City Council - Regular Meeting

all right good evening everyone welcome to your patterson city council meeting tuesday april 21st 2026 report from closed session city council is returning from closed session providing the following report on liability claim government code section 54956.95 we voted 5-0 to deny the claim and direction has been provided to staff your city council now adjourned 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, and 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., or members of the public may watch on the Internet with an email link available on our City's website. Before we start our regular session, those in the audience who wish to do so, please stand and bow your head for our invocation. Dear Heavenly Father, we have once again gathered for our regular city council meeting, and we seek your face as we begin. We are thankful for your blessings on our city, thankful for the wonderful spirit present this past Saturday as hundreds of volunteers invested in our community. Thank you for those volunteers who organized the event. Thank you for the many who answered the call to action. We are grateful for the many projects completed. Thank you also for the beautiful weather and the refreshing rain. We seek your wisdom tonight for each decision that is made. May we be thoughtful, honest, and kind in our interaction. May we clearly see the best course of action. We would desire for you to be glorified in all that is done. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ, amen. Please remain standing as we call the meeting to order. Your Patterson City Council meeting will now come to order. Pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Statements of conflict. Are there any statements of conflict from the council members?

None.

And your mayor has no conflicts. Items from the public. This evening, I want to make a special notice due to the planned large volume of speakers. We are going to be adhering to the three-minute time limit. The city clerk will announce when you have 20 seconds remaining on that three-minute time limit. Okay? And that will apply to this and the agenda item that we have for tonight's meeting. 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 are joining the meeting through Zoom, please use the raised hand feature. If you are 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 the citizen will not complete their comments within a reasonable time, the Mayor requests their comments be completed at a later date. The 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 in no way be disruptive in nature. The Brown Act expressly authorizes the legislative body to remove from 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 to the podium.

Good evening.

I just want to say thank you for all the people that came out for Love Patterson Day on Saturday. It was a great event. It's the fourth out of the fifth one that I have been a part of. Myself and one other lady in the community, we actually painted a couple of little libraries in town. And I... I just want to bring up, I know this is more of a school board issue, but I believe it's a community issue also. We have a huge illiteracy rate, not only in our community, but in our state, and I feel that it would be helpful if we had more little libraries available throughout our community, possibly even one right outside City Hall, maybe at the fire stations, There are a few of us that have been trying to identify areas of need in the community where it would be great to have more little libraries. I know myself, my husband and I built one and put one in front of our home. And it's been great to see families sit on the curb and pull books out and read together. I would love to see more of that in our community because reading is going to help us. better our community most of there are so many people in our community that probably can't even read this agenda um so i would love to see more parents take an active role in reading with their children before they start school and continue that until they're you know middle school high school so that we have people that are able to be great participants in our community and um be able to excel once they finish high school. Thank you.

Thank you Yvonne.

All right. Hello, City Council. My name is Alyssa, and I reside here in Patterson. I have lived here my entire life. I served on the school board from 2015 to 2017, then in 2018 moved to Los Banos due to lack of affordable housing, and I just moved back in August. I want to start by acknowledging the joint statement issued by several council members regarding the fear and harm ICE activity is causing in our community. That acknowledgement matters, but right now it's not enough. Our community needs action. On September 7th, Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez was shot during an ICE operation here in Patterson. Since then, he has undergone multiple surgeries, medical neglect since discharge, and remains in federal custody as his case moves forward. There are also other members of our community currently being held in ICE detention centers. This is not an isolated incident. It's ongoing. We are asking this council to take clear, concrete steps to protect the people you represent. First, pass an ordinance prohibiting ICE from conducting operation on city-owned property. Second, direct the city to formally adopt or strengthen sanctuary policies aligned with the California Values Act. Third, require written reporting of any contact between local law enforcement and ICE so the public has transparency and accountability. Fourth, call for an independent third-party investigation into the actions of the Turlock Police Department related to the April 3rd traffic stop. There are clear discrepancies between official statements and video surveillance, and our community deserves an investigation that is not handled internally. Public trust is built on accountability. Many of us are aware that members of law enforcement leadership, including individuals now serving in elected office, have previously been named in civil rights litigation that resulted in taxpayer-funded settlements. Regardless of outcome, that history makes transparency and restraint even more critical today. And I want to end with this. You open every meeting with a prayer. So I ask you to reflect on the values you are invoking. In the Christian tradition, Jesus and his family fled violence and lived as refugees. If we claim those values, then we are called to protect the vulnerable, not contribute to systems that put them in harm's way. You have opportunity right now to act with courage and conscious, and we don't need more statements. We need policy. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else present in the council chambers? Yes, ma'am.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, city council members, city of Patterson residents. My name is Susan Sawyer. I live in Modesto, but I'm here in my role as the librarian and branch supervisor at the Patterson Library. This week is actually National Library Week. I don't know if anybody knew that, something the American Library Association has been doing every year since 1958. And the theme this year is Find Your Joy. So we'd like to invite people of Patterson to come to the library and find something that sparks joy for you. We have all kinds of regular books, audio books. We have e-books and e-audio books as well. We offer story times, activities for children, activities for older people. We've got all kinds of things going on there. So we'd love to have you come down and take a look at what we do. All of these services are made possible by the eighth of a percent sales tax that goes exclusively to library expenses. So next week, we're hosting our Dia de los Niños celebration on Wednesday, April 29th. It will be from 4 to 5.30. We'll have a bilingual story time, a performance by the Patterson High Folklorical Dancers. free books and refreshments while supplies last. We'll also have tables with crafts and activities and information about community services from groups like First 5 California, Invest in Me, and Office of Community Services. And then on May 13th, we're actually hosting an open house to celebrate our library's building's 50th anniversary. So it's turning 50, and it We're still plugging. We hope to do another 50 years. There will be a short presentation by the Friends of the Library and refreshments. The event will run from 3 to 5. Anybody here who would like to attend, we'd love to have you. So that would be wonderful. If you have any questions about our services or activities, please visit our website at stanlibrary.org or call 209- 892-6473 during our regular hours of operation. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Candace Lyrock, City of Patterson. I SEE ON THE AGENDA THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE ABS ON THE AGENDA, BUT IT'S NOT GOING TO BE VOTED ON AND OPEN FOR PUBLIC HEARING. DOES THAT MEAN THERE WON'T BE PUBLIC COMMENT?

THERE WILL BE PUBLIC COMMENT.

OKAY. THEN I WILL KEEP THIS UNRELATED. MY NAME IS CANDICE WIROCK. I'M FROM THE CITY OF PATTERSON. I HAVE WORKED DILIGENTLY for the last five years to support my community through insanely hard work that most people have no idea about. They don't see it on Instagram. They don't see it. I can't believe I'm crying. And watching all of the moving pieces come together on Saturday was pretty amazing to see every single individual from the city, from nonprofits, from sponsorships, from our team, which our team is growing because it takes a lot of people to do what Love Patterson does. And all the nonprofits, honestly, like people don't realize how many people it takes to put on Apricot Fiesta or, you know, any other event that happens in Patterson. But yeah, i guess i just wanted to take my three minutes to say like thanks for the the city's support of of such an amazing community event and thank you to every single person who came out and did any kind of project whether it was something fun like painting a pot or hard manual labor for five hours like we had people that were doing manual labor for five hours on saturday and i just It's just I just wish as a community we could focus more on those kinds of things like the positive and encourage one another to be there for one another. Help out your neighbor. And I cannot believe I'm crying. I mean, I'll probably cry later when we get into the ABS stuff. But when it comes to like giving of myself and giving of my time. I think I get so passionate about it because I work so hard to try and make Patterson better. So when I see someone either talking trash about that or actively working against people that are trying to do good in the community or trying to bring those people down, it really bothers me. No one in this town pays me. The only person that pays my bills is my husband. And so because of that, him and God are the only people I answer to. So I want to tell you guys that if it ever comes a point where what I try to do in the community, activism-wise involves or negatively impacts the other nonprofits I'm a part of, I will step down before I choose to not support my community. Thank you.

Three minutes, Mayor. I don't know how you're going to get me to do it. Good afternoon, everyone. Justin Farkas representing the Office of Assemblyman Juan Alaniz. First, I want to start by thanking everyone involved in putting together Love Patterson. This was our fourth time attending as an office and myself individually, and we had, as always, a fantastic time participating in that. I want to go over five very important bills today that we have passed over the last week into the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The first two deal with road safety. Assembly Bill 1814 establishes minimum training requirements for police officer training in identifying impaired drivers. Assembly Bill 2328 raises sentences for hit and runs resulting in severe injury by one year. Also, Assembly Bill 1612 in the realm of public safety establishes a statewide process to destroy evidence like narcotics. All those bills have been moved to the Assembly Appropriations Committee. We also have Assembly Bill 1765, which will expand the disabled veteran license plate program from 8,000 to 10,000 pound vehicles. That bill is also in the Assembly Bill. Appropriations Committee. And lastly, hot off the presses, Assembly Bill 2282 relevant to Del Porto Healthcare District and the establishment of an emergency stabilization facility here in the city of Patterson. That bill was passed today in the Assembly Health Committee. Even better news, the The chairwoman, Assemblywoman Mia Bonta, asked to be a co-author on that bill, which gives us really high hopes that we can see this bill progress in a much easier fashion than you typically would see from any legislator, let alone a Republican in the state of California. We're really excited about that. We're really hoping this is a major step forward as Del Porto Health Care District pursues the construction of their acute hospital here in town, which isn't expected for another 10 to 15 years. We think that this is going to be a major benefactor to the community. The last thing I wanted to announce is that this will be my last meeting representing the Office of Assemblyman Juan Alaniz. Unfortunately, you will be having one of the other three young ladies who represent our office incredibly well also, but I will be moving to a different office still within the assembly. up in Sacramento. So I want to thank everyone here in the city of Patterson for being as cordial and homely as you've always been, hospitable, and I don't fear you guys will still get, as far as I'm concerned, I know, an amazing service from the Assemblyman's office without me here. So thank you guys.

Hey, Justin. Justin. I want to tell everybody that's here today what an outstanding job Mr. Farkas has done for this community. in supporting us, in being there for us the entire time Juan Annalise has been our representative. I mean, just absolutely outstanding work. I really appreciate you. I'm going to personally miss you very, very much. I know everybody up here is going to miss you. Great job, buddy. And anything you ever need, please don't hesitate to give us a call and don't be a stranger, please. Thank you.

You're one of the good ones, buddy. I will say just real quick, it was a really hard decision to make to move on to a different office. And these meetings and the people in the city are very high on the list as to why that move is going to be so hard. So I still anticipate doing some work for the assemblymen, but it won't be as forward-facing capacity as I do now. So you guys will still hear some things from me, I'm sure.

I hope so. Round of applause for Mr. Parker. Is there anyone else present?

Hello. I wanted to speak here. This is my first time. Sorry, I am kind of nervous. But I wanted to speak to the mayor. I wanted to speak to Patterson. I wanted to see how we can get support. In the past weeks, ever since Carlos Hernandez was in an accident with ICE, A lot of family and friends have been in fear here in Patterson, and I don't think it's fair at all that they live in fear. My brother actually is a victim as well of ICE taking him with no answers and no questions. He is a resident. He's been a resident here in Patterson ever since 1993. And he has no criminal record, and he is being held in California City, as well as Carlos Hernandez. And we have not got no answers. He was taken from Patterson. We are all U.S. citizens here in Patterson, and we want answers. We want the city of Patterson to help us keep a lot more families safe. Right now, nobody feels safe, even if you're a U.S. citizen, even if you're a resident, even if you're an immigrant. Patterson is full with a lot of people who have lived here for a very long time, and we aren't getting answers as we want or deserve. We want the support of Patterson. It's very unfortunate that ICE is still coming to Patterson and the residents are not being told that they're here. They have to live in fear. They have to stay at home living in fear, not going to work to pay their bills. And unfortunately, this is a lot of families who are scared to even take their kids to school. Hopefully, Patterson can make a change of that. Thank you guys for your time.

Good evening. My name is Sanjay, and I'm an activist with the organization Dare to Struggle, and I'm here to talk about Carlos Mendoza. Two weeks ago, Carlos Mendoza was shot seven times by ICE agents. Afterwards, they left him lying on the side of the road for 30 minutes naked. That is what they did to Carlos. And throughout the whole week after that, they shuttled him around four different county jails across the state of California while he is recovering from seven gunshot wounds. We need to name things what they are. This was an attempted murder on Carlos. He did the right thing by trying to evade masked agents gunning him down on the side of the road as he was driving to work. And the fucked up thing about this is that the federal prosecutors are trying to say that he weaponized his car to assault federal officers. They're getting the whole story twisted up. They tried to murder him that morning, and they tried to murder him since then. And we're here to call bullshit on that. As leaders, you need to act. We have four demands today. for justice for Carlos Mendoza. We need to know the names of all the officers involved at the scene of the shooting. We need to identify them and they need to be fired and they need to be charged and prosecuted for attempted murder because that is what happened. And then we demand that the federal prosecutors drop the charges of federal assault. As leaders of Patterson where this happened, you need to speak up. You need to add your voice to these demands to make sure that they happen. And this comes at a moment when mass defiance in this country in response to the killing of Rene Good and Alex Priddy has slowed down because the federal government understands that they cannot go around and kill people in the streets in broad daylight because people will stand up and fight back. And so they're trying to go back to the quiet deportation machine. They're trying to go back to the brutality behind closed walls. And we're here to pierce the veil of normalcy. We're here to say that that's bullshit and we don't want things to be swept under the rug because every six days this year somebody has been killed in an ICE detention facility across the country. Just last week on Friday in Pennsylvania, a hundred people stood up in a hunger strike because of the fucked up conditions that they have to live through in an ICE detention facility there. And what the feds are trying to do, they're trying to kill Carlos behind closed walls. They're trying to kill him in silence. They're trying to make sure that nobody knows his name. They're trying to make sure that the stories come out of the valley in California. And we refuse to let that happen. People in this room need to stand up for Carlos and need to take to the streets and demand justice for Carlos. Justice for Carlos.

Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Cindy. I'm Carlos Mendoza's fiance. First of all, thanks for the opportunity to be here today. I've been looking for these opportunities in first aid situation happen or tragedy happen to my family. My only ask is I need your support. I know you guys in charge of Paterson City. I was expecting a call from you guys since the first day, something that never happened. I'm here today because I really need your help. There's so many things going on since the first day of the situation happening in Turlock, and suddenly the answers are showing up by themselves. These people, the ones that started pointing finger on him, they were the ones already showing up, right? We're just collecting the data together for us to be able to present later on to the judge. But I think the biggest ask for myself right now is we need your help to protect him. Because as the other person shared earlier, he's been transferred from many different facilities since the first day that he was removed from hospital. And there were days that I didn't even know where he was. I literally was bugging people for me to get answers. There were hours, even six, seven, eight hours during the day that I didn't even know where he was. Until someone reached out to us and said, oh, he's here. There's lack of communication, lack of transparency, as you guys already know. Since the first day the government came out, FBI came out to give the announcement about the shooting, they labeled him as something. Later on, they changed the story. Even after court, on the document that the court provided to us, now they are telling us that they were looking for him because he was an illegal. The story completely changed. Now I need your support again, you guys. And this is for a reason. For you to protect the community. For you to really take care of us. I'm not asking for more. I'm just asking for your support. For you to raise your voice and ask for those answers that we've been looking for since the beginning. I do have my daughter. She's going to turn three years in June. She's been asking for that. She used to be a very happy baby. Right now she's crying. She thinks that I'm going to leave her also. My family, we are in fear too. I have heard so many bad comments from partisan community. I don't say everybody because I know there's also people supporting us. But I think the biggest support is from you guys. For you guys to change the way police or immigration people treating our community or Hispanic community. I have seen so many different cases since the first day situation happened. I look into the social media.

I'm not the only one.

There's so many people going through the same thing. And the reason why I'm speaking up, because I want to be a voice for them. There's people that they don't even have an immigration status. That's why they are so fear. But I'm going to fight until the last moment, because I believe in Carlos, and I know he's a good person. And don't forget, he's a human, regardless of the status, regardless of the color of his skin.

Thank you. Is there anyone else? Yeah. Come forward.

Hi, everyone. My name is Nat, and I'm here in support of the family of Carlos Mendoza, who was shot and almost killed by ICE agents on April 7th. As you heard, Carlos is currently in the California City detention facility. Instead of recovering from his seven gunshot wounds in the ICU or at home with his family, Carlos is facing extreme medical neglect. We learned yesterday in court that his wound dressings haven't been changed since Wednesday, and he's only been offered two ibuprofen pills a day to manage what is surely unbearable pain. So what are we all doing here? Going to community events, sitting front row, making vague ass statements that don't change anything. Your job as people who supposedly care about this community, who supposedly care about your constituents, is to stick out your neck for them. It's not to put out a statement on social media and pat yourself on the back and think that you're just done. It's not to just show up to an event and say hello to the family once and think that that's enough. You all know better than your residents, in theory, what the levers of power are in Patterson, in your county, beyond that. And so as politicians, you can push on those levers of power. You could call up the Attorney General of California tomorrow who has the power to make change on this case and say something. You could say, hey, I'm the mayor of Patterson, California, and one of my residents was shot and almost killed by ICE agents, and I give a fuck about that. Instead, all we get is vague statements. All we get is moving on after less than a week and doing nothing. You've heard from two residents in the last 10 minutes that their loved ones are inside of the California City detention facility. People get disappeared there. People die there. And so to everyone in this room, You need to hold these people to account. They need to stick out their necks for you. They're here for you. They're here to serve you, not their own interests, not their own reelection campaigns. And everyone in this room needs to stand up and defend Carlos, defend his reputation as he's getting sneered by the FBI. We've seen this in other cases, too. In Chicago, Marimar Martinez was shot and almost killed by ICE agents last year. And they waged a relentless campaign against her to call her a domestic terrorist, to say that she deserved to get shot. And they're doing the same to Carlos right now. We need to take every opportunity as the people, as people of Patterson, as city council members, of anyone who cares about ICE terror and wants it to end.

20 seconds.

To say that that's enough. Carlos needs to be defended. Everyone in this room should show up to Carlos's next court date on May 5th in Sacramento. This is one of our people. And every single time our people are under attack, we need to be out in the streets demanding justice for them, bringing forward the demands of the family, and getting these ICE agents behind bars where they belong. Justice for Carlos.

Thank you. Is there anyone else present in the council chambers who wishes to provide a public comment? Yes, ma'am.

Excuse me for the wait. My name is Tracy Gonzalez. Can you hear me? My name is Tracy Gonzalez, and I'm from the Bay Area. I know these two people, him and her. We're from the Bay Area. We drove two hours to come here to support Carlos. It's not right what they're doing to Carlos. Carlos is a son, a husband, a father. What do you call them? Community? You know what I mean? I can't think of it. Community member. There you go. Sorry. I'm a mother. My son was killed by cops. almost eight years ago. And these two people from Dare to Struggle, they're serious about what they're here for. They're serious about getting the community together to help Carlos. They called me out of the blue one day almost a year ago and talked about it. They read there was a story about my son. He was part of an investigation. They didn't do anything. They didn't mess with the cops because cops are always protected. They need to get our children's justice. I needed justice for my son. And now I think I figured out a way to get justice for my son is to fight for other sons and try to get a community together. When we come out here, we come out here for you. I mean, for Carlos. So you can hear us and hear that we're serious. Sorry about the presentations, but they're just very invested in what they do. I'm 60 years old driving around with them. I'm shotgun caller. But, yeah, I believe in them, and I see what they're doing. They're making a difference in their cause. They try to juggle different causes, I may add, but now they're sticking to just a few that they can handle. You can't handle every map, every city of the map. You can't. But people, the community can't. The community depends on you to help them, to be out there, to speak with them, to stand with them, unite with his fiancée. Bring that father back to her daughter. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, bring that father back to that daughter. Look at this picture. He's playing with his daughter. This is a long thing to read. I don't have my glasses, so I'm speaking. This is my first time speaking out. And I believe in Carlos. I believe in his, him getting out of jail, out of a prison. And I'm sorry for speaking over, speaking within the time frame. But yeah, if you can listen, I'd appreciate it.

Hear, not just listen.

Hear what we're saying. Hear what all these people are saying. I see a lot of young people here. Stand up and fight. Fight for a community member. It could be your brother, your son, your husband, your father. This is terrible what ICE is doing.

I appreciate your words, ma'am, but I'm going to have to ask you something.

Thank you. I'm sorry.

No problem. Thank you. All right, anybody else present in the council chamber who wishes to provide a public comment? Yes, ma'am.

Good evening, Paterson City Council. My name is Ann Marie Salgado. I am a concerned community member. I am from Modesto, but I work in Paterson here at after school programs in elementary schools and middle schools. I am also coming to show my solidarity with Carlos Mendoza and his family and to ask City Council to use whatever power they have to hold ICE and the Turlock Police Department accountable. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security has a documented history, especially since the election of Trump and with his administration in power. They have a history of targeting vulnerable individuals, especially undocumented migrants and their families, as we have seen. Right now in L.A., ICE is going to elementary schools and detaining undocumented parents when they pick up their children from school. Community members who observe ICE facilities and help people accompany them to their appointments have reported people being illegally detained weekly, if not daily. You may have seen the image of the little boy with a blue bunny hat, Liam Cornejo Ramos, who was kidnapped by ICE and used to lure his father, Alexander Cornejo Arias, into custody, and they were both detained for weeks. Carlos has a son, Cindy and Carlos, sorry. They have a two-year-old daughter, who's almost three, who will likely eventually go to school here. This is not something that's happening somewhere else. It's happening here. It's happening here. It's happening in Modesto. It's happening in Stockton. It's happening in Sacramento. I fear that the kids that I work with, especially since I work at a migrant school, the one in Wesley, Grayson Elementary, I fear that the kids that I work with one day will have one or both of their parents simply disappeared. And I know I'm not alone in this fear. I would like to thank the acknowledgement from the city council, but I would like to uplift the concrete actions that you could take that were presented by another community member. So I'll uplift the demands of first, passing an ordinance prohibiting ICE from conducting operations on city-owned property. Second, directing the city to formally adopt or strengthen sanctuary policies aligned with the California Values Act. Third, require written reporting of any contact between local law enforcement and ICE so the public has transparency and accountability. And fourth, call for an independent third-party investigation into the actions of the Turlock Police Department related to the traffic stop that Carlos Mendoza faced on April 3rd. It's suspected that TPD deputy tipped off ICE with Carlos' information gained from the traffic stop. And while TPD denies it, no actions have been taken to hold them accountable. Thank you for your time.

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. And we do have a couple comments. Jerrine, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Yes, can you hear me? Yes. Yes. My name is Jaron Scenario. I spent eight years representing Patterson in county and statewide competitions and conferences. I'm here to demand justice, accountability, and transparency for Carlos Mendoza. He is a father, a fiance, a community member, and a human. He has been accused of violence and crime with no evidence. The charges against him should be dropped. He has been shot seven times and is facing medical neglect. Patterson needs to call for an independent investigation into Turlock PD. The city council should follow the footsteps of San Francisco, San Jose, and Alameda County in establishing ICE-free zone resolutions. One, ICE shouldn't be allowed to use Patterson property for operations and surveillance. Two, city attorneys should be allowed to bring civil action against entities that use city property for unlawful or unauthorized purposes. Three, city officials should not be able to authorize the use of public property that would disrupt city operations or discourage access to city services. Additionally, the ICE agents responsible should be identified, charged, and prosecuted for their attempted murder. The city council needs to use their voice to free Carlos Mendoza. Justice for Carlos Mendoza. Thank you.

Thank you.

Bianca, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Good evening. Can you hear me? Yes.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and council members and to the public. My name is Bianca Lopez. I am a community member resident of Stanislaus County. I'm here also in support of the demands that have already been expressed on the floor. In addition to, I'd like to add a couple of other suggestions for how the city can build trust. Trust and transparency and accountability is key for community members who are looking to Patterson leadership. Because when federal agencies act in our communities without oversight, when narratives shift, and when residents are left injured and criminalized trust is broken and it's your responsibility as city leadership to respond i'm asking the city of patterson to take a clear stand and demand the immediate release of all bad body cameras sorry body camera footage and in any video evidence related to the shooting demand the identification of every ice agent involved and call for an independent investigation that does not rely solely on federal agencies policing themselves accountability doesn't stop with ice the city must also look inward we need a civilian review board to ensure that any law enforcement operating in or alongside this city is held accountable to the people and this is not the first time that the community has asked for a civilian review board we need clear policies and training to ensure full compliance with California Senate bill SB 54 so that local resources are not used to support harmful federal actions, and we need leadership that prioritizes community safety, not silence. Because safety is not built through fear, secrecy, or excessive force. Safety is built through transparency, accountability, and trust. And right now, our community is watching to see if you will lead, or if you will just stay silent, or maybe only put your name on a public comment. I urge you to stand with the residents and demand the truth. Silence is consent. Justice delayed is justice denied. And it's time for the city of Patterson to act and to build trust. And you can do that right here in Patterson with your own police department within the city. What kind of support systems have you already created for communities who have been threatened and have been scared to even go outside and go shopping. What kind of help have you offered Cindy that she doesn't have to worry about her child or her children when they go to school? Signing your name is the least that you can do. Do better. We're counting on it.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, is there anyone else online who wishes to write a public comment?

We do have Marcus. You can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes, sir. Okay. I just would like to echo all of the all of the statements made by everyone here, uh, in support of Carlos Mendoza tonight, um, especially his fiance, Cindy, um, they have been terrorized. Um, the, the, the situation is, is pretty, pretty sketchy. There's witness testimony that says that ice agents fired at Carlos before he pulled away. Um, We're just really scared that there's going to be absolutely no justice in this situation. And I do think that the Patterson City Council absolutely can do something to help. One thing that I've heard a lot in other city council meetings used as an excuse is just basically, oh, that's outside of our jurisdiction or what have you. I definitely agree with all of the demands. Patterson needs to make Patterson safe. Additionally, there's no reason why you guys can't be getting on the phone with Rob Bonta and doing everything you can. You are elected officials and you have influence. Specifically, I would beg you to please call for an independent investigation into the Turlock Police Department's involvement in this situation. There is very, very strong evidence pointing to either collusion, like either the department intentionally notifying ICE or something very similar to that. But there have been statements made by someone who may be associated with law enforcement. This individual made remarks on social media and had knowledge of the traffic stop when Carlos was pulled over in Turlock four days, I think, before... his attempted murder by ICE agents. You can do something, and you should. The police chief in Turlock contradicted himself repeatedly last week when questioned about the situation, and he said that there was an investigation, a thorough investigation, and he knows for a fact that that nobody in his department had anything to do with contacting ICE or anything. But he also, in that same conversation... stated that he didn't even know about it. He didn't make any sense at all. And, I mean, that's good enough, like, indication right there that something should be looked into. I mean, that's just common sense. So I'm begging you guys to not only represent the interests of Patterson residents and residents of Stanislaus County and your neighbors anywhere who are human beings, I beg you to not only stand up... I beg you to not only stand up for them if they agree with you ideologically and politically. I beg you to just do your job. And as a human being, go beyond and don't make excuses and do everything you can. And especially, you know, within the authorities that you have, call for an independent investigation into TPD and... grant all of the demands that have been requested tonight related to making Patterson safe from fascist killers. Pattersonians deserve it.

Thank you. Is there anyone else online, Madam Clerk?

We do have another person. Griselda, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Griselda Rojas and I'm speaking on behalf of Faith in the Valley. We are here in support of Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez and his family and in support of every Patterson resident who deserves to feel safe, seen, and protected in their own community. Regardless of immigration status, every person deserves dignity, due process, and humane treatment. And moments like these show why cities need a strong local crisis response plan rooted in community care. We want to urge the City of Paterson to work with trusted organizations like Faith in the Valley, churches, legal service providers, mental health partners, and community groups that can create a response system when traumatic incidents happen. This can include rapid communication to residents with accurate information, family support and resource navigation, mental health and trauma care, know your rights education, coordination with schools and faith communities, and clear pathways for community concerns to be heard and followed up with an action plan. When communities experience trauma, silence creates fear. Partnership creates healing. Patterson has the opportunity to lead by showing that when residents are in crisis, the city does not only respond with statements, but with compassion, coordination, and action. We stand with Carlos and his loved ones and with all the families impacted by fear. We're ready to partner in building a safer and more humane response for this city and want to remind folks of all residents in the city of Patterson and San Islas County have access to our Valley Watch Network where we can provide this additional support. Our hotline number is 559-201-0151. Thank you.

THANK YOU. ANYBODY ELSE ONLINE?

NO OTHER COMMENTS, MAYOR.

OKAY.

I'LL GO AHEAD AND LET YOU PROVIDE A PUBLIC COMMENT, BUT YOU WEREN'T HERE WHEN I GAVE THE ADVISEMENT EARLIER. WE HAVE TO STICK TO THE THREE MINUTE TIME LIMIT. SHE'S GOING TO GIVE YOU A 20 SECOND OUT WARNING THAT YOU HAVE THAT TIME REMAINING. GO AHEAD.

Marco Almada, City of Patterson. I wasn't prepared to speak today, nor was I planning on it. If anything, I was planning not to speak. I feel like I come up here and I talk a lot. What I've been hearing is valid concerns, valid requests, passion, all justifiable. One thing that I... FROM BEING LIVING HERE SEVEN YEARS BUT TRULY NOT FEELING INVOLVED AND PART OF THE COMMUNITY ONLY ABOUT A YEAR AGO WHEN I DECIDED TO COME AND BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY, ATTEND THESE MEETINGS. AND I COULD SAY, I'M CREEPING UP ON A YEAR, THAT I'VE BEEN TO EVERY SINGLE COUNCIL MEETING SINCE. AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS. AND MAYBE I'VE BEEN TO A COUPLE OTHER ONES TOO. One thing that I simply can't agree with, I could agree with nearly everything that was said today, but one thing I cannot agree with is implying that you guys or you guys are not doing your job. And that is not because of a statement, and it's not because of anything I've even seen in the council, in this council room. It's because when I go out into the community, if it's Love Patterson event, National Night Out, a ribbon cutting, I see nearly everybody here. I recall when we got the horrible news that Grocery Outlet was closing, nearly everybody showed up. City staff showed up. City staff showed up. And they're not elected officials. And they have many important things to do. I truly believe that multiple things could be true at the same time. That we could utilize your guys' support. That you guys are in positions of power. You guys know more people than we know that are in positions of power that may be able to make stronger demands. But it could also be true that you guys have been doing a damn good job. And I feel the need to say that because that's not something that we're going to see on social media. And I know you guys are in a weird spot, a very odd spot, to take on a very big problem in this nation. And we are asking a lot. The community is asking a lot and looking at you five a lot to almost fix it or something adjacent to that. And I can't find that to be fair. Can we use your support? 100%. Was I moved by the family speaking 100%? I don't speak of this or lean on this much. 20 seconds. I don't speak or lean on this much, but my father was an immigrant. My father did not become a legal citizen until I was born, 1996. 1996. And I know that many of us come from different cultures, majority Hispanic. And I know my neighbors come from different cultures, not Hispanic, that are in fair as well. And I'm going over, but I just want to end it on this. Yes, I empathize that we can use the support of everybody in this room because it's going to take everybody to even make a dent on this issue. But you guys, everybody that I'm looking at right now has been doing a damn good job, and I appreciate you.

Ma'am, I can't have you speaking out like that. I appreciate the passion very much, but you cannot speak out like that. Thank you. Go ahead, sir.

Thank you. Well, first of all, Mayor, I just want to say thank you for the fair warning. And I also just want to say good evening and thank you to all the city council for just this opportunity to speak. I just want to briefly apologize for arriving late. I was just in Modesto attending the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors meeting to speak on issues related to Del Porto Canyon. My name is Seve Toscano, and I'm a resident of Patterson. I'm here today because I care deeply about truth, transparency, and the safety of our community. I want to be clear from the beginning. I'm not here to determine guilt or innocence. I'm here to make sure our community has access to the full truth of what happened. In the days since the incident involving Carlos Mendoza near Interstate 5 and Del Porto Canyon Road, more information has come out, including federal charges being filed. But even with that, there are still serious gaps in clarity and communication, and that uncertainty is exactly the issue. Because charges reflected allegation based on probable cause, not a complete moment-by-moment public accounting of what occurred, including whether the use of force was justified, this is exactly why transparency is more important now, not less. When something this serious happens in our community, people deserve clear, verified information, not assumptions, not speculation, and not silence. Because when there's a lack of transparency, it creates confusion, division, and a loss of trust. I understand that the city may not have direct authority over federal agencies, but the city does have a responsibility to advocate for its residents and push for accountability, including communication with state and federal partners when incidents like this occur. So my question is, what steps is the city taking to ensure that Patterson residents are informed, protected, and not left in the dark when federal enforcement activity occurs here? And more specifically, what efforts could be made to advocate for transparency, such as the timely release of all available footage records as legally possible, a thorough independent investigation with public findings, clear communication with the family and the legal counsel, and a public timeline of events so the community understands what actually happened. Because these are not extreme requests. These are basic expectations of transparency, due process and accountability. At the end of the day, this is about whether people in this community feel safe, informed and respected. And briefly, I also want to acknowledge that this occurred near Del Porto Canyon Road, an area being discussed for major changes. If we're talking about the future of that corridor, then safety, transparency, and community trust must remain at the center of those decisions. Transparency builds trust. Silence erodes it. In moments like this, the way institutions respond matters just as much as the incident itself. This community is paying attention, and it deserves clarity before conclusions. Thank you. God bless you all, and I apologize for going a little bit over the time. No problem. Thank you, sir.

Okay, one last opportunity to provide public comment, and then we're going to close. All right, seeing none, and since there's no one else online, we will now close the public comment period. All right, consent calendar. All items are approved by a single action. Any item may be removed from the consent calendar for separate discussion upon request from a member of the public, staff, and or council member. Consent calendar items 5.1 to 5.7 are open for consideration for approval. Are there any items to be pulled for discussion by council members?

None.

None, you're right. Any items to be pulled for discussion by staff or members of the public? All right, seeing none, do I have a motion to approve consent calendar items 5.1 to 5.7?

All motion.

All right, we have a motion. Do we have a second?

I'll second.

The motion has been seconded and 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.

Your Mayor votes aye. The motion to approve consent calendar items 5.1 to 5.7 passes with a 5-0 vote. Presentation. Energy Efficiency Project Update. Staff report. I'll hand it off to the City Manager. You can pass it off to the staff.

Thank you, Mayor. Tonight we have a brief presentation discussing the ABS energy project. In moving forward with staff, I would hand it over to Deputy Director Wil Barrera and Water Resource Manager Murray Encinas.

Thank you. Mayor, City Council, City Staff, Patterson residents, my name is Wil Barrera. My colleague Maria Encina and I will be providing an update on the proposed energy efficiency project, also known as the ABS project. This presentation will not only walk through the project scope, timeline, key considerations, but also provide context on what and how staff is recommending to move forward. The goal of this presentation is to ensure transparency, and provide a clear understanding of where the project stands today. First, I'm going to review the project details. The proposed energy efficiency or renewable energy project was proposed at 10 city facilities. These facilities were CITY HALL BUILDING, OUR FIRE STATION NUMBER 1, OUR FIRE STATION NUMBER 2, OUR OLD CORPORATION YARD LOCATED ON 420 SOUTH 4TH STREET, WELL NUMBER 8, WELL NUMBER 9, WELL 11, OUR WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY. THIS PROJECT DETAIL INCLUDED NEW SOLAR SYSTEM UPGRADES. AVHC replacements, upgraded LED lighting, controls that are involved with the lighting systems, roof replacements, and solar inverter upgrades. The estimated project cost was $4.8 million, and over the 20-year period with interest was equivalent to $9.5 million. PROPOSED AT A 20 LEASE FINANCING AGREEMENT, UNDER GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 4217, PROJECT SAVINGS WOULD NEED TO OFFSET THE PROJECT COST OVER THE LIFE OF THE AGREEMENT. SO OUR PROJECT TIMELINE IS AS FOLLOWED. JANUARY OF 2024, WE MET. ABS REACHED OUT TO US JUST TO TALK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT THEY OFFERED AND THE SERVICES THAT THEY WOULD BE PROVIDING. Mid to late 2024, the initial meetings with ABS took place, began the feasibility study, and reviewed to discuss the potential project scope. December of 2024, we executed a letter of authorization. What this means is providing all the information necessary so they can conduct their survey and provide an assessment. January through May of 2025. Kickoff meeting and site visits to review facilities and data collection. So what this was is we walked through all of the locations that I mentioned earlier to review all of the scope that I also mentioned, lighting upgrades, AVHC, old roofing conditions, just to provide additional scope of what we're going to move forward on doing. November of 2025. We refined the scope, the cost, and financial assumptions based on completion and other things we had to consider. In December of 2025, we detailed review of the project assumptions, financing, and legal requirements, which were also important to make sure we gathered all the information. January through February of 2026, We did some additional due diligence due to the fact there was other considerations we had to take due to water treatment options and other things of that nature. What is Government Code 4217? This allows public agencies to complete energy efficiency and renewable energy projects without traditional competitive bidding programs. Intended projects for our future energy savings will pay for the cost of improvements. Requirements of Government Code 4217. Hold public hearings with at least two weeks' notice. City Council must find that the projected energy savings will equal or exceed project costs over the life of the project. If findings cannot be made, projects should not proceed under Code 4217.

Thanks Will.

So one of the factors that was influencing our decision on not to move forward is the potential of conflicts at some of our, some of the proposed sites. First, the city's evaluating treatment options. So over the last 18 months or so, the city's been actively evaluating different Chrome 6 treatment options for some of our sites. We've looked at both centralized wellhead treatment approaches, and more recently, the analysis has pointed us towards wellhead treatment using temporary skid-mounted systems. More importantly, this approach is estimated to cost about $20 million less than originally anticipated for which is a huge benefit to the city. Second are the space requirements. So these systems require dedicated space at each well site that can be anywhere between 7,000 and 8,000 square feet. This is the same space that was being proposed for solar installation. And although so far this treatment appears to be the most feasible and cost effective, we will not be making a recommendation to the city council until we hold a public workshop and some of this information is vetted by the city council and then by the community. And because of this, it would be premature to move forward with any solar option or any construction of any kind at these sites. We need to figure out first what the treatment approach is going to be and how much space we're going to need, and then come back to explore different solar options at that point, once everything is clear. So another consideration that contributed to our decision not to move forward relates to the proposed improvements at the south array for the water quality control facility. Just some information on this site. This array was installed in 2013 as part of a larger effort that includes both solar and other energy efficiency projects across multiple city sites. The cost for this portion of the Chevron project was approximately 1.67 million. Total cost was 3.7 for both arrays at the water quality control facility. To make the project feasible, it was financed through a lease purchase agreement with a 16-year term. That means that the city has been making scheduled payments over time rather than paying the full cost up front. That agreement is set to expire on April 25th of 2029. Once the financing term is complete, the city will retain 100% of the energy savings generated by the system, which will provide ongoing financial benefit moving forward. this project was and and is still considered a long-term investment and we are now approaching the point where the city will begin to realize the full value of those savings one of the topics excuse me one of the topics that generated a lot of discussion during the town hall meeting a couple weeks ago was a condition of the central inverter for the solar array and whether it's currently functioning as intended As a reminder, the ABS project called for the removal of the central inverter and replacing it with multiple inverters. As of yesterday, the inverter was working and operational. However, since the last meeting, since the town hall meeting, we have experienced two more outages. The inverter is shutting down to protect itself because there is a problem within the system. Resetting it without fixing the cause, it puts the inverter and the system at risk every single time it's turned back on. So it keeps faulting, but the real issue needs to be found and repaired instead of repeatedly resetting it. There have been a couple of other outages since the system was installed in 2013. One outage was in 2022 that lasted six months. The issue was identified early, but due to delayed parts on backorder, that extended the outage. Another outage occurred in 2025, and that lasted about one month longer. Collectively, that represents about 13 to 14 months of downtime since the system was installed in 2013. The cost for this portion of the ABS project was just a little over $1 million, whereas the estimated cost to replace or rebuild the inverter is approximately $75,000. There would also likely be additional costs, such as replacing damaged panels, which are estimated to be about $35,000. Although the panels originally came with a 25-year product warranty, The manufacturer has not been responsive, but we are continuing to verify warranty coverage and confirm these costs. This slide compares the city's cost with and without solar over the period from 2017 to 2025. On the chart, the bars in red represent the cost without solar. This reflects what the city would have spent if it was fully relying on utility power over that time period. The bars in blue represent the cost with solar. What this shows is that over time, solar has provided measurable energy cost savings compared to a fully utility dependent scenario. However, it is also important to note that these savings are occurring within the context of an aging system that has experienced periods of downtime. So the city has a history of supporting and advancing energy efficiency projects that support long-term value to this community. In 2011, we worked on the energy efficiency block grant project where we retrofitted 145 streetlights with induction lamps. We retrofitted 140 traffic signal light bulbs to LEDs. We replaced three premium efficient well motors at a couple of well sites. Shortly after, between 2011 and 2013, we started working on the Chevron Energy Solutions Project. This is where we did interior and exterior lighting upgrades at the Senior and Aquatic Center, Fire Stations 1 and 2. the new corporation yard, and the water quality control facility. This is also where we installed those solar panels that was just shown earlier at multiple city sites. We installed those at the water quality control facility, the new corporation yard, and also the senior and aquatic facilities. And in addition to that, we installed the charging station, and we retrofitted 794 city-owned streetlights from sodium to LEDs. So what is staff doing next? In regards to any type of solar system project or how to manage these type of projects, the city is going to be taking several next steps. First, we're going to centralize coordination of energy-related projects or large projects like these through the city manager's office. This will ensure clear and consistent direction and coordination between all the relevant departments, including legal. Second, we will designate a single staff point of contact for these efforts. This is intended to streamline communication between staff, reduce any confusion, and provide clear oversight for both internal and external teams. Third, we will continue our ongoing work to assess water treatment options to ensure that we're selecting the right solution that's going to serve the city, both the short and long-term water needs of the community. Finally, we will continue evaluating the south solar array, including the current condition, inverter performance, and to better understand the system reliability and future investment needs. We will also make improvements to maximize its current performance. until the inverter can be included in the sewer capital improvement program. Additional efforts include updating the current maintenance and monitoring contract and deploying an SOP, a standard operating procedure, to ensure that all solar systems are regularly monitored and properly maintained. The overall goal is to maximize the performance of the existing system. I believe that these systems will improve coordination between the departments, especially when we take on projects like these while also helping to hold staff accountable for their day-to-day responsibilities. In closing, the city remains committed to transparency and to a thorough and diligent review process. While we support the advancement of energy efficiency projects that provide long-term value, this project is no longer being considered and does not align with the city's most immediate priorities. particularly our critical need to address water treatment infrastructure. Although the project presented potential benefits, the timing is not appropriate, giving competing demands on city resources. We will continue to evaluate similar opportunities in the future while ensuring that funds and resources are allocated responsibly, effectively, and with clear and measurable outcomes. This concludes our presentation. Do you want to add anything else? No? Okay. We can take on any questions that you may have.

What I'm going to do is open up the public hearing, and then I'll have them come forward and do a public comment. So, Candice, can you just hold just a second? Candice, just a second. City Manager Yola, do you have anything else to say on the presentation portion?

No, Mayor.

No? Okay. So I'm going to go ahead and move to item seven, public hearing. Notice this item was previously noticed as a public hearing for this meeting but will not be considered at this time. An opportunity for public comment will be provided, but this item has been removed from the agenda. The agenda item was energy efficiency and renewable energy contract with Alliance Building Solutions, LLC, ABS, and authorized execution of related agreements and financing pursuant to California Government Code Sections 4217.10. and 4217.18, and authorize the director of finance to appropriate funds as needed and carry out related expenses. We've heard the presentation, and now I will open it up to members of the council for any questions, comments, or concerns. Yes, thank you. I have a couple questions.

Just moving forward, if we can, in the future, just kind of clarify, you know, who would be the lead executive accountable for these projects like this? You know, usually from start to finish. just for me in the future, because we had a couple different people starting from one place to another due to this interim. This is just a suggestion in the future. Now, another question that I have is, at what point were this decision made? Who's going to be taking the lead role?

I can answer that. At this point, as the next project comes in, as Maria had mentioned, that we will be coordinated through the city manager's office. A key person that is going to be, I guess, directed to that, I have not identified, but there are... SEVERAL STAFF WITHIN THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE THAT I CAN MAKE SURE AND APPOINT OF THE DIRECTIVE OF ANY ENERGY EFFICIENT PROJECT. NOW, IT WILL BE THE POINT OF CONTACT FOR ALL THESE PROJECTS THAT MOVE FORWARD, BUT THE COORDINATION, THE WORKING WITH ANY POTENTIAL ENERGY VENDOR WILL BE THROUGH EACH DEPARTMENT, BUT ALL COMMUNICATIONS WILL LEAD BACK TO THAT LEAD PERSON AT THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE.

JUST TO CLARIFY, WHO'S GOING TO BE THE ONE TO BE AUTHORIZING THEM? IS IT GOING TO BE YOU OR IS IT GOING TO BE COMING FROM A PUBLIC DIRECTOR, THE DIRECTOR, JUST TO MAKE SURE MOVING FORWARD TO FIND THE PROPER CHANNELS FOR US TO JUST COME BACK AND GET SOME INFORMATION?

When you say to authorize, authorize what?

So pretty much who's going to be in charge of the project. For example, what we had here, we had three different interns. So when we had some questions, who would be the real main point of contact?

Because it went to a couple different... Whoever I select from the city manager's office would be the point of contact, and that person would be responsible to make sure it coordinates with all the departments.

Okay, so to answer my question, it would be you authorizing that, okay? The other question I have is, how is the staff direction coordinated to ensure alignment rather than conflicting guidance? You know, make sure we're all being aligned in the same way.

Well, I think it's important to understand that first and foremost, what's the city's priorities? In identifying the city's priorities, on where we are and where we're headed, it sets the, I guess, the direction on where we need to go. And then to identify if the projects are either conflicting with our city's priorities that we have moving forward or are they not, what is the benefit to the city and how does the energy savings or whatever new energy, what does it bring to the city without the cost of the city paying into it? Okay.

And going forward, how do we ensure that we have a clear point of accountability from beginning to end, to start?

I'M NOT SURE I UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION OF ACCOUNTABILITY.

WHEN A PROJECT GETS STARTED, WHO? MY QUESTION PRETTY MUCH IS WHEN I ADD A COUPLE QUESTIONS, I JUST WANT TO SEE WHO AM I GOING TO BE GETTING THE STRAIGHT ANSWERS FROM. BECAUSE BEFORE, WE HAVE SOME QUESTIONS TO SOME STAFF AND THEN I WOULD JUST GET THE FEEDBACK FROM YOU. BUT I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WHAT'S GOING TO BE THE POINT OF CONTACT DIRECTLY FROM US.

The point of contact on this would be either be myself if I'm the point of contact on the project or, like I said, through the city's manager's office, who I select on who's going to be the point of contact. That is where all the communications come through instead of a multiple. Because I do understand and I do apologize when there's not that point of contact in communicating with... several staff members. It could have that conflicting and or confusion on the direction and information, and having that one point of contact would make it much, much more clear, and we do apologize for the confusions that we've caused through that. Okay.

Now, just this last question I have. This decision that was made, it came at what level? Is it the staff level or executive level?

This was made at all levels, Councilmember. This was not just made by myself or by a certain staff member in Public Works or several. This was made through the consensus of what was our priority in our water treatment process that we need to be going for Chrome 6 directed why we needed to move forward on what we needed to do, how we needed to move forward on the ABS project.

And, you know, we've got the last question. I know it's pretty much done. So does the staff ever review the scope to eliminate the solar? Is there any options? You know, besides, I know it's a definitely no, but has the staff requested ABS to review the scope to eliminate the solar at the wells? Like, is there any way we could do something else? Or is it just we're done?

Any alternatives? We're not sure what the alternatives offer at this point. We know that the well safes can't be used. And as the water resource manager, Ms. Encinas, was discussing on also on the South Solar Array, We want to take advantage of gaining the full energy savings for the city by doing a capital project on that specific and fixing what's necessary. So I'm not sure where it lies, if there's still a project available. There can be, but without those items.

Now, last one. Has staff requested ABS to revise the scope, maybe to repair the south array versus just replace the inverter?

I can answer that. As far as I know, I don't believe we ever received an estimate to repair or if the request was ever made.

Okay. And just overall, right, just as me, my opinion is it would have been nice to kind of move forward. This is just my opinion. Maybe we would be able to receive some infrastructure, some improvements to our you know, to our city. You know, obviously, like you guys mentioned, some HVACs, some thermostat controls, new roofing in the city hall, fire stations, and, you know, possibly, you know, some rebates. But I understand this is just my opinion. It would have been nice just trying to get some incentives for our community that would have been a good offset, but that's just my opinion.

If I can respond to that.

Go ahead.

And you still can, Council Member Roque. You still can. We can package a project together, put it out for solicitation. As long as the funding's there, you can still do that.

Those are just pretty much my questions overall, just moving forward to kind of avoid, you know, certain information. But that's pretty much it. So thank you.

Yeah, Maria, the rebate's still available through the end of next year, correct?

Yeah, it's still available and the city would be applying for that rebate. So if we were to put like a solar anywhere else, we can still apply for that incentive.

Thank you. Great. Any other questions, comments, or concerns from the council members before we put it out? We're not going to present a statement tonight.

None for me.

No? None? Okay. We'll wait. Give us just one moment. All right. Since there's no more further comments from the council, we will now open it up to public comment. Does anybody have a public comment on item 7-1? Please state your name and city for the record.

Candace White Rock, this is one of those disclaimers that when I'm here speaking right now, I'm representing myself as a taxpaying citizen, a mother, a wife, and nothing more. Does anyone want to take this opportunity to tell me what has really been going on at the city, or are you guys just going to wait until I get all those emails from my public information request that I put in on April 6th and still haven't received yet? Like now would be a great time to just come clean because once I get those emails, if I see that there's anything nefarious going on, I promise it will be my life goal to bring that to light because something weird happened on that meeting in March. I watched our council member and our mayor get up and have a sidebar with our city attorney off camera when Stan Cogg was here presenting to all of you. You all should have been paying attention. And you guys got up and went and had a sidebar, which I kind of thought was weird. But I didn't think it was really weird until our city attorney tells us that, oh, we can't present on that item anymore. You know, we can't move forward with presenting on ABS because there's an issue with the HTML agenda. And then the following meeting, I was gaslit and lied to and told that it was the PDF agenda by our city attorney, told that it was our PDF agenda that was not complete. And that is not true. I just want to sit in that for two seconds, but I got to be quick. Who was in charge of public works when this project first came to light? Anyone want to raise their hands? Take the blame. Who was in charge? Anyone want to talk about it? Okay. Okay. So Assistant City Manager Mike Ouellette was in charge. How come we haven't heard anything from you about this? Like at all. I've heard nothing. Not one word. That was the first word you said over three meetings about ABS. Isn't that kind of strange? Okay. Let me move on. I've got to be quick. Okay. I would also like to say that Council Member Roque represents me, so when he asks those questions, I would appreciate it if you guys gave him the respect that you would give the community, because he's representing me and my district, because he is my council member. I would also like to ask for a couple apologies. First, I want an apology for the whole community, from the Public Works employees that tried to tell us over and over again at the last meeting that the inverter was not... the problem and that it was communication because I just heard tonight it is the inverter that's the problem so would you like to apologize for giving the community false information or no the information that we gave at the town hall meeting city council and today was accurate so there's nothing wrong with that inverter even though it's gone out no but William here can explain more can you wait to explain it because I you're only going to give me oh you're going to pause it yes thank you

Hi, Candice. Hi. So there's been several things that I believe is going on with it. The whole purpose of getting a true assessment done is to figure out what the actual issues are. We can assume it's the inverter, but we don't know that for sure until we have our actual assessment done based on doing load tests and actually running that thing under a current load. So I will say this. As I've been monitoring this very closely as of recently, The inverter has produced perfectly fine. Anytime there is a storm, rain, or a lot of moisture is when the inverter has been tripping out. So that leads me to believe a few different things. And again, I am not 100% sure this is my assumptions based on just being familiar with operations as long as I have. There is a ground fault somewhere that when moisture hits the system is causing that inverter to trip. When it dries out and I reset it, it'll produce completely fine like it has been for the last five days since our last rain event. So I cannot say for sure until we have our assessment done, which we're currently working on, that it is 100% the inverter. I'm not going to say it is not the inverter. Once our assessment is complete, I can better inform you at that point.

Okay, and is this something that used to happen when it was a brand new inverter, or is it pretty safe to just assume that maybe that's the problem?

It is definitely an assumption.

Okay. All right. The second apology I would like would be from the city attorney for lying to me at the last meeting and saying that, and you also let our city manager to believe some things, and then you also said to the community that only the HTML version of the agenda is accessible to those with hearing or vision impurities, and that's also not true. So would you just be able to own up to that and say, I'm sorry, I misspoke, or whatever it was that led you to tell me that at the last meeting?

Absolutely, Ms. Weyberg. I would be happy to address that. I don't believe that any information that we have provided was intentionally designed to mislead or confuse. Let's start with that. The information that we provided to the public on both occasions basically boiled down to there were inconsistencies in the agenda packet that were provided in the PDF version and the HTML version. You are correct. i confirm with staff that the pdf version was entirely intact at the beginning of the meeting or prior to the first meeting that the agenda was pulled from that wasn't the issue the issue is that the city posts an html link and a PDF. In order to be completely transparent and consistent, they have to match. All the information that's contained in both agenda packets have to match. And that wasn't the case. The HTML version was the version that did not have the complete information, not just on this ABS item, but also on I believe it was the consent calendar information that was missing from the HTML version. that didn't match the PDF version. So to your point, I was mistaken. The PDF version was complete. The issue was that it was inconsistent.

I understand the issue, but it was the fact that you came back after saying in one meeting that the issue was the HTML, which was not the legal issue. It was not a legal issue that was keeping us from moving forward. It was just a precautionary measure. because there were inconsistencies within the two. And then the very next meeting, you said, no, it was the HTML, or it was the PDF, it was the PDF. And I was like, you guys are not telling the truth from the last meeting. And you doubled down. So you could have avoided that entire paragraph you just stated and said, sorry.

So, again, it was not our staff's intention to provide misleading information. I'm not mad at staff. I'm talking to you. No, I understand that. And I really appreciate your candor on this.

Yeah, I'm being super transparent and probably way more aggressive than I ever would be because I watch shady things happen. And I have to trust that every one of you that's been elected to be up there and every one of you that's sitting over there are acting in the entire community's best interest not your own and to be honest i'm starting to think you want to get sued by abs because you get paid if we get sued and based on the amount of litigations that our city has has had now had to go to court to we're not winning these cases so it's not like we're going to court because hey we're doing the right thing we're going to court and we're losing so now i'm sitting here like When my council member was asking for some kind of report on our legal representation, I'm with him. And I think the entire community would want to see, are we getting accurate legal representation? Or do we have a legal representation that's going to confuse the public? Let's just confuse Candace so she'll sit down and be quiet. That's not going to happen. I'm not going away. Thank you.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

Greetings, everyone. I'm John DeMaio. I live in Alamo, but I'm the president of ABS. Good to see you all again. I'm trying to lighten the mood a little bit. One thing about Patterson, you guys are passionate, and I really am impressed by that and appreciate it. With respect to the project, I think there's a lot of focus on the well site solar and the south array. The project was a lot more than that. It's a project that pays for itself with savings. I think we've got to really focus on that concept. So, Will, and good job, by the way. When you mentioned that it was a 4.8 million with a 9.5 total cost, I think it was 8.1. But regardless, the point about the thing being paid for by savings is that 8.1, 9.5, that is money that is already being allocated and paid to TID. So it's not the 4.8 that's paid by savings. It's the 8.1, 9.5. It's the total cost of the project over time. So these capital improvements that we're talking about, forgetting about the solar at the well sites or the south array, there was a lot of other work that was included in this process, right? First and foremost, the scope of the project is set by the staff. It's not set by ABS. We worked for over a year with you guys, and we looked at far more scope than the 10 sites. We looked at all the parks. We looked at all the wells. The scope that was arrived at in December of 25, or October, was decided upon by staff, and it was whittled down from a larger pool. That was set for approval in December. It was set for approval again, the entire scope, in March, at the March 17th meeting. So here we are five weeks later, and we want to change the scope. That's fine. It happens all the time in this line of work. Late in the process, we added well eight. Now we want to take out well eight. We can do that, and the project still pays for itself if you take the well sites out, especially eight and nine, like we talked about at the town hall. The south solar array, we talked about the ability to be able to repair it, and staff recommended that we gave the alternative to modernize it. You guys said, let's do that. We went forward with that. We can scope it back and repair it the way you guys have decided you want to do it. Is it the best thing? It's the best thing because that's what you want. Is it the best thing from a purely solar technical perspective? It doesn't matter. It's what you guys want. So my point is, based on a conversation we had, and Fernando, I thank you for the time that you took to talk to our owner, Brad, We're already looking at descoping the project to take out the well sites, the solar, to revise the wastewater south to repair it versus replacing it with multiple inverters. But let's not forget, our project also includes lighting at eight sites, replacing antiquated HVAC equipment that's beyond its use for life at 13 sites, Controls, not just lighting controls, we're talking about thermostatic controls, which give you, and Will, I think you were pretty happy about that, gives you remote control of all of the thermostats throughout the city facilities.

Sir, can I have you start to wrap it up, please?

Additional solar at these other sites. So it's a much more comprehensive project. Point is, the city sets the scope. We respond, and we will readjust the scope of the project so that it still pays for itself with savings, and you're still eligible for about $350,000 worth of ITC federal rebate. It's still a great project for the city. So, again, we look forward to following up with you, Fernando, through your office. And, again, I think there will be something for the city to be proud of.

Yes, sir. Thank you very much.

Good evening. My name is Adrian Avila. Going back in my work history, I really had the responsibility at one time to be the NLS training coordinator for Lockheed Missile and Space Company to set up what they call the DOTS training program, which is Development of Technical Skills for the Air Force and the Navy. In that position, I had a $50 million budget, okay? And I was always told by the vice president of Lockheed, that's not my money. So be careful where it's spent, okay? I'd just like to say that none of the purchases or none of the facility changes were made in Sunnyvale at Lockheed Missile and Space, which is Lockheed Martin now. That was a 10-year training program being set up, and it was my responsibility to coordinate that program to oversee all the purchases and long-term planning that they have. And I'd just like to say that I had to mandatory get bids, three bids on anything that was over $50,000, no matter what it was. So this is a no-bid contract that we're talking about right here. And I just kind of feel that if you're going to be investing in, what, $9 million or $20 million long run, why are you not getting the second opinion? That's all.

Thank you. Is there anyone else present in the council chambers who wishes to provide a public comment on item 7-1? Seeing none, Madam Clerk, is there anyone online who wishes to provide a public comment?

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, Mayor. Yolanda, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Hi there. I was just wondering if staff can provide clarification to us on why or how it would not work with adding solar over the well sites because just the layman person like me thinks something, you know, like we have the solar parking lot, you know, infrastructure, why couldn't that be over the well sites so we could implement this?

I can answer that. Hi, Yolanda. So the skid-mounted treatment systems, they're pre-engineered modular units. They come either, like I mentioned earlier, 7,000 square feet, 8,000 square feet. These are tall vessels, 10 feet high, side-by-side. There might be six. There's also a bunch of equipment that goes with it. The only thing that can fit underneath the solar panel would maybe be a chlorination tank or But other than that, all the other vessels, everything has to be exposed to be able to be maintained properly.

Does that answer your question, Yolanda?

Oh, sorry. Yeah, that's fine. Thank you.

You're welcome. Do you have any other questions?

No, not at this time.

Okay. Thank you, Yolanda.

Kat, you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Okay, thank you. I would have joined you guys, but I became a foster mom today. So I want to follow up on statements made at Town Hall regarding the ABS and Chevron projects. During that meeting, Maria read from a presentation. I watched the video. She had created it, but did not share that presentation with the community. First off, that was unacceptable. THAT IS NOT THE FORMAT THAT HAPPENS AT CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS. THE ISSUE WITH THIS PROJECT IS THE ABS PROJECT FIXES ALL THE ISSUES WITH THE CHEVRON PROJECT WHICH BY DOING SO BRINGS TO LIGHT THAT CHEVRON PROJECT IS A FAILURE. THERE IS A SLIDE THAT WAS PRESENTED IN THE AGENDA. I WOULD HOPE THAT YOU GUYS CAN BRING THAT UP. THAT'S THE SLIDE THAT SHOWS THE COST TO THE CITY WITHOUT SOLAR AND THE COST WITHOUT If you want to bring it up, great. If not, I suggest that everybody takes a really good look at that one. However, it was stated that the Chevron project win in 2011, that this project would save over $6 million over 30 years and offset 90% of the city's annual electricity use. And in addition, provide positive cashflow and budget predictability. So if you don't pay attention to the reds and you just pay attention to the blues, the blues are what we're paying for our bill for this one single array. So if you look at 2017, which I don't know why we don't have the data from 2013 forward, but if that were the case, if it were to pay for 90%, that means that the utility bill for this array should be about $5,000. TID has not had a single increase in more than 10 years, not one. So those blues should all be the same all the way across. This array should only be costing us $5,000 every single month. So my question is, is this Chevron project actually on track to meet those goals? Because this graph shows one site and those numbers say it's absolutely a failure. And who on... The admin department that brought this project to the city is tracking to make sure that it is actually on track. Have the TIP bills from Account Stable been reviewed against those original promises over the last 10 years? This is not about since December.

20 seconds.

Okay, because based on what's been presented, the city continues to pay substantial electricity costs that should have been offset. We are now more than a decade into this project and it's clear the system has been undersized, poorly managed, and as our contract is open-ended with no guarantees around quality of service, there simply have not been enough panels installed to meet the targets. Why hasn't the admin department taken action over the years to correct this? Until recently, space constraints were never cited as an issue. So what prevented progress the last 10 years? Last year alone, the city paid approximately $407,000 in TID costs. How much of that was avoidable overspending tied to underperformance at sites?

Ma'am, I'm going to have to have you wrap it up. You're 30 seconds overtime.

Okay. So I guess my wrap-up would be we've been told to expect 1% annual solar degradation per year, but that blue bar shows way more than that. That blue bar says you have failing equipment, and it is costing our city thousands and thousands of dollars, and people are not being honest about it.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, is there anyone else online who wishes to provide a public comment on item 7-1?

There are no other comments, Mayor.

All right. So seeing there's no one else in the Council Chambers or online who wishes to provide a public comment on item 7-1, we will now close the public comment period and close the item. All right. City Council reports. Council Member Hernandez.

No reports at this moment.

All right. Council Member Romero.

Nothing to report.

Council Member Mora.

Not at this time.

Mayor Pro Tem.

I have nothing to report from EDAC, and I would like to apologize to Mayor Clauzel. I did not make it for the Stancock meeting last week.

No problem, sir. No problem at all. And then the Stanislaus County Mayor's Meeting is going to occur on May 15th. Other matters?

I just want to briefly follow up on a prior request I've made regarding the potential third-party review of our league organization structure. I appreciate the information that's been provided to us, and I want to clarify that my request has been focused on ensuring counsel the benefits of an independent objective analysis before making any long-term determinations. With that in mind, I would respectfully request that this item would be brought forward for a third-party review. feasibility review. My goal is to simply make sure we are making the most informed decision possible as a body. Thank you.

Anything else? No? Okay, sorry. Sounds good. Yes, ma'am.

First and foremost, I just want to thank everyone that was here speaking up for Carlos Mendoza-Hernandez. Cindy, thank you for being here. And I'm with you in spirit. Thank you for showing up. I myself was also an immigrant. I came here at four years old. So were my parents. So this topic is very dear to my heart. I have been in constant contact with Grisela from Faith in the Valley as well as with Patrick. I did request a special meeting, and I do call on my colleagues at City Council. We do need three meetings. EMAILS FOR A SPECIAL MEETING BECAUSE I DO FEEL THAT IT'S TIME FOR AN EMERGENCY PLAN AS WELL AS TO SPEAK ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED IN OUR TOWN. SO THANK YOU, GUYS, AND I FEEL LIKE THIS IS A HUGE MONSTER TO TAKE ON, RIGHT? AND MY HEART GOES OUT TO THE MANY PEOPLE THAT ARE BEING ATTACKED. So thank you, guys.

Thank you.

The only thing that I do want to add to that is that it is a very difficult time in our town, and regardless of where people feel at a political level, we need to remind ourselves that this is a community member and that the way that they were treated today was them, and tomorrow it could very much be us. We need to be comfortable. rallying and calling out the behaviors that are not okay and Whether or not we do it with name recognition or not I have been behind the scenes gathering information and not putting my name out there because at the end of the day I Care about my community members as a human. It's not about re-elections. It's not about getting back up here it's about making sure that our community is safe as someone whose parents came from Mexico and chasing the American dream. It is imperative that we take out the national level scrutiny and look at it from the fact that today it was them and tomorrow it could very much be us and we need to rally around that and support as much as possible even though at a federal level, our hands are tied out as a local, we can absolutely make sure to hold the bar and law enforcement and federal agencies should make sure that our rights are respected at all times. And today it was him and tomorrow it could very much be anybody else.

Thank you. Okay. I do want to provide a quick update on the Salado Creek bike trail because that has been an issue that has come up in social media. So I wanted to provide you guys a quick update as to where we're at with construction. So it continues to make steady progress. Over the past several weeks, the contractor has been installing irrigation lines related to equipment in the topside trail areas. And the undercrossing work is continually focused. on structural stabilization beneath the existing Sperry Avenue bridge, including rebar forming and concrete placement. The first section has already been poured, and the contractor is planning to continue this work in smaller five-foot sections as they move forward. As part of the undercrossing work for this project, the contractor is currently performing demolition activities beneath the existing structure. To safely proceed with this work, it was necessary to relieve live vehicular loads on the older bridge while demolition and construction are occurring below, which required the temporary closure of the inside travel lanes on Sperry Avenue. From an engineering and worker safety standpoint, maintaining these lane closures during this phase is critical to reduce structural loading and ensure the safety of both the construction crews and the traveling public. The traffic control currently in place is being implemented in accordance with an approved traffic control plan. The Salado Creek is classified as a protected waterway of the U.S. and has certain restrictions on CDFW permit for work performed in the creek. So concrete can't be poured five days prior to any rain event and 24 hours after any rain event. And this has been limited to what we complete the undercrossing work and extended our timeline. And we apologize for that. Weather permitting, traffic control will be removed hopefully within the next three weeks. timeline of the grant required this project to keep moving forward to hit the applicable deadlines so we we apologize for the delays in construction but we are moving forward and hopefully within the next month we'll have all those traffic controls removed and the last thing that i want to say is directly to cindy i absolutely positively have my entire heart go out to you with what's happened with you and your family And I want to let you know that just because you don't hear of things going on behind the scenes, it doesn't mean we're not working towards a resolution for Carlos's situation. And I continue to pray and have faith that this will end in a positive manner for you and the family. And I want to let you know that some of us have tried to reach out to you. I did, but the attorney wouldn't let me speak with you. So I don't know why Patrick didn't allow it at that time. So I just wanted to let you know from the bottom of my heart, feel free to reach out to me at any time, and I can give you as many updates as they'll let me. It is a federal case, and the U.S. Constitution, unfortunately, has a supremacy clause, and that means federal agents that operate in this city can do kind of what they want. But we're going to continue to work with our sheriffs and provide notifications when and where we can and keep you updated, okay? So please don't leave. I'm going to give you my card. We'll speak, ma'am. I just wanted to let you know that both my wife and I, our heart goes out to you and your family, okay? And I'm going to give you my card and the way you and I can be in communication moving forward.

All right?

Thank you, ma'am. I appreciate it. All right. Any last thoughts from the council before we close the meeting?

No?

All right. May the Lord bless our sheriffs, our firefighters, and all our first responders. May the Lord bless you, your families, and our beautiful city. I hope you have a wonderful night. This council meeting is adjourned.