Remarks by Phil Bacerra
77 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 3 of 4
- Play at 4:35:24
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. So tonight I get to say justice for Isaac Ibarra and justice for Luis Casillas. Now, I have not previously publicly commented on the investigation into the death of Noe Rodriguez because I wanted to wait for the Attorney General to finish his report on the investigation. Well, in July, the California Attorney General issued his report on the investigation into the death of Noe Rodriguez. In that report, the Attorney General concluded, quote, based on the investigation and review of evidence, along with the applicable statutes, legal principles, and subsequent analysis,…”
City Council · Aug 4, 2026
- Play at 4:03:13
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'm going to go ahead and abstain on item 12. I abstained on the previously approved density bonus agreement due to a potential financial conflict. So for consistency, I will be abstaining on voting on this item as well. And I'd like to pull items 9 and 15. Thank you. Councilman Hernandez.”
City Council · Jul 21, 2026
- Play at 4:06:33
“Thank you, Madam Mayor, and I want to thank the folks that came out tonight to speak about the upcoming zoning code update. I wish they hadn't left, because what I was going to ask staff to do is actually give your presentation on this item. I know it was just a receive and file, but I think it's important for not only the Council, but for the entire community to know the outreach that's going on. I've looked at it, I understand it, but I just want to make sure that everybody hears it because I think there's a lot of work that went into this. And before the presentation begins, I just want to…”
City Council · Jul 21, 2026
- Play at 4:13:59
“Ali, thank you for that. And I'm glad some of the folks came back in. I hope you heard Ali as he talked about some of the outreach that we've done. I would encourage you guys to definitely come to those study sessions. And I appreciate that, Ali, because something of this magnitude should not just come straight to commission and council. There definitely needs to be more public vetting in an arena like this. So thank you for doing that. And I would also ask any of you if you want to talk to any of us, please talk to our staff, schedule meetings with us, reach out to us directly. I'd be happy…”
City Council · Jul 21, 2026
- Play at 4:16:15
“Mayor, do we need to move the item or is it just receiving file?”
City Council · Jul 21, 2026
- Play at 4:25:56
“Thank you, Madam Clerk. So this item is to approve a designated subrecipient agreement with Caltrans to receive the raised grant funds for the Santa Ana Boulevard grade separation project. So back in April 2024, I flew to Washington, D.C., and I had the opportunity to meet with various federal government officials, including senior officials with the United States Department of Transportation and members of Senator Alex Padilla's office. And in those meetings, I discussed with them our city's funding priorities. The Santa Ana Boulevard grade separation was at the top of that list. So in June…”
City Council · Jul 21, 2026
- Play at 4:52:12
“No, well actually I'll just say this. In looking at the staff report, one statement stuck out to me. It says, each of the 36 field deployments involved incidents where the defined equipment provided the community and our officers with a higher level of safety than would have been possible had the equipment not been utilized. I mean, let's be real, none of us want to see, we love our police, but we don't want to see them deployed. I don't want to look on social media and see a bunch of our officers having to address a situation in our downtown or along one of our major corridors. But when that…”
City Council · Jul 21, 2026
- Play at 5:24:59
“Thank you. Councilman Becerra. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I want to thank you, Mayor Mesquite, for bringing this item to our attention. And I want to also thank the community who came out and not only came out, took your time to speak to us, both tonight and back in June at the mayor's invitation over at the Santa Ana PD headquarters, but also your letters and emails. So I think it's fair to say that there's been a lot of thoughtful dialogue in regards to this issue. Now, it is important that services are provided to individuals that are reentering the community following incarceration. In Santa…”
City Council · Jul 21, 2026
- Play at 5:27:16
“No. Great. It was that easy, right? I just, you asked the question, I said, no. So I had to endure, along with many members of the community, our supervisor giving us 40 minutes of dialogue for me to at the end have to just say, can you just clarify? Do you support this facility being located in Santa Ana? And he said he didn't. And I appreciated that. But then after that, I saw social media videos and then a letter today where he says, during that meeting on June 18th, I reaffirmed my position that I could not support funding the project until there had been meaningful engagement with the…”
City Council · Jul 21, 2026
- Play at 6:11:10
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. Per AB 1234, I'd like to disclose that the city paid for my registration fee, not my transport or lodging, to attend the 2026 AAPI LEAD National Summit in LA on July 17th and 18th. I will spare you the dissertation on how it went. Monthly community office hours on Saturday, August 1st. So this Saturday, let's celebrate Santa Anita. And then next Saturday, August 1st, at Eugene Grissett Park on MacArthur, next to Greenville Elementary, I'll be hosting my monthly community office hours, as I do every month, as I've done since I first got elected to the city council. And…”
City Council · Jul 21, 2026
- Play at 2:57:04
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll go ahead and pull items 13 and 18, and I'll register a no vote on item 19.”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:01:15
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:03:20
“Well, and so I'm going to go back to my question, which is, so would you also advocate for removing the planning commissioner that's also running for that same seat?”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:03:38
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:14:09
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. So this is the lease agreement with LAZ Parking California for office space at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. So according to the staff report, LAZ Parking California has requested to lease approximately 190 square feet of non-retail office space located on the first floor of the SARTIC for one year. So I don't have a problem with that. I'm absolutely fine with it. But this item calls into question the fact that with all the other ground floor open spaces, We should be having more uses that are more geared towards train and bus passengers, restaurants,…”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:15:34
“So we haven't had a broker this entire time?”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:15:40
“Is there a reason why? You just don't want to have business in there?”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:16:08
“I mean, the first thing we could do is just put a for lease sign in the window. That would be nice.”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:16:28
“I can tell you from the folks that are waiting on the platforms,”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:16:32
“The construction hasn't stopped them from getting to the platform. So I bet you they would hop the tracks to go get a bagel or coffee.”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:16:49
“Well, frankly, I don't care if you do an RFP. I don't care if you ask a local broker. Let's just get those things populated.”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:16:56
“So I hope we don't have the same discussion again from the dice.”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:25:50
“Well, if she will accept it, I'll nominate Council Member Lopez as an alternate.”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 3:34:51
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. So Measure X, according to the chart, is 20% of our general fund. So Measure X constitutes 20% of our general fund. Sadly, our hotel visitor's tax is only 2% of the general fund. That 2% absolutely needs to grow. In Anaheim, their hotel visitor's tax is more than their sales tax and property tax combined. So here we are at 2%. Theirs eclipses their property tax and their sales tax combined. Anaheim has over $190 million more in their general fund, and their sales tax is lower than ours. Now, I don't wanna keep this tax. I don't. But I also don't wanna make 20% cuts to…”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026
- Play at 4:30:38
“Thank you, Madam Mayor. I believe Council Member Phan was talking about Toro Tea. Toro Tea. Toro Tea. So Toro Tea opened up last week. Ward 4 is blessed. We have a lot of great businesses, a lot of great restaurants. But I got to tell you, in my time on the council, I have not gone to an opening where in a shopping center you had a line that started from one end and went all the way to the other end. Super impressive. Toro Tea had their first store up in Chino Hills, right? Or no, Diamond Bar.”
City Council · Jul 7, 2026