National Crime Day, but... The department is, what's the department section that we recognize? Forensics. So to the staff in both areas, thank you for all your work. I know your job is very complicated a

Thank you for that explanation. And I wanted to clarify that even though we appoint three representatives that represent us at the authority and the airport, they make independent decisions Go ahead.

Thank you. Yeah, thank you for the information, but so thank you. Mr. City attorney. I just wanted to clarify What our authority as council members over the airport authority and the decisions they make with their contract And missile cars already we got the answer so stay tuned the city manager promised to get back to you I Know they will And I think I addressed everybody. Thank you for coming.

All right. Thank you all for coming tonight, spending your Tuesday night with us. And thank you all for who called and those who emailed and met since our last meeting. It's been a minute since we had a meeting, so it's been a lot of community meetings since then. I want to also thank the audience for using the jazz hands and the thumbs down. Really appreciate it. It makes the meeting go smoother. We all are seeing it, and so appreciate that. And most of you spoke on the item that's going to be coming up at the end of the meeting, so we'll get to it then. I have some comments for individual sp

And then I'm glad to hear that SB 1004 is for the masks is up on Governor's desk. I'll be writing a personal letter to ask him to sign that. And then Mr. Hawk, always appreciate you talking about the community band. I'm going to do my very best to be there. I'm like triple booked that day. If I can't make it to that one, I'm going to come to the one at the Dawson Center the day before because I don't want to miss it. It's so much fun. It was there last year. I'll wear my pumpkin jacket again this year. And then we still have to decide what we're going to wear for Halloween. Oh my gosh, we have

Thank you. Is there a motion to approve the consent calendar? Second. All right. Please take the roll. We have a motion by Councilmember Anthony, seconded by Vice Mayor.

No on three, abstain on seven, yes on the rest.

Next up is our one report to council this evening. So after staff's presentation, city council will proceed with public comment. Speakers will be allowed to speak on the item at the conclusion of the presentation as long as the speakers have not spoken on the item during the first period of general public comment. Please be sure to submit your public comment card now as no additional public comment cards will be accepted once the comment period commences following staff's presentation. If you would like to participate in remote public comment for this report, Please join via Zoom using the lin

Sorry, pardon me. We do not have a quorum right now, so we need to wait until Council Member Rosati comes back. All right. All right, he's back in the zone. Okay, please continue.

All right. Thank you for the presentation. Madam City Clerk, do we have any public comment here or online? Okay. Then we will go straight into council questions and comments. Council, do you have any questions? Yes. Council Member Anthony.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I wanted to just quickly get your Just overview and it doesn't have to be specifics, but I know we've adopted a lot of rebates over the years for people to turn in lawn equipment and appliances and basically change over their household into a more greenhouse friendly or greenhouse gas reduction friendly. household, how is that going generally? Are we seeing improvements? Are they marked? Can we measure those numbers?

Thank you for the presentation and for all the efforts that you guys put into this program. I do have a question and it's on slide number five, I believe. And it's under encouraging installation of additional EV charging stations. Can you talk a little bit about what kind of efforts and do we have any kind of incentive programs? And how successful are you in doing it? Because from my understanding or I hear from individuals that own electric cars, It's very difficult to find stations that are available throughout the day, even in the evening. So it seemed to be, if you don't have your own elec

So if I have a business and I may have a couple of parking spaces that I can convert that into the EV charging stations, what is the cost? How much does it cost? Is it I have to incur the cost to install those chargers or what incentives? I think that's what I'm looking for. Like how much are we giving them? Hmm. And what kind of encouragement are we actually going out there and saying, here, go ahead and install and we'll pay for it. Here's how much you're going to get back from the city.

Thank you. And as you mentioned, you could see that there's a lot of challenges facing the businesses, whether they have to upgrade the panel, dig in the drenches to get the wires running how far. So it's a little complicated, but there is a need, obviously, in the community. So if we do it under the public, I mean, our own spaces, it's a lot probably easier for us to do that than having businesses or even apartment building. Cause I hear from folks that live in apartments and saying, I can't charge my vehicle. The line is too long. We're supposed to have electric vehicles. And it is a challen

530 kilowatt hours. So on an average battery, how many kilowatt do they have?

So you think it would cover about half of the cost. OK. And when we run out of the funds, are we going to come back for next year and ask council for additional funds? We have the program that would continue funding that?

OK. OK. Those are my questions. Thank you. Council Member Rosati, did you have any questions? Okay, you want me to go first? I can go first? Okay, I have a few questions. Okay, first of all, thank you for this report. I know it takes a lot of work to put this all together, and the 54, list of 54 initiatives, I don't know how you and your team have time to do all of these in the report, so well done. It's a citywide effort. In fact, this sheet right here of all the pictures of all the things, I want to have this framed. and put on my wall. It's like, yes, that's awesome, that's awesome, that's

Okay, so in the report, I have a few questions. One is about the new solar array that was just installed above the parking lot. So is that a predicted impact in the report? And if so, what do we see as potentially the impact of that?

OK. And the next report cycle, remind me, was going to be when? It's in two years? Every two years?

And it was just brought online in August, July was when the solar array was brought online, right? So that may just be at the end of the 2026 that we'll see some of the effect. Okay. I'm really excited to see how that gets, how we see the impact of that for our missions.

Could I just ask, Madam Mayor, that clock, that two-year clock, is that an internal clock we've set for ourselves? Is that state law doesn't require us to absolutely?

Yeah. I mean, I, yeah, I love to have the information every two years, obviously, if it takes a lot of effort to put it together, but things move quickly and our goals are quickly coming up that we're trying to achieve. So keeping a close look on how we're doing and also keeping the community informed as much as we possibly can. So really appreciate that, that turnaround. And then we also are planning an upgrade for our magnolia power plant, right? And that's not going to be in this report, but can you speak a little bit to maybe the expected just general impact that we might see moving forwar

Yeah, that's great. And that's a shared plant, right? All the energy doesn't come to us. We have several cities that buy.

So it'll benefit everybody who participates. Great. And then about the airport, I got a question or two about the airport. So the airport itself and the power that the airport itself generates or how it uses power is in the report, but not the airplanes or the flights or maybe neither?

Great. Okay. And all that, what you just described, is that in our GHERP, or is that their own separate?

Okay, and those reports are available online?

Well, well done on all this, and thank you for providing this report. I know a lot of work into it, and this is also available. Besides being in our agenda today, it's available online for folks to find later.

Council Member Perez, you have a question? Thank you.

Yeah, I know BWP looks at so many of the alternatives available to us, and I appreciate that because I so often hear that we are leaders regionally and nationwide in looking at alternatives. So I'm really grateful for everything you're doing. And the only other question I had is I know that it was a suggestion, I think it was from Sustainable Commission, to organize the goals kind of in order of most impactful or most doable. Are we looking at that for kind of the next time we talk about this in a couple years?

Thank you. I appreciate this so much. Four and a half years ago, when I was a lowly busy bee in the community, I was working with Sunrise on a Green New Deal for Burbank, and a lot of it was getting these goals to be more ambitious and getting all electrification, which I know is like our white whale right now. But I'm so glad to see that so many of the things that I worked on, so many of the things that you worked on, Madam Mayor, are being implemented, are being put forward, and I'm really grateful to all of you for making that vision happen, because I know it's a lot of work. especially now

Great. Thank you. Any more comments or questions for staff? No? Well, thank you so much. This is a note in file, so we don't make a void on this one. So thank you so much for your presentation and all the hard work.

Well done. Yeah. All right. Next up, we will hear council comments, including reporting on council committees, assignments, attendance at conferences, and regional meetings and community events. Who would like to go first? Yes.

I will be quick because I was a little sick this week. So on Thursday, August 27th, I went to the VICA annual local office holders luncheon. It was great. They ask every office holder a question. I got a question about what we're doing for the entertainment industry. So it was great to talk about that and see leaders from across the valley.

And then on Friday, September 11th, of course, along with my colleagues, I attended the commemoration of the 9-11 at the police and fire headquarters. And today I sat on the APPA Policymakers Council call to talk about energy. Yeah, that's all I did.

Who would like to go next? Council Member Rosati?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. On September 1st at 6.30, I attended the Masonic Lodge First Responders Dinner, which they put on every year. They do a fabulous job, and I think that they do that every year for our first responders. On September 10th, I met with a council candidate that night, the Park and Rec Board, Commission meeting, and then on Friday 11th, I attended the 9-11 Police Fire Headquarters Memorial, and then later that day, I met with a council candidate, and on Monday, September 14th, I didn't attend the Planning Board meeting, but I did listen to it, and then I have something later o

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I attended a number of events, but I only want to highlight one. I went to the Domestic Violence Task Force on Wednesday, September 2nd. During that meeting, there was a little bit of a discussion about the issues that the DV Task Force handles and whether or not we should include women's issues, gender-based violence broadly, It was a robust discussion. The last few weeks, our country has been talking a lot about issues facing women, specifically young mothers. If you're out in the community and you've had a child recently and you are suffering, if you're having proble

Thank you. On August 26, I attended the meeting with L.A. 28 Warner Brothers to go over the plans for the upcoming Olympic. The same day I had a meeting with Miss Jamie Keyser from the chamber. Then I attended the senior citizen board. Then on the 27th there was the chamber mixer on the 31st I had a couple of meetings one with a council candidate and one with the mayor of Glendale and on September 1st I attended a zoo meeting for women achievers it was a meet and greet And on the same evening, I attended the Burbank Masonic Lodge, which they acknowledged our first responders. It was like Counc

Let's see, on August 26th, I went to the LA County City Selection Committee meeting for the Metro Board seat, and we should be meeting soon about that, I guess, to finalize that selection. Yeah, haven't heard from them. August 27th, I went to the BWP Key Accounts event, which is the larger BWP accounts, and they gave her an update on a lot of our public works. On the 28th, I went to the Valley Economic Alliance's fifth annual appreciation breakfast. On September 1st, I also attended the Masonic Center's first responders night, but I could only stay for a little while. And then on September 2,

Okay. Thank you. Oh, my God. Don't look at me. So much pressure. Okay. So for me, this is really because we have been hearing, and we heard it tonight, we've heard it multiple nights, a lot of concerns about ALPRs and private mass surveillance technology from different facets of our community. It is not lost on me that we had members of our community here that have never come before. We had members that are regulars. We had members that have come for other issues, like the Rancho, members that come for other issues, like water and power rates, but they were here for flock tonight. And those ar

It was just disturbing to me to hear tonight some of the misinformation. I was wondering if we can have the chief come up and just talk about a few issues, just kind of refresh us how we, our department, uses license plate readers.

Can this come into a discussion item to that level, or is this more of a question to vote on what Councilmember Perez suggested based on what she said?

Okay. I want to keep this limited to whether to agendize this or not. So if you could keep your questions limited to making a decision of whether to agendize it.

Well, I think it benefits all of us so we can make that decision.

If you could keep your questions to whether to agendize this or not. We don't, rather than getting into a full discussion of the pros and cons of it and focusing on whether it helps you make your decision on whether to agendize, I would say. That would be my, that would be my.

Thank you. Chief, can you just tell us how we use our system and how our contract is different from than other communities and how we use license plate readers with Cletus and talk about the information sharing that some of the rumors that information is getting out to the wrong people.

And then policy 462 on automatic license plate readers? What specifically? We have a policy specifically.

Thank you. My quick question is in back I believe April or May when we were discussing the budget and we all approved the budget item to move forward for the contract. I recall that you said you will continue looking for alternative options for the actual system, not necessarily use the company flock, but you're going to continue searching for something else, and you will be coming back to us once you have that finalized. Is that accurate?

Thank you, and I appreciate the exact reminder because I was asking the chief directly, would you come back and would you provide us the information once you have something in your hand that you're able to do? And you did promise you will continue looking and you will come back. And you haven't been back, it's only been a couple of months, so obviously you haven't had enough time to do enough research to figure out what is needed for you to come back, but you're continuing your search. Is that accurate?

Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Okay.

I just, cities as large as Los Angeles and as small as South Pasadena have been making changes. If we were to agendize something, would that give you enough time to come back and give us more of a broad overview? I know we talked a little bit about some of the stuff that affects our policies, but just for my sake, I would like to see a full report. If we agendize this and move forward, would you be able to give us some pros and cons and see what people are working on?

Just a question. Thank you so much, Chief. It's a question for Council Member Perez. When you said shared surveillance activities, are you referring to passive public monitoring and data sharing? Is that what you meant by that?

Yes. And to clarify, the reason I'm bringing this up is, again, I have no questions for the chief on this because it's not a question of our department. It's a question of a private corporation that has its own agenda, which they have shared very publicly, and other private corporations. And it's a question of, do we want those people having our data on the cloud? Because we can place restrictions, but that doesn't stop them. We don't own that. Our traffic camera data, we own. We have. I trust that our processes are being followed. I cannot trust that from this company. I trust our department.

Passive public monitoring and data sharing outside of our jurisdiction.

Yes, and it's something that I think a lot of cities are looking at right now because this is an AI tool like so many others that is unregulated.

Yeah, and it was June that we last talked about it, right? Yeah. Since June, there's been so much discussion within our community here and what we've heard at council, and I've had so many discussions with my colleagues all across California, across the country, and of course, obviously, the online discussions and just... We're learning more as a kind of humanity around how all this technology works. And having had a pretty deep background in technology, even though AI is not my area of expertise, knowing a lot of people who have it, that the back end of the data collection and sharing is much

And Madam Mayor, I want to clarify that I'm also coming from two places, one having watched, again, the rhetoric around all of us. For Christ's sake, there is a Republican bill from the federal government right now running through the chambers about banning or funding to cities that use flock. That is in Congress right now. They are talking about that. And on the other side, I read our contract. I asked the chief for it. He sent it to me, had a chance to look it over. I had questions. And there are several places where I see I have concerns, where there are holes in that contract. And I think

That's why we need to have this discussion. Yeah, I agree. And I think this is a much bigger... Do you have a question or comment? Okay, yeah. So Council Member Rosati and then Vice Mayor.

So we're asking for perfect, right? So what's perfect? Madam Mayor, please.

Just remember the thumbs down. You're doing great with the thumbs down. Thank you. Just the thumbs down.

So we're asking for perfect. And where is there perfect? Are there perfect clergy? Are there perfect attorneys? Are there perfect firemen? And we don't even ask the question about what about victims? What about the victims themselves? that have benefited from this. Last week in Glendale, there was a hit and run. A woman was killed in a crosswalk, and within two hours, they were able to find her using license plate readers. Here in Burbank, 40 mailboxes were broken into. Followed the guy to another city, using license plate readers. They found driver's licenses. They found all kinds of identity

Vice Mayor. Thank you. So I know there was a lot of discussion during the budget time back in June in regards to flock specifically. I know we did approve the budget, but we also had the chief up here, and he just confirmed for me, And we questioned him and questioned whether he's looking for other options. Would we have alternatives? The reason for it, yes, the company could be very bad. And, you know, we've all been listening to people talking, emails, and we've seen it on social media, on the news. And this is not defending the actual company and what they do. What I want to see is the chie

So I just want to highlight that we have had a data breach with NCRIC and the chief was very forthcoming about when that happened. And it was an issue that you mentioned was a before issue with Flock as a company and then they came back and said oops basically. But it wasn't just our city, it was multiple cities. It was a highlighted issue of how we don't control that, don't control the data. And again, the reason I put this forward and the reason, look, not two months ago, Axon has started making deals with the federal government so that ICE agents can use their technology. So we're going to

Council Member Perez, I've just sat through so many meetings regarding, and I have the same fear as you do. But the federal government, ICE, is not tapping into the system, and they cannot tap into the system unless they have a warrant from a federal magistrate. So it's not happening. And I've talked to our IT director. We have audits going on. If it was happening, I'm on board. I'm with you. But I've sat through meeting after meeting after reading and presentation, and it's against the law to share the data, for our department to share the data. So that is not happening. And if it was, I'd be

I know you have a question. I'll say the breaches have happened. They have happened. It is not, I mean, we cannot say who is tapping into a data or not. They have it on their cloud. If we were talking about an in-house thing, if you told me right now ICE is using our traffic cameras, I'll tell you, no, they're not, because I trust these guys. I know they're not, but they have no control over the cloud. They just don't.

Our IT director said it is 100% that he gave a presentation about Is he here today? No. It is not happening.

I disagree with that. I have reason to believe that it can.

I want to ask this question. You mentioned that if they have a warrant, they can access that information.

You have to have a warrant from a federal magistrate. I understand that. It's not just a warrant.

No, no, I get that. But why... do we have to actively keep a database that they can use a warrant to access? If the database doesn't exist... We don't. But we do.

No, we're having a discussion. No, we're not. The database.

The way that this works is each person takes a turn. He finishes his comment. And then after he's done, you can have your comment. Because we've had this already in the past happen where there's back and forth. We're not going to do back and forth. You guys can do back and forth after the meeting. Jim, you're making this adversarial. I am the chair.

Council Member, I am telling you that this is the way the protocol is going to work. I'm asking you to respect me for a second here and let Council Member Anthony finish his turn. When it's your turn, if he interrupts you, I will stop him and tell him it's your turn. We're going to take turns. We're going to take turns, please.

Madam Mayor. Madam Mayor, can I speak for a second? I'm fine with that. I'm just telling you, stop yelling at me. It's not adversarial.

I'm yelling at you to get you to stop talking over me.

I'm not talking over you. You were talking over me. I'm just saying it's not adversarial. Take it easy.

I'm not saying it's adversarial. I'm saying that you take turns. Okay, we'll take turns. So let him go, and then you go. Okay. Thank you.

All I'm saying is... We are not under state mandate or federal mandate to have these systems in place. And if we never have the system in place, then nothing can be used to be searched. And my concern goes back to what the mayor was talking about, where it's not just the data collection. It's the overlay of using artificial intelligence to create searches, patterns, and reasonable cause to conduct police business. I am of the mind that our Fourth and Fifth and Eighth and Thirteenth Amendment rights must be run and adjudicated and dealt with by a human person. A human being who can swear an oat

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Council Member, have you read Policy 462? I'm just asking, have you read it? I mean, there's no AI in here. This is our guardrail. This is our city's guardrail that we put up to protect and use this system for the benefits And we all say, oh, we want to hear about the data. What's the data? You've seen the data. You've seen the crimes that are solved. Over 100 cars have been recovered over and over and over. And the guardrails are here. If we've had breaches, if we had issues, then yeah, I would say, okay, we have a problem. But that is not happening because our contrac

Madam Mayor, it feels like we're having the discussion, you know? And that's why I agendize this, because I want to have the discussion. So I would like to move forward, and we can take a vote. And I've said this before, because I know this is a high-tension item. We can agree to disagree. That's why we're all here, you know? And I think we should take a vote.

And these issues that are being brought up here These are the issues that we will discuss in the agenda item when it's brought forward. Yeah. Okay, all of it, in depth. Yes, last comment, and then you want to make a motion?

Yeah, and I agree. I mean, a vote, obviously, we can read the room. There's three council members that want to have this come back now, immediately, or as soon as possible because that's the pressure that's being put on the three council members from the community. Some of the community, not all the community, because the rest of the community have not voiced their opinion. They have not been here. They don't even know that we're discussing this tonight. I'm not saying that we don't need to hear it. What I'm saying is... We have to allow the chief of police that is in charge of our safety in t

I just, last comment. I've been hearing so many times that we have to have discussions with the public and they're not here and they don't talk to us. I don't understand what that comment is because I talk to hundreds and hundreds of people every week. They tell me what they want me to do. I hear from everybody. This issue is what people are talking. My scout troop leader pulled me aside. He said, what are we doing with Flock? I'm like, what? Everyone's talking to me about this. I don't know why they're not talking to the four of you about it, but this is what everyone's talking about.

Speak for yourself, man. I was stopped in the street by someone who I don't know, who is not here in the chamber and is not part of you lovely folks. And they were just random mom in the community who was like, hey, I have a question about flock because I've been seeing it in the news every day.

And even regardless of how much we're talking in the community with folks, bringing it to the council chambers... is putting it on the agenda is the way that we let the community know that we're talking about it, and they will have ample opportunity to send us as much information and thoughts and feedback about it for that item. And to your point, Vice Mayor, is that the Chief will prepare for that agenda item. And for me personally, just saying that, to me, this is kind of an additional kind of... in addition to what direction we've already given to say that in addition to looking at Axon and

I appreciate you saying that, Madam Mayor, because I would love a report that also tells me what that looks like, not just we don't want to do this as staff, because I've been in that boat before. So I'd like it to be neutral. I'd like it to tell me this is what it would look like to ban that.

And I do think that there would be, you know, there's going to be a trade-off, safety and privacy, security. I mean, that is, there is going to be looking at that in some ways. And what would that be? Is the trade-off small? Is it big? I don't know. And without that information, you know, coming back, I have a personal position of what I think that will be. But until that conversation comes and we have that conversation, it's not going to make an assumption off the bat based on that. But I do think, I know where I'm going to vote on this, but it's not about banning it tonight. To me, this is a

Madam Mayor, I'm asking you not to put our public safety on an agenda. I'm asking you directly not to do that. I'm asking you not to put our public safety on an additional agenda. Let me ask you a question. What's changed? We gave our chief direction to go out and look at other options. Besides the election coming up, what's changed? That's it.

I'm not even going there. I'm going there. I'm there. You can go there if you want. I already said what I'm going to say.

Everyone's made it an election issue, so why not go there?

No, I'm not going to. You can ask a question, but I already explained why.

I'm asking you not to put our public safety on the agenda.

This is going to continue, isn't it, for the next few months? You guys are going to say anything that the folks who are on the ballot is about the election. That's real classy. But you know what? I put this forward, and I didn't do it on their timeline. I did it on mine, because I took the time to research it. I took the time to see what I didn't like, and I took the time to inform myself. I don't know what your process was. We probably looked at different things.

But Madam Mayor, if I may, and I don't want to interrupt you, but we've talked about it at the police commission meeting multiple times. The same people that showed up here showed up at the police commission meeting. They showed up here night after night. It is an agenda. It is an agenda. It's a mission to scratch off flock, safety. Go home and think about what happens if this happens to you. Just go home. And I'm going to say this. I hope to God nothing bad happens to any of you because guess what? You're going to wish that we had something in this city. That's the only thing I say.

Let's call the question. I'm going to ask the chair. I'm going to say can we call the question because we can move on. I think we know where everybody stands and we can continue to have this conversation, continue to discuss. I personally want to continue to hear from the community on all the different perspectives. Please send them to me. I've already had so many, but let's just keep talking. And I'll continue to talk with my colleagues everywhere. But if someone would like to call the question, we can do that. No, I'll let someone else call it.

I guess it's my agenda item. I would like to agendize my item for discussion.

Does staff have enough direction and understanding of what her agenda item is?

Okay. Question. Would that include any fiscal impact if a contract was canceled early? I'd like to include any sort of penalties or anything like that. Absolutely.

All right. So we got a first and a second. All right. Let's call the vote, please.

Any man who gives up liberty for security deserves neither. Benjamin Franklin. Yes.

Vice Mayor Mullins? Absolutely not. Let the chief do his job.

It's not time to celebrate Mexican Independence Day yet, so we're still good. Or Central America Independence Day. Margaritas all around. All right. Now, maybe there's another exciting moment. If you want to stay, there's still a couple things left. Now is the time for the introduction of additional agenda items. Do the members of council have any items introduced? I think Council Member Rosati had one.

Yeah, so Planning Board was upset when they have a large packet, thousands of pages and not too much time to prepare. So with regards to the media district specific plan, I think it's coming on the 28th. Is there any way we can get that out a week in advance rather than just a few days?

But will they have the information is what I'm saying.

Okay. Anything else to agendize? No? Okay. Well, maybe nothing else exciting is going to happen. Well, we have only 13 agenda items left. So, hey, no, I'm just kidding. We're at the end. It's the last agenda item R, which is adjournment. We now adjourn the meeting to Tuesday, September 29th, 2026 for a regular meeting in the council chamber, 275 East Olive Avenue, second