City Council - Regular Meeting

Welcome to your Patterson City Council meeting Tuesday, April 7th, 2026. Report from closed session. Your City Council is returning from closed session and providing the following report. Direction has been provided to staff. Your City Council will now adjourn from the closed session. Public meeting guidelines. City of Patterson City Council meetings are conducted in person at City Hall Council Chambers. As a courtesy and technology permitting, members of the public may continue to participate virtually. However, the City cannot guarantee that the public's access to teleconferencing technology will be uninterrupted. Technical difficulties may occur from time to time The meeting will be televised and available for public viewing on Comcast channel 7 on Wednesday Friday and Saturday at 12 p.m Our members of the public may watch on the internet with a vemo link available on our city's website Before we start a regular session those in the audience who wish to do so please stand and bow your heads for invocation Heavenly Father we come together this evening grateful for the privilege of serving our community As we gather in this room, we ask that you fill our hearts with the spirit of unity, reminding us that despite our different roles and perspectives, we share a common purpose to strengthen the city we all call home. Guide us toward collaboration that lifts people up. Help us listen with patience, speak with kindness, and lead with humility. May our decisions tonight reflect not only wisdom, but also compassion for every family, every neighborhood, and every person that depends on our work. Let this meeting be marked by respect, clarity, and a renewed commitment to one another. Bind us together in purpose, steady our steps, and bless the path ahead for our entire community. In your holy name we pray, amen. Please remain standing as we call the meeting to order. Your Patterson City Council meeting will now come to order. Pledge of Allegiance. Statements of conflict. Are there any statements of conflict from the council members?

None.

None. Your mayor has no conflicts. With the consents of the council, we'll move a part of other matters with public comment to allow Patterson Police Service Chief Casey Hill to provide a short statement on the ICE officer-involved shooting that occurred in Patterson this morning and answer any questions. This will occur directly after the Love Patterson proclamation. But for now, we're going to present the Love Patterson proclamation. City Council, will you join me in front of the dais? All right, everyone. I think we all know what Love Patterson does for our community each and every day. They stand up and they stand out. And although we once a year, as we are going to celebrate in this proclamation, come together to create a better community, they really do it each and every day with selfless hearts, They work diligently throughout the year to complete projects and to continue to move our community forward. So with that, I'm gonna read a proclamation for Love Patterson Volunteer Day. Whereas the city of Patterson proudly promotes a healthy, safe and vibrant community that thrives through civic engagement, strong neighborhoods and meaningful public participation. And whereas Love Patterson is a community driven initiative that brings together volunteers, organizations, businesses faith groups, and local leaders to address community needs, beautify neighborhoods, support residents, and strengthen the spirit of service across Patterson. And whereas Love Patterson continues to demonstrate the power of volunteerism by mentoring our youth, connecting residents with opportunities to serve, and by ensuring that community members have access to resources and support that help our city thrive. And whereas April is recognized nationwide as National Volunteer Appreciation Month A time to recognize and celebrate the invaluable contributions of volunteers who dedicate their time, skills, and energy to improving the lives of others. And whereas government alone cannot meet the needs of a community, and volunteers, community organizations, and local partners play a vital role in strengthening services, uplifting neighborhoods, and building a stronger Patterson for all residents. And whereas the city of Patterson proudly encourages a culture of volunteerism and civic participation, amongst residents, businesses, community organizations and public employees. And whereas 2026 marks the fifth year of Love Patterson Volunteer Day, celebrating five years of neighbors serving neighbors, an extraordinary impact of community collaboration during which thousands of volunteers have contributed their time and energy to complete community improvement projects, neighborhood beautification efforts, service initiatives and outreach programs that have strengthened the quality of life throughout Patterson, And whereas Love Patterson Volunteer Day provides an opportunity for individuals, families, businesses, and organizations to come together in service, strengthening community bonds and demonstrating the shared commitment to making Patterson an even better place to live. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the City of Patterson hereby recognizes Saturday, April 18th, 2026 as Love Patterson Volunteer Day in the City of Patterson and encourages all residents to recognize, celebrate, and participate in this day of service to make a meaningful difference in our community. Please a huge round of applause for all the members of Love Patterson here. Kendra would, okay. All right, Amber, you're up.

On behalf of Love Patterson, I want to sincerely thank you for this recognition and for your continued support of volunteerism in our community. This year is especially meaningful as we celebrate our fifth Love Patterson Volunteer Day. What started as a simple idea, neighbors coming together to serve, has grown into a powerful movement that reflects the hearts of Patterson. Year after year, we have seen individuals, families, businesses, and organizations step up to give their time, talent to make our city stronger. We invite everyone to join on April 18th to serve, to connect, and to continue building a Patterson we are all proud to call home.

All right, would anybody else like to say a few words about their experiences with Love Patterson? No? Well, with that being said, a final round of applause for Love Patterson. Thank you for everything you do. All right, Chief Hill, you're next up to provide your short presentation. While Chief Hill walks to the podium, I do want to say a couple of words about what I observed today. I had the opportunity to go out with the sheriff and with Chief Hill and spend some time with them. And I have to tell you guys from the bottom of my heart, we're very, very grateful to have them in our community. The ability for them to set up incident command, have the command vehicles, the staff and resources that are ultimately necessary to manage an incident of this magnitude were on full display for me today. Obviously, with my background, I know what it takes to run an incident like that. And I just want to commend them, the sheriff, Chief Hill, for their professionalism in their response to this incident. And with that, Chief Hill, I give you the floor, sir.

Thank you so much, Mayor and Council Members, for having me here today. And I come before you as a community humbly. As you guys can see, the tan line's on my head here. I've been out boots on the ground all day trying to represent our community. So I apologize if I seem a little fatigued. But I do have a prepared statement that I would like to read. On Tuesday, April 7th, 2026, at approximately 0630 hours, Stanislaus County dispatchers received a report from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE. Officers regarding an officer-involved shooting in the area of Sperry Avenue and Interstate 5 in Patterson. Deputies from the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office, as you guys know, Patterson Police Services, immediately responded to the scene and assisted in securing the area by blocking roadways. Fire and paramedic personnel responded and provided medical assistance. No deputies from the Patterson Police Services were injured or involved in the shooting in any way. Because of this incident involves a federal agency and does not involve any local law enforcement as involved parties, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, FBI, has assumed primary responsibility for the investigation. Detectives with the Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit will be conducting an investigation as well. The closure of Interstate 5 on and off ramps at Sperry Avenue still remains in effect. I believe that those should be lifted near about eight o'clock tonight. We will be providing an update once the road closures have been lifted and the ramps are reopened. We are aware of the information released by Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. However, we have no further details to provide regarding our involvement at this time. All media inquiries will be handled by the FBI. Thank you for the California Highway Patrol and Caltrans for assisting in the road closures. And finally, I would like to say thank you to the community of Patterson. I have personally received many, many text messages from community members throughout the day showing their support in the way that, not picking sides, but in the way of just showing support as a community, because that's one thing that I noticed that Patterson has done since I've been here, since I've been here long, long before I took the helm as chief. Organizations like Love Patterson and the Chamber of Commerce and all these organizations conglomerates that come together to make this community. What makes it great? So I finally say thank you to the community of Patterson. I left out the apricot fist. I'm sorry. But I really enjoy being a part of this community. And we consider it a bank account. we make deposits into the community as a bank account. We go hand out stickers and popsicles to kids, and we do extra patrols at little leagues, and we go read to kids, because we consider that a bank account, because we know at some point we're going to have to make a withdrawal for support. And today, many of you guys showed up for that support. So thank you very much on behalf of the Patterson Police Services as your chief. Thank you. Thank you, Chief.

Now we want to provide an opportunity for members of the community to ask any questions they may have with regard to the incident, and Chief Hill is prepared to answer them if possible.

Thank you, guys. And I just want to point out, first off, this is just the agenda. I didn't write anything. You know me. But I just want to point out how beautiful this is right here. I know we have students from Patterson High School. Maybe they're here for some extra credit or not. We'll take the audience. as well as just the proactiveness to the communication. As you guys know, I'm big on communication and being transparent. And anything that the local pages and myself had shared online communicating about the incident all came from the Sheriff's Department. They were on top of it before anybody could raise a question. And I feel like that's a beautiful thing because we felt like we were in the know. I do have further questions. I know that as you were clarifying that FBI will be leading the investigation and whatnot. But currently right now, because at first it came across that maybe this individual was passing by Patterson, right? It was a traffic stop or whatnot. But as we learn more in partnering with the family of the gentleman that was shot, He lived in Patterson. So currently, is ICE currently in Patterson? I don't know if the city is able to share that or if the Sheriff's Department is able to share that. Is ICE currently in Patterson, California?

So I can touch on the fact of what the protocols are if ICE does come to Patterson. They make notifications through our dispatch that they're in the city, of which they in fact did on this particular incident. So anytime that they conduct operations in the city, they do notify us through dispatch and it comes through us directly.

Okay. Have they been here longer than just today? Okay. There have been here previously.

I can't speak to the specifics of how many times or how often, but yes, they have been here.

And this may be an obvious question. Are they still currently in Patterson?

Only to conduct the investigation. There are no other investigations that are occurring other than the one that happened today. Okay.

Thank you. Thank you for that. Lastly, I just want to make a brief comment on yesterday's special meeting. It was a long meeting for those who weren't in attendance. Can we restrict that to regular public comment? Because we will be having that. Oh, yeah, sure. Yeah, 100%.

We're going to have regular public comment, but this is restricted to just the ICE response.

Sounds like a plan. Yes, sir. No problem. All good. Is there anyone else present in the council chambers who wants to provide a comment on the ICE shooting? Step forward, ma'am.

Good evening, my name is Maria Gabriel and I am a resident of the city of Patterson. This question is for Chief Hill. I was under the assumption that deputies, especially under Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office, were supposed to be impartial, especially to politics and especially to these types of investigations. In today's world, it's very hard to not take a side. And as a deputy, I understand that, but social media, Everybody has their name on it, and going through comments on a post by Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department on Facebook, I've seen that a deputy, not a Patterson deputy, but a deputy from Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office was taking sides. And it was a personal account, but I just, it's like you guys are deputies, but other people in the community know you, not just by your guys' last names, but by your first names too. And it made me feel really uncomfortable knowing that a deputy from our county was taking sides and basically making it seem like you guys should have been involved. He was insinuating that he was upset that there was no way that you guys could have been involved. I WORKED WITH THIS DEPUTY IN THE PAST AND IT MADE ME UPSET TO KNOW THERE WERE THESE VIEWPOINTS BEING SAID ESPECIALLY ON THE PAGE OF HIS WORK SPACE. I JUST WANTED TO MAKE THAT KNOWN. THAT MADE ME UNCOMFORTABLE AND I BET IF ANYBODY ELSE WERE TO HAVE KNOWN THAT IT WOULD MAKE THEM EXTREMELY UNCOMFORTABLE. SO THANK YOU. THAT'S ALL I HAD TO SAY.

THANK YOU.

Is there anyone else present in the council chambers? Yes, sir. Step forward.

Good evening. And thank you to the city council for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. I appreciate you all taking the time to hear from members of the community. I'm here as a resident of Patterson, and like many others, I'm concerned about what occurred earlier today near Interstate 5 and Delaporto Canyon Road. Regardless of immigration status, people in our community deserve to feel safe especially during enforcement operations that take place in public spaces. Incident like this raised concerns, not just about those directly involved, but about the safety of everyone nearby. I understand that the city may not have direct authority over federal agencies like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. My question is, what policies, protections, or communication systems are currently in place to ensure the safety of Patterson residents during federal enforcement activity within our community? And if those protections are limited or unclear, what steps can be taken to strengthen transparency, communication, and overall public safety moving forward? And briefly, since this occurred near Del Porto Canyon Road, an area already being discussed for future changes, sorry, I hope safety continues to remain a top priority in any decisions affecting that corridor. Thank you again for your time and listening to the concerns of the community. God bless you all.

So to answer your question about what policies we have in place, the sheriff of Stanislaus County has made it very clear we are highly restricted in our cooperation with ICE. And it's very, very limited. And our communication is that of if they do come to our municipalities, of which we oversee in Patterson, that they communicate to us that they're conducting operations in the city. Our cooperation is limited to that of which is called upon for emergency services of like today an officer involved shooting. So we responded merely to maintain the integrity of the scene and render any medical aid at that point. So as of right now, we're restricted by government policy that prevents us from doing much more.

Well, thank you for that, sir. I appreciate you.

Is there anyone else present that wishes to provide a comment or a question to Chief Hill? Madam Clerk, is there anyone online?

Just as a reminder, if you're joining us on Zoom and wish to make a comment, please use the raise hand feature. If you're calling in by phone, you may press Start 9. I do have a couple comments. Alyssa, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Hello, my name is Alyssa, and I'm a resident of Patterson, California. And I would just want to say what happened today in our community is deeply troubling. I feel that what happened today put all residents in danger. No matter what someone's immigration status is, even if they're fleeing a scene, shooting just to keep them from fleeing, puts us all in danger. It put everybody on the other side of oncoming traffic in danger, everyone in nearby businesses on the road, and it's deeply unsettling, especially when this meeting starts. It's just praise for the investigation going on. No concern that somebody was shot or the danger that was you know, put in our community. So obviously you guys are limited because it is federal agents, but is Patterson going to reach out to Gavin Newsom or, you know, federally and get ICE out of our community? Because from what I've seen, they lie about everyone they kill and they're already trying to paint a narrative over the young man who was shot. So what are we going to do to keep the community safe?

Alyssa, thank you. And I can assure you that the public safety is our absolute number one priority. We responded, Patterson Police Services, who I can only speak for, responded with that sole intention in mind, is to protect the community. That was our number one priority when we responded, and that's what I can speak for as far as a representative for Patterson Police Services. As to reaching out to the state level, again, I can't speak on behalf of the city of Patterson. I do know that our sheriff is in routine conversations and has been throughout the day at the state level in regards to this investigation. Those particulars about lobbying against removing ICE are above my pay grade, and I believe that those conversations are being had way above my shoulders. So I just want to reassure that we are absolutely here to CONSIDER PATTERSON RESIDENT SAFETY AS OUR NUMBER ONE PRIORITY.

WE DO HAVE ANOTHER COMMENT. NORA, YOU CAN GO AHEAD AND UNMUTE YOURSELF.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. MY NAME IS NORA. I AM THE PROGRAM MANAGER AT FAITH IN THE VALLEY AND I OVERSEE THE VALLEY WATCH NETWORK. Although ICE officers may rely on their judgment and experience when deciding whether to stop a vehicle, they don't have unlimited discretion. So instead, they must have reasonable suspicion based upon specific facts that indicates a vehicle might contain undocumented community members. More importantly, ICE officers can't justify stopping a vehicle based on the occupant's appearance alone. So with that being said, what happened to the community member is a very traumatic situation. And we know that the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, and CBP tend to lie, so we as community and as local elected officials should critically question any information provided by said agencies. We as the Valley Watch Network take reports seriously and work to verify information carefully. And our priority is always to protect the community members involved while sharing accurate, general information with the community. because at the end of the day, communities deserve transparency, accountability, and safety. There's no question that ICE puts our communities in danger. They've proven that time and time again with their violence, not just displayed today, but across the country. And right now, there's serious questions about the use of force by ICE this morning and given ICE's records about lying as to the people that they're shooting and the circumstances of their violent actions. And so again, we must question the accuracy of their official statements. And we definitely need an independent investigation. And quite frankly, we need ICE out of our communities. We are deeply disturbed by news articles that raise serious concerns about, again, transparency, accountability, and the safety of our communities. We have personally reached out to Representatives Maria Alvarado Gil, Juan Alaniz, as well as Governor Newsom's office, Adam Schiff, Alex Padilla, Attorney General Rob Bonta, as well as the ACLU. They have been briefed, and they're currently working with our agency. In communities like Patterson, these incidents create fear, mistrust, and real harm, especially for immigrant families who already feel targeted. They're automatically labeled as gang members or gang affiliates, even if it's just alleged. It's a cheap fear tactic used to paint our community members in a very bad light and create division. So for full transparency, our community member's name is Carlos Ivan Mendoza. His family is definitely in communication with us. But more importantly, aside from the simple fact that he is a Salvadoran national, he has no gang affiliation here nor in El Salvador. He was shot in the arm. It was non-life-threatening. And ICE followed him from his house all the way to work in San Jose. As our community member just mentioned, he's been living in Patterson for four years. with his partner and his two children. And unfortunately, their privacy currently isn't being respected. We have our local legal observers alongside, you know, just community members that have stated federal protective services. For what reason are they staked out at the hospital as well as FBI? Not only that, but they've called in additional security from Allied and GS4. as backup security detail in the hospital. So all that to say, in terms of patterns and responses regarding immigration enforcement.

Ma'am, can I interrupt you for just one moment? I've got you at one minute over and I'm trying to give you the liberty to wrap it up, but I please could please ask you to do that.

I will definitely wrap it up. So as far as accountability, what we are asking is to publicly call for an independent investigation into the shooting, to demand a full release of all video and evidence, to support stronger oversight and accountability measures for ICE, and to ensure protections so that way this does not happen again. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Madam Clerk, is there anyone else online who wishes to provide a public comment for the ICE shooting?

There are no other comments, Mayor.

Okay. Sir, did you want to provide a comment in the back? Yep, you can go.

Good evening. RJ Castro, Las Palmas Estates resident here in Patterson. I'm kind of a newer member to the community. I've only been here about 10 years off and on. I live kind of a commute like a lot of you do over into the Bay, Santa Cruz, San Jose. And there are things that we can do as a community today and hopefully ask our council members to set policy. There are communities that are doing those things. But we as a community have to step up. I mean, I think it's great that everybody's here today. I think it was great that everybody was here yesterday discussing stuff. but a Patterson resident got shot and killed. I'm a Patterson resident. I don't know if I say something wrong. I pull my hair down. I got my tats. I maybe say too much. So my concern is more of a question to our council members and our mayors. Can we develop a policy like other communities have done to not allow any type of ICE? No, oh, we're going to give you 24. We're going to give you a five-minute heads up.

No.

Nobody is allowed. No type of jurisdiction of ICE is allowed in our community. Simple as that. And if there is, then hopefully our sheriff protects us as community members in telling them to get out of here. Simple as that. But that has to come from us standing out there by where it happened, where the news can see us saying, we don't want this in our community. Get out. But until somebody gets angry and upset, Nothing's going to happen. You heard the lady on it. This is going to happen in small towns, and it's just going to swept under the rug. You might flip it on, like you mentioned, on your Facebook, and you might see it if you're lucky. But if you're not connected to your community, and we're not working together to help each other out, we're just a target just as well. So I just would really like to see more of a comment from the board and the mayor, the council members, to what the City of Paterson's policy and direction of perhaps having a workshop to develop policy for our community. Thank you.

Is there anyone else present in the Council Chambers who wishes to provide a comment? All right, seeing none, all I can tell you, sir, is that I will speak to the Sheriff regarding your concerns. and then we'll forward it from there. That I can promise you. But right now, we contract with the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office for our police services, and that is a discussion that him and I would have to have to be able to move forward with that because we operate under their policies and procedures, which operate under the statutes of the state of California. Okay, but I appreciate your comments, and thank you for coming up and speaking. So with no one else present in the council chambers that wants to provide a public comment and no one else online, we will now close our open session on other matters, and then we will reopen it at the end of the city council meeting. And we will move on to items from the public. Any member of the audience who wishes to address the council on a matter not listed on the agenda may do so by raising your hand and stepping to the podium. If you're joining the meeting through Zoom, please use the raised hand feature. If you're calling in by phone, you may press 9 when the mayor announces the item. Council will take no action other than referring the item to staff for study and analysis and may place the item on a future agenda. In order that all interested parties have an opportunity to speak, any person addressing the council will be limited to a maximum of three minutes unless the mayor grants a longer period of time. City Council requests everyone be respectful of other citizens' time and stay within the allotted time period. If after extending the three-minute time period, the mayor determines that the citizen will not complete their comments within a reasonable time, the mayor will request their comments be completed at a later date. City Council fully supports the right of the public to comment freely during the public comment period per the Brown Act. However, all comments will be made respectfully and no way be disruptive in nature. The Brown Act expressly authorizes the legislative body to remove from a meeting those persons who willfully interrupt the proceedings. Independent of the Brown Act, California Penal Code Section 403 makes it a misdemeanor to willfully disturb a lawful meeting. Please state your name and city for the record when you step for the podium. Go ahead, sir.

My name is Dennis Boor. I'm an attorney here in town. And I'm here to highlight another $440,000 of legal fees for the first two months of the year. And this on top of a letter of notice of violation from the state of California, one of only 15 cities in the entire state of almost 500 cities that got this notice, that your housing element is deficient, has been deficient when it was due to December 31st 2023 it's almost three years and you still haven't gotten it done in the meantime the city attorney is increased fees always doing something to increase those fees and then and I find out that mr. Rocha's request for a legal third party review of the legal counsel Wasn't put on the agenda In the meantime, there's an appeal of the decision of the BIA against the city of Patterson without his request to have somebody review this. This city attorney has spent over $2 million in the last year on this city. That's $2 million that should have gone to other things. So the inherent problem is the city attorney has nobody reviewing it. They give bad advice and they get to make money off that bad advice. Again, because the city is one of 15 cities in the entire state of 500 cities is now has to be subject to possible legal action from the Attorney General of the State of California. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. Step right up, sir.

Hi. My name is . I'm with the PLUS program, and for I'd just like to advertise my project for the Hello Patterson Day. My group will add a new backboard to Meadow Road Park, you know, the one that's right behind Patterson. And I just came here to tell you about the project and right now we're looking for volunteers. You know, the city has sponsored my project, but, you know, thank you for that. And, yeah, I just came here to tell you that we need volunteers, particularly ones with a construction experience. As you know, we're installing a backboard. And, yeah, that's it. All right, have a good night. Thank you.

Good evening, Patterson. My name is Ayaka Williams and I'm part of the PLUS program at Patterson High and today I want to invite you to be a part of something meaningful in my community, my Patterson project. This project is focused by supporting our high school wellness center by providing Hygiene kits for students who may not have easy access to basic personal care items. Things like toothbrushes, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash items many of us use every day without thinking can make a huge difference in someone's confidence, health, and ability to focus at school. For some students, not having these essentials can be stressful and even embarrass me. With your help, we can change that. Together, we can create a more supportive caring environment where every student feels valued and prepared. I'm asking for your support in two ways. First, through donations. Any hygiene items you can give will go directly to kids for students in need. Second, through volunteering. We need people to help collect, organize, and assemble these kits so we can reach as many students as possible. Thank you so much for your time, and I hope you'll join me in making this project a success.

Good evening. It's great to be here with you. My name is Phoenix Omai, and this is... I'm Leslie Quevedo. We're members of the Connection and Engagement Activities at Patterson High School.

We're here tonight to bring attention to the project our committee is hosting for Love Patterson Day from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Patterson Senior Center near the community pool. We'll be holding a special event dedicated to our local seniors.

We'll be offering activities like Jeopardy with small prizes, cookie decorating, a cookie contest, and classic board games to encourage meaningful interaction between students and seniors.

Part of our committee cares about is creating moments where students and seniors can connect in real, meaningful ways. We want our seniors to feel appreciated, included, and supported, and events like this help bring our community closer together.

We welcome the community's support, and we hope to see many of you there or helping spread the word. Thank you for giving us the space to share, and thank you for supporting communities opportunities that bring Patterson closer together.

Is there anyone else present in the council chambers who wishes to provide a public comment?

Hello. Excuse me. My allergies are horrible today. Yolanda, city of Patterson. I was unfortunate I missed yesterday's meeting, but I was having to watch it today earlier and I had a whole bunch of notes. A couple of things that struck me was because you all know the chromium six thing is near and dear to my heart. I found it kind of odd that just recently, within the last couple weeks, there was some talk that we had never heard of as a community about the wellheads as a possible solution for the Chromium 6 issue. So why wasn't it brought sooner? I loved the presentation that ABS had given. It was very laid out, very nice, very visual. As community members, I think a lot of us are passionate about hearing more of details of why this city doesn't all of a sudden want to go with this, what we want. look at, many of us look at, is a very good deal. There was no data. There was talk about, oh, we need to find a baseline, how much energy are we using? But I know I can look up my TID information online and find that information. So if this was something that we were giving two years, resources, time, money, staff, and all of a sudden, like, it's just not Feasible or looked down upon it, which I just find it very odd. Why wasn't this stuff? Laid out better as a presentation for us and also addressed during the two-year study Process there was a lot of names on there, but none of the names seem to be in the room to discuss their findings and Maria kept asking you know saying well, I'm not sure I wasn't here for that But why who was and why weren't they in the room for this community meeting? I think the people who have those answers need to be in the room when you guys are making a community presentation to us And then of course if we do go with this package time is of the essence and I Councilmember Hernandez hadn't made a question and I find it the same question was going through my head Why what is if they're guaranteeing everything? What is the risk to us and why aren't we taking that with that much? Savings and that much money coming back to us that money can be going to a teen a youth center It can be going to fixer sidewalks or putting sidewalks in where we don't have sidewalks fixing our streets that money to TO ME IS MONEY OUT OF OUR MOUTHS, IF YOU WILL, OUR CHILDREN'S LIVELIHOOD. SO THAT HUGE OF A SAVINGS. AND THEN WHEN YOU HAVE THE $20,000 IT COST FOR THE NINE MONTHS THAT IT WAS DOWN, IF YOU'RE PAYING AFTER YEAR FOUR, 75 OR 20,000 FOR THAT GUARANTEE, BUT SOMETHING with the old, the package we have now has 75,000 to fix something. It just seems to me that guarantee is worth paying. Let's see. I have some other things. But really quickly on another note, Thursday, I'll be hosting through the mini grant from Love Stanislaus, Love Your Neighbors at the Sports Complex from 10 to 12. It's going to be a park and play program. It's free for kids. We're going to have a lot of fun activities and crafts and things. So I would invite everyone to come. So thank you. Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Good evening. Again, my name is RJ Castro, a Las Palmas Estates neighborhood resident. Again, to dovetail after the last speaker, last night and tonight's meeting shows that our community is engaged. I appreciate the staff report that was actually provided and the council's questions. Your questions were spot on. on the financing, the product longevity, and what happens if project savings fall short. What needs improvement in this process is clear dissemination of information, community workshops, and better opportunities for public engagement before decisions are made. Staff noted that technical and HTML accessibility issues, and I've personally seen discrepancy between my mobile app and Windows, or even this little thing that I'm using now. So the question is, who is responsible? those technical issues and are they handled by staff or contracted out i'd also like to understand how this fits into the city's master plan especially with future infrastructure as we've just finished hearing about water treatment it may be time for a technology and infrastructure audit to guide those decisions There are real concerns around trust and transparency, especially with the housing lawsuit and potential state sanctions that could ultimately impact residents. We also need to acknowledge that too often a small number of loud voices shape the direction of this town. For Patterson to grow, we need broader, more inclusive participation. And if there's any conflicts of interest, they do need to be resolved and involved, especially even if they are a nonprofit. benefit from the city decisions, it should not be part of these decisions. Even then, it could be an appearance of a matter of conflict. Speaking personally over the last 25 years, I've served as a neighborhood district captain, an appointed county health commissioner, a police activities lead commissioner, a family liaison, along with other leadership roles in Santa Clara County and within Santa Cruz County, and I've seen what happens when decisions are made without broad community input. also brought forward ideas around community engagement and economic development, but have cautioned through this town's conversation about ideas taken and claimed by others. At times, it feels like I'm Kevin Bacon in Footloose, where new ideas face resistance instead of collaboration. That said, I still believe in this community. There is still time to improve the process, build trust, and move forward in a way that reflects the entire town and not just a few voices.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Is there anyone else present in the council chambers who wishes to provide a public comment? Yep. Catherine, go ahead.

In regards to his comment, I'm with Lev Patterson. And gosh, I think on average, our team volunteers for this city 30 to 40 hours a week. Volunteers. What we get from the contributions from our community is very small. But a $500 donation with hard work and the time we put into it turns into a $2,000 outcome. So as much as I appreciate what that man had to say, most of the things, Love Patterson and any conflicts do not exist. Anybody that has worked with all of the people and seen all of the people, including all of these people, know we show up everywhere for everything, and we care about everything here in Paterson. So it is a little offensive, but I just wanted to say very clearly, we don't get paid anything to do what we do.

Thank you. Is there anyone else present in the council chambers who wish to provide a public comment? Besides Marco. Oh, you're gonna let it go? You're talking directly to Tim, so it's all good. Got it, no problem. You're getting it directly from Tim, understood. Okay, that being said, with no one else present in the council chambers, ma'am, is there anyone online who wishes to provide a public comment?

We do have someone, Bianca, you can go ahead and unmute yourself. Bianca, are you still there? Yes, can you hear me? You just cut off again. We can't hear you, Bianca. She's unmuted, but we can't hear her.

Bianca, we can't hear you. Can you try again? All right. There's nothing on our end?

No, she's unmuted, which is, I don't know.

Okay.

Let me try again. Can you go ahead and unmute yourself?

Hi, good evening. Can you hear me?

We can now.

I'm sorry. Every time I'm on my phone and for some reason it is skipping me out of this app.

Yeah, no worries. We got you now.

Good evening. Thank you. I'm glad.

Uh-oh.

We just lost you. I'm still here. Can you hear me?

Yeah, no, we can now. Go ahead.

Okay. Sorry, I think it's my phone. I'm Bianca Lopez with Valley Improvement Projects. I'm here to talk a little bit about the incident that occurred early this morning in Patterson shooting. Our community deserves immediate transparency regarding the recent shooting that occurred in Patterson. This is... incident has caused fear, confusion, especially in a community already impacted by aggressive enforcement practices. While this might involve federal agencies, local leadership has a responsibility to ensure the safety, rights, and trust of residents. I'm calling on your office, publicly demand the full release of all available information, including video footage and timelines. Clarify what coordination, if any, occurred between ICE and local agencies. Ensure community members and witnesses are protected and encouraged to come forward and advocate for independent oversight, the investigation, not solely federal review, and provide clear communication to residents, especially vulnerable and immigrant communities. We have seen too many cases where initial reports do not match the truth once evidence is released. Our community cannot be left in the dark. Silence or delayed responses only deepen fear and distrust. We expect leadership that is proactive, transparent, and accountable to the people, not just differential to federal agencies. It is very important that we show the community that our cities, our city representatives and council members, elected officials, stand for justice and transparency. It is important to make sure that the narratives that the police or ICE tell are factual before we represent them. The ICE agents claim, and it's in the video, that the gentleman who was being stopped in his vehicle was not attempting to run over or hurt that he was trying to evade, specifically after so many incidents that we've seen from other communities about how ICE agents specifically deal with communities who are afraid of the tactics that ICE has been using in our communities. And so we expect you make sure that you bring full transparency to this issue and that you do not just regurgitate what ICE is saying to the public, but that you find the details and the facts and that you bring that back to the community. Lots of accusations are made about this individual. The family is being vocal on social media about this. demystifying those, I guess, the narrative that ICE is saying. And I hope and I expect the city to do the same. And that before you just speak on behalf of ICE and federal agents, that you gather all the information and bring transparency to this issue and to the community before making assumptions and before you restate what federal agents who have been known to lie and accuse people of wrongdoing when evidence shows that they have not done so. Mayor, we expect and I believe that you are in a position of power to do that. And we would be grateful for you to continue to bring transparency and justice to this community. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

We do have Michelle. Michelle, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

All I wanted to say was that I understand where Blanca's coming from, but, you know, they're still investigating the scene. I door dash in the city, and I've been out on the road since this morning when this happened. They're still set out there. So for you to demand that our mayor or anybody be transparent before they even have facts, I think it's just a little bit... Expecting too much. I get that you want transparency. We all know that what we see in the media is fake. We all have our opinions and we all have what we believe is true. But for us to pressure our city leaders just to get an answer for people that are stuck on social media and expecting instant answers. instant results, I feel is wrong. I know that from what I've seen Mayor Clauzel do, he is very truthful, he's loyal, and he's for us. I know that he's transparent from the things that I've seen and dealt with him with. So I think maybe we should just give our police and law enforcement and our members a little bit time for them to even get the facts. Because like I said, I just came back from door dashing and they're still out there investigating. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am. Madam Clerk, is there anyone else?

No other comments, Mayor.

Okay. So seeing no one else in the council chambers or in line who would provide a public comment, we will now close the public comment period. Moving on to the consent calendar, all items are approved by a single action. Any item will be removed from the consent calendar for separate discussion upon request from a member of the public, staff, or council member. Consent calendar items 6.1 to 6.15 are open for consideration or approval. Are there any items to be pulled for discussion from council members? No, I'm seeing none. Are there any items to be pulled for discussion by staff or members of the public? All right. Go ahead, sir. Step forward.

I'm sorry. Would we be able to take a moment to discuss 6.14? 6.14.

And this is the approved city commission reports for the month of February 2026? For clarity? No, no, no.

The update of staff actions related to Chromium 6.

Okay. Oh, 1.4. My apologies. Yes, absolutely. We'll go ahead and pull that. Thank you. All right. So item 6.14 will be pulled from the consent calendar for further discussion. Do we have any additional items to be pulled from the consent calendar? All right. Seeing none, To be pulled from the consent calendar, do I have a motion to approve consent calendar items 6.1 to 6.15 with the exception of 6.14? Subject move. All right. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

I'll second.

The motion has been seconded. It requires a roll call vote from the council. Mayor Pro Tem Roking?

Aye.

Council Member Mora?

Aye.

Council Member Romero?

Aye.

Council Member Hernandez?

Aye.

And your mayor votes aye. The motion to approve consent calendar items 6.1 to 6.15 with the exception of 6.14. Passes with a 5-0 vote. Sir, you can step to the podium and go ahead and answer questions on 6.14. It is now open.

Yeah, even just to touch on it, just an update. I know we discussed it briefly, not briefly, but it was a big portion of yesterday's meeting. If we'd be able to indulge a little bit deeper on that, as you know, it's a very important topic to the community in general, as it is with you guys. But if we could just take a moment and dive in on an update from staff. City Manager Yola.

IN PARTICULAR, MARCO, AN UPDATE AS IN WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS FOR CHROME 6 TREATMENT? CORRECT. OR WATER SUPPLY? CORRECT. SO THIS ITEM HERE IS JUST INFORMATIONAL. THE COUNCIL IS NOT TAKING ANY ACTION IN HOW WE'RE MOVING FORWARD. THIS IS MORE STAFF PROVIDED PROVIDE NOT ONLY COUNCIL, BUT BEING THAT IT'S IN THE COUNCIL AGENDA FOR THE REMAINING ASPECTS OF ALL OUR RESIDENTS HERE, REALLY WHERE WE ARE RIGHT NOW INTO ALL OUR RESEARCH AND LOOKING INTO THE POSSIBILITIES OF HOW WE WANT TO TREAT CHROME 6, THAT WE ARE UNDER A TIMELINE. Through the state division of drinking water so as you can see as part of the staff report it talks about different avenues in on one three of the bullet points I believe in page two of the staff report just talks the alternative one being a centralized reverse osmosis our treatment. Alternative two to be interim wellhead or centralized treatment with surface water treatment plan utilizing the California aqueduct. Alternative three, wellhead treatment or centralized treatment, surface water treatment utilizing other local surface water. So All these items, we know first that we're in the timeline for Chrome 6 treatments. We cannot delay. And we also know through the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act that we have to reduce our groundwater pumping by 20%. That we have a little more time as we're reducing our water pumping, but we know we're in a, and both were on a timeline, so now we're just trying to figure out what is the best approach. As of right now, a centralized treatment to supplement the reduction in water is the ideal. We have spoken with the state on the possibility of doing a surface water treatment, but that's about, a 10-year project to get on. The state has not given us a grace period to wait on that long, even though through this project we can have both the surface water plus the Chrome 6 treatment. So we need to move forward with the requirements that we have under the state, which is the Chrome 6 right now, and we're in a timeline. And that's what this staff report is identifying. We still haven't identified a specific route, but identifying routes on how we're going to get there to make sure that we're in compliance with the state.

Thank you.

Okay, great. Now I'm going to open up item 6.14 to public comment. Is there anyone present in the council chambers who wish to provide a public comment on 6.14? All right, seeing none. Madam Clerk, is there anyone online who wishes to provide a public comment on 6.14?

Just as a reminder, if you're joining us on Zoom and wish to make a comment, please use the raise hand feature. If you're calling in by phone, you may press star 9. We do have a couple comments. Bianca, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Yes, thank you. Once again, I'd like to just say thank you to the city of Patterson and the folks who are working directly with Chromium 6 issue here in Patterson and to make sure that we're addressing this in the most equitable way. I'm wondering if you have any other details or a meeting set aside for uh public input or just more information about this issue and how you think you're going to resolve this i know that the filtration systems in each and every home cost about 300 for people to add to their filters or to their home system plus installation costs i was wondering if the city has already ALSO CONSIDERED SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHERE YOU PROVIDE MEMBERS AN OPPORTUNITY TO GET A SOME TYPE OF REIMBURSEMENT OR AN INCENTIVE TO INSTALL A A PURIFYING SYSTEM IN THEIR HOME BUT I'D LIKE TO GET MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS THIS PLAN THANK YOU THANK YOU BIANCA I WILL ADD THAT WITH THE STATE REQUIREMENTS THAT WE HAVE WITH CHROME 6 ANY

HOME FILTRATION SYSTEM WOULD NOT MEET THE STATE REQUIREMENTS. WE AS THE WATER PROVIDER HAVE TO PROVIDE IT AT THE SUPPLY SOURCE, WHICH ON THIS POINT WILL BE AT THE WELL SITES AND OR IF IT'S A CENTRALIZED TREATMENT, BUT THE STATE, IF Residents were to get all the filtration systems at their house and and say it is successful where is doing its job we will be in violation with the state because one thing that the state can monitor is is each individual home that the state wants a a THE RESPONSIBILITY TO BE BY THE CITY AND NOT INDIVIDUAL HOMEOWNERS BECAUSE IF THAT CANNOT BE MONITORED LIKE IT CAN BE AS A CITY ASSET AT THE WELL HEAD OR AT A CENTRALIZED TREATMENT. We can't promote or we can promote filtration systems at each individual house, but we can't provide money because it doesn't help with our requirement of what we need to do with the states. It doesn't give us any leeway to do that because we still have to meet our requirement at our water source.

She is. She gave a thumbs up.

Oh, okay. We got your thumbs up.

We do have another comment. HP, you can go ahead and unmute yourself. HP, can you go ahead and unmute yourself?

Hello. Can you guys hear me?

We can now.

Okay. Yesterday, Ms. Encina stated that we would be having wellhead treatment. And is that different than what we just heard today?

It is not different. This item, what it's presenting, is the different options. And wellhead treatment is one of the options that and centralized is another option that we have so we we are not making or or insinuating anything different it's just the what this staff report identifies as information is the the different approaches that the city could pursue and before we move further into any specific item from the uh the treatment process that we are going to move forward with and dedicate on that we will have um further workshops and discussions with council on making sure that the the route that we go is the the most efficient and uh cost savings uh for the city and while we still meet the deadline requirements with the state

Mayor, we do also have Maria Encinas online who would like to provide some clarification. Maria, are you there? Maria, you're unmuted. You can go ahead and speak.

Hi, can you all hear me?

Yes, we can.

OK, good. Yes. Thank you, Fernando, Bianca, Marco, HP. I've been trying to unmute myself for about a minute now and raise my hand and I didn't know how. So thank you all. This item was placed on consent because it was for informational purposes only. At the time that we submitted it to the city clerk, the information was not substantial enough to warrant like a full staff report or a presentation. But I do want to mimic these type of reports with the timing of the tier two notifications that are sending the utility bill. I believe the public received one in the month of March. We weren't able to, on these notifications, we're not able to change a lot of the information. The only thing that we can change are the sampling dates, the sampling results, and maybe one or two lines of, you know, what we're currently working on. But so the intent is to every quarter or at least every quarter is provide the public an update while we're within the compliance plan. But yeah, as we discussed briefly last night, staff has been evaluating a lower cost alternative. We now understand what that direction and the potential benefits from that approach. So we're having our consultants kind of refine the technical details and we're putting together a package. We'll have to send that over to our consultants that are working on the water rates to evaluate what the financial impact is going to be to the public. But as of right now, yes, the city's groundwater still exceeds a Chrome 6 standard and SGMA or the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act is still gonna require the reduced pumping. So with this item, like Fernando said, there's not a recommendation that's being made and there's no fiscal impact. And as I mentioned yesterday, yes, we are going to be scheduling a workshop. Just need to get together with the city clerk and the city manager to see if we're going to place it on a regular meeting or if it's going to be kind of a special meeting that's dedicated just to this subject. And it's likely going to be the second option. But I can answer any other questions if anyone has any.

Thanks for the update, Marina.

Thanks.

There are no other questions, Mayor.

Okay. Well, seeing that there's no one else present in the Council Chambers or online who would provide a public comment on item 6.14, we will now close the public comment period and bring the item back to the Council for their direction and action. Do I have a motion to approve consent calendar item 6.14?

I'll motion.

Okay. A motion has been placed on the table. Do I have a second?

I'll second.

The motion has been seconded. It requires a roll call vote from the council. Mayor Pro Tem Roque?

Aye.

Council Member Mora?

Aye.

Council Member Romero?

Aye.

Council Member Hernandez?

Aye.

And your mayor votes aye. The motion to approve consent calendar item 6.14 passes with a 5-0 vote. Moving on to city council items. Council Member Hernandez?

I have no update right now. I do have a meeting tomorrow with the coalition and then next week with the Senesau's Homeless Alliance. Great.

Thank you very much, ma'am. Council Member Romero?

I have no updates. We haven't met yet.

Council Member Mora?

No updates at this time.

Mayor Pro Tem?

We are waiting on a full quorum to verify if they're going to be able to attend, to have a full quorum next week. That's what we're...

All right, and for the Stanislaus County Mayor's meeting last week, I met in Turlock with Mayor Bublak and other mayors of Stanislaus County. It was a great meeting, went over a range of topics, specifically the ones that we brought up was water treatment, which we talked about tonight, and response to unhoused in our communities. All right, moving on to other matters. Are there any other matters from the council? I do. Yes, sir.

I WOULD LIKE TO PUT THIS ON THE RECORD. WE DID HAVE LAST COUNCIL MEETING WHEN I ASKED OUR CITY MANAGER IF WE COULD AGENDIZE A THIRD-PARTY FACILITY STUDY ON OUR LEGAL SERVICES, IF WE COULD LOOK INTO IT AND MAYBE PUT IT FOR NEXT COUNCIL MEETING.

YES, WE WILL MAKE SURE THAT WE MOVE FORWARD ON THIS ITEM AS PREVIOUSLY DIRECTED. THANK YOU.

GREAT. ARE THERE ANY LAST THOUGHTS BEFORE WE ADJOURN THE MEETING?

None?

All right. With that, may the Lord protect our sheriffs, our firefighters, and all first responders. May the Lord bless you and your families, and may the Lord bless our beautiful city. This meeting is adjourned.