City Council - Regular Meeting

welcome to the city council meeting for uh august 11th 2026 i'm mayor patricia lack dawson and i will call our meeting to order and today i will ask council member falcone please to lead us in the invocation thank you mayor please join me in prayer

Dear God, as we gather today, we pause to recognize a significant milestone in our community. It's the start of a new school year for many of Riverside's students, both in Alvert and Riverside Unified School Districts. We invoke a spirit of wisdom, patience, and dedication over our entire local educational system. May our educators and administrators be granted the energy and creativity needed to inspire the next generation of Riversiders. May our students encounter safe, welcoming environments that spark curiosity, promote lifelong learning, and build character. let us as this governing body in a community and as a community reaffirm our commitment to supporting our families teachers school staff and students may our decisions always mirror that dedication to the future of riverside we ask all this through your name amen can you please lead us in the pledge

All right and we will start our meeting as we always do with public comment and this is to comment on closed sessions consent calendar and any matters within the jurisdiction of the City Council.

Public comment is now open for this item, available in both English and Spanish. Call 951-826-8686 and follow the prompts to access the meeting in either language. To request to speak, press star nine. You can also join via Zoom. The meeting ID for both languages can be found on the agenda.

All right, thank you. We've got several requests to speak in chambers, so we'll start with those. Jessica Johnson. And folks, so you know, it's a three minutes time limit. So, Jessica, are you here? Okay, thank you. And after that, it's Rich Gardner and then Errol Kosiewicz. Welcome, Ms. Johnson. Thank you.

My name is Jessica Johnson, and I'm a Riverside resident who has been displaced from their home June of this year. I work part-time, take pride in what I do, and do everything to remain independent. I also live with a permanent disability that I'm still ongoing treatment. While living in my car, it aggravates my symptoms, and my treatment is ongoing, but it just doesn't help. Sorry, I'm a little nervous. Permanent affordable housing like University Terrace would give me the stability to protect my health, keep working, and rebuild my life without a temporary housing crisis becoming permanent. Hear us bring back University Terrace. I am a disabled mother, a homeless mother living in Riverside, and I am a tenant unit member as well.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Johnson. All right, I have Rich Gardner followed by Errol Kosiewicz. Welcome, Mr. Gardner.

Thank you honorable mayor lock Dawson. Good afternoon city council members and city staff rich Gardner live up in Ward 4. And I just want to take a minute to like so called us in because we have a new council member in Ward 6 congratulations Lewis and we obviously have an interim city manager and a new city attorney and I'm hoping that We can have open ears and more, I'm trying to figure out the right words for this because there's been, and I know you're on your second week here, Mr. Hatch, but there's been a lot of stepping over the Sunshine Act to get stuff done in the city. And the Sunshine Ordinance is there for a reason, it gives the public Basically your guys's boss the opportunity to look at items and vet them and you know formulate a plan to discuss things I mean we had the unmasking of ice thrown at us without In the sunshine ordinance we had and I believe Your appointment came with that, you know jumping over the sunshine ordinance, too But you know as we move forward as a city, I think it's important to respect the citizens and make sure that we have that opportunity and you know let's just try to stop doing it i know you can avoid the sunshine ordinance if there's an urgent matter unmasking ice was not urgent appointing an interim was not urgent so you know let's keep for what it's there for, which is really urgent matters to jump over the Sunshine Ordinance. Let the people of Riverside and you guys that have been up here a little while know that there's been a decrease in people coming out and speaking. I mean, I've seen it, everyone's seen it, so I got another minute. But I'm going to put out a call to arms for the citizens of Riverside to start looking at what's going on in our city, understand that we have a deficit that's like crazy. And Mayor Locke Dawson, you and I were campaigning at the same time when the budget was a big issue. And before you took office, they issued, what, $440 million worth of bonds to cover part of the pension debt. And we just don't talk about that. We don't talk about the fact that our city is broke. I mean, $440 million that has to be paid back, that's a healthy chunk of money that we need to look at and address before we start issuing $5 million more worth of bonds for this and $50 million worth of bonds for another thing. And we need to run our city like you would run your own household. So with that being said, everyone have a great day. You guys have a lot of people to listen to, so I'm going to step aside and let them talk. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Gardner. All right. I've got Errol Kosiewicz followed by Denise Stadelbacher and then Joanne Janus.

Can I use the overhead projector, guys? Thanks.

Boy, I miss coming up here, you guys.

Whew. Now under California Public Records Act, CPR, you're required to provide me the information that I've been asking for. You pick and choose what you want to answer to me. I've been asking the city clerk very nicely for certain Mmm, I'll say certain requirements of job functions and job applications and who you're hiring and this thing and that thing I Wanted to go to the second page now But you are in violation of California public records request. Can you pull it down a little bit? Okay. Now I want to talk to the person that I always send public records in for now she makes three hundred and twenty seven thousand dollars a year and That's insane. And I want to go back to the budget, you guys. We have no budget. You have committed fraud. You've been lying. There's no budget. There's no bonds. You have a blank check of tax paying money. And that is it's it's you can see it is plain as day. Now it's out in the open $327,000 for a city clerk. That is insane. Okay, that's her name. I went to California transparent because she told me to go there. So I went there. Can you flip over the third page?

Thank you guys very much.

Now, I asked the Blindness Support Services Incorporated. I asked for all the copies of the purchase orders for who you guys have been giving money to for the blindness, which is Pete's office. Now, I asked... For this purchase order you guys gave me a copy of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a roof project repair Now the address is different than his address So I went over to that address and it's an apartment complex We have a lot of problems here in the city of Riverside guys a lot of problems Now, if you're going to money launder money to a nonprofit or another apartment complex, this is not good, guys. Can you flip over to the fourth page? I'm almost running out of time. Thank you very much. Now, I wanted to go through this gentleman here. His name is Frank, and everybody knows him. He's been a city council assistant for 2010. Now, I did not know he was an elected official. Now, to be an elected official, we should vote on who he does things for, for his assistant. Now, he makes $63 an hour, okay? I understand that's a problem to me. We should only have one assistant per council member. There's 13 names there, guys. I don't know where, I mean, don't we have any common sense? You're allowed one assistant per council member. Why is the 13 names on there, guys? Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Kosiewicz. All right, I have Denise Stadebacher, followed by Joanne Genis, and then looks like Mr. Dawes, I think.

Hi. Thank you. Yes. So good afternoon. I'm Denise Stottlebacher, a resident of Ward 1. I'm here to voice support for the aims of Proposition 1 and to also ask that you reconsider the 114-unit University Terrace project. The city's availability of housing stock designated for very low-income individuals is particularly acute, largely by choice under this mayor's term. But the lives of veterans, seniors, and disabled community members depend on the judgment exercised in this chamber to respond to the cries for help and accelerate bills at this income level. Doing so would also benefit the work of local service providers who struggle to find adequate spots to place those in greatest need for housing. The University Terrace Project, which is still viable, would provide a refuge for 94 people, cutting the number of individuals actively seeking permanent supportive housing in half. IF REVISED WITH YOUR CONSENT, THIS PROJECT WOULD BE THE RAINBOW OUT OF A PARTICULARLY STORMY SET OF COUNCIL RULINGS BY AFFIRMING THE PROMISE TO THOSE AT THE VERY BOTTOM. THEY ARE NOT FORGOTTEN AND ARE DESERVING OF SECOND CHANCES, JUST LIKE YOU ARE. THANK YOU. THANK YOU, MS. STADELBACHER.

I HAVE JOANNE JENIS AND FOLLOWED BY, IT LOOKS LIKE MR. DAWES, I CAN'T READ YOUR FIRST NAME, SORRY, AND THEN ASH DAVIS.

GOOD AFTERNOON, MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. MY NAME IS JOANNE AND I'M A RESIDENT OF CHINO HILLS. I'M HERE TODAY TO THANK YOU FOR VOTING AND IMPLEMENTING THE DROP OFF ORDINANCE AND TO EXPLAIN WHY THIS ORDINANCE MATTERS SO DEEPLY TO ME AND MY FAMILY. Our son, Cody Jenna, struggled with severe mental illness, ADHD, Asperger's syndrome, and addiction. After the COVID shutdown, his mental health declined dramatically. From 2022 to 2020-25, he lived on the streets, repeatedly refusing help despite countless efforts by our family and several homeless outreach teams during those three years he was arrested 32 times for drug-related offenses and other violations including setting two small fires my husband and i never gave up on him along with the homeless outreach teams we worked to get him into treatment through assisted outpatient treatment under laura's law That process finally began in June of 2025. We attended every court hearing and advocated for our son every step of the way. A judge ordered a mental health evaluation at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton. He was detained, evaluated, and released just three days later. But when he was discharged, he was basically dropped off in an unfamiliar city with nothing more than a bus pass for a 31-mile trip to get to his home encampment in Chino Hills. He had no cell phone, no money, no support, no one making sure he could arrive safely home. We don't know whether he remained in the surrounding cities before eventually making his way back. When the judge reviewed his evaluation, she called it incomplete. It was only seven sentences long. She ordered another evaluation. My husband and I were sitting in that courtroom advocating for our son to get him the help he desperately needed, and we didn't even know that he was killed prior to that hearing date. When the judge found out, she was visibly upset and ordered hospital staff to appear in court to explain why and how our son had been released. Just one week later, after leaving the hospital, he was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing a crosswalk. His mental health struggles affected his abilities to recognize and respond to danger, including a solid red hand at the traffic signal. I am grateful that you voted for this ordinance. i hope this ordinance becomes a model for every city and county in california and ultimately becomes state law maybe called cody's law in sharing my story I can help save one life, then his legacy will live on through the lives of others. I saw this on Facebook and in the newspapers. I was like, thank you, thank you. This is one step forward. We have to move forward. I have newspaper articles that are written about me and my son, my advocating I want to give to the clerk so you can read it. Mayor, council member Ray Marquez is a very, very dear friend of mine and he said to say hello. So who can I give these to?

Yeah, please give them over here, and we will all get a copy of it. And thank you. Thank you for listening. And I'm sorry that that happened. I'm very sorry. Mr. Dawes, followed by Ash Davis, and then Sue Roginski, it looks like.

go ahead hi my name is Barry Dawes and I live in Ward 6 and congratulations to Louise Hernandez who won that ward I'm just here on behalf of the homeless people the American citizens just God's people people that care about people I'm at 100% in support of of the University Terrace Project. It's something that we need. It's something that is definitely available right now. Apparently, it's going to the litigations and stuff. I don't know what else we can say other than people need help. I know we had the camera crew here today. And I'm sure as they drove down our city, they've seen many homeless people. It's very, very hot outside there. And really nobody's doing nothing that I can see other than maybe, you know, pushing things around. All I hope for these city council members here and our legal system over there, welcome, that I pray for wisdom for all of us to be able to make the right decision here. And it's available. And I just pray that we just do the right thing. And that's all I have to say. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Dawes. All right. I have Ash Davis followed by Sue Roginski and then Eve Garrow or Garone.

Mayor and City Council, I am here today to voice my support for the return of the University Terrace project following Friday's mediation. This week you will have the opportunity to make a new decision, one that restores this much needed housing initiative. The people that University Terrace will serve are vulnerable, desperately in need, and cannot wait for the next project. Many of them have been on a list for years. They are people who have asked for help. Per the city's estimates, it costs $63,000 to stabilize a single person per year. This project, fully funded, would have hit that break-even in five years, which is actually quite a short turnaround time. These permanent supportive homes would also nearly have our continuum of care waiting list. I understand this has been frustrating. I'm frustrated. We're all frustrated. So I'm going to acknowledge that. I get it. This is not a fun way to communicate. I also understand your job is not simple. I know your budgets are not endless. I know your power is not endless. I also know, however, that you and this city are capable of this project. We're capable of building it. We're capable of sustaining it. And what you have seen over the course of the entire year is a consistency of what happens when community shows up. Community has formed. Community has coordinated. Coalitions have begun. And we are here to build this. We're here to build a better future. So on Friday, we have an opportunity to bring it back. We can ask for it again. Funding's still there. And we have our opportunity for a project. We can still house 100 people. We can still have something that would make headlines, that would put us up there with other cities that are leading. I am encouraging, begging, imploring, and demanding that this be done.

Thank you, Mr. Davis. All right, I have Sue Roginski, followed by Eve, it looks like, Yaron, and then Jonathan Simper.

Good afternoon, Mayor and city council members. I'm Sue Roginski. I live in Ward 3. I'm here to support the University Terrace Project. I'm urging you to bring it back. I was asked yesterday by a person who lives in Eastside, why is it my business to care about this project? every day in ward three i drive by and walk by unhoused people this heat is deadly 140 homeless people died last year in the county probably more and i'm really concerned i'm thinking about that unhoused child going to school And they're in survivalist mode. I learned that housing first works, and it's not housing only. It has multiple steps to it. So please reconsider, and thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Roginski. I have Eve, what looks like, Garon, Oregon, and Jonathan Simper, and then Dan Hawksworth.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council members. I'm Eve Garrow, a policy analyst with the ACLU of Southern California, award one constituent, and a member of a broad coalition of community groups and organizations committed to housing justice for all. I want to speak about the people at the center of your decision to reject the Quality In project, not as a category apart from housed residents, but as full members of this community. Some of the people who have taught me the most across the years of my career. about our housing and mental health systems are people who have experienced houselessness firsthand. They have been my mentors. They know these systems are underfunded and broken because they have had to navigate those failures themselves. Their knowledge and lived expertise deserve to be treated seriously, yet they have been left out of the decision making on this project, and worse, discriminated against. I've been troubled to hear people experiencing houselessness described in these chambers through stereotypes, including as dangerous. Council members have also made degrading remarks about people with disabilities and people who use Section 8 vouchers. This is discriminatory. When we characterize an entire group that way, we stop seeing people as people deserving of dignity. We begin making decisions based on fear and stigma rather than evidence, compassion, and the needs of our community. Unhoused people are not the problem. They are our neighbors. People become unhoused because rents are too high and governments at every level, including this level, this council, have not done enough to ensure that people have homes they can afford. That is the problem. You still have the chance to make this right. Please reverse your decision on Friday and support every neighbor's right to a safe, permanent, and affordable home. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Garrow. All right, I have Jonathan Simper, followed by Dan Hawksworth, and then Tinker Friend. Did you say Jonathan Simper? Yes, I did.

Thank you madam mayor. My name is Jonathan Semper. I'm a lifelong Riverside resident. I grew up in downtown and then moved later on up to the UCR area and I'm very familiar with that area and the property in question the University Terrace. Sorry I did not prepare as eloquent remarks as the other speakers but i rise in support of the project i think it's a real embarrassment that our city turned down that money in the past i i may not know all the details that you guys have to wrestle with uh... but if there was money sitting on the table where we could help members of our community i think it's foolish to have turned that down You know, during the COVID or before the COVID era, we lost the married student housing on my end of town, which served a lot of low income and at risk people. And then when the hotel was converted into the farmhouse collective, we lost more low income housing. And I knew people who lived in those facilities. And maybe it's nicer as retail. But there's no reason why we should let a select few of selfish local business owners lobby and prevent a proper affordable housing development from happening just down the street. You may think that that's a waste of money or that the place will be a blight, but I promise you that an empty, dysfunctional hotel is a blight right now. And I would much rather see my brothers and sisters on the street or my brothers and sisters who are couch surfing with their friends get a proper home and our city stop being an embarrassment like this. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Semper. All right. I have Dan Hawksworth followed by Tinka Friend and then Alex Sandoval.

Good afternoon, Honorable Mayor Dan Hawksworth, Ward 3, City Council Members, and fellow Riversiders. First, I want to briefly address the University Terrace Project and the upcoming mediation of the civil rights complaint this Friday. today we are here to advocate for the lives of our most vulnerable 94 disabled riverside residents who find themselves living in our streets or temporary shelters all of them have asked for and are seeking housing so they can get out of the dangerously hot heat this time of year we have an opportunity to house them in a safe secure apartment with a caring and supportive community to stabilize and rebuild their lives We know this approach works. Their lives are dependent on your decision. I hope the council will direct staff to reapply for the University Terrace project to the state of California. The California Housing and Homelessness Agency has confirmed that plenty of funding is still available for University Terrace. Please do help these 94 fragile people, and in doing so, we will also reduce those waiting for permanent supportive housing by nearly half and dramatically improve the quality of life for all Riversiders. The city itself has identified that it costs 63,000 per homeless individual to assist them. Currently, there are 195 Riversiders on our continuum of care waiting list, awaiting permanent supportive housing. Stabilizing 94 lives will not only save their lives, but it will reduce the burden on our city by almost $6 million. Further, currently our main shelter is just a revolving door with only 6% getting housing. We must create affordable housing, as the statistics show, to reduce homelessness in our fair city.

If we can go to the other slide.

second a wonderful opportunity exists to secure funding for affordable housing in our state the city of riverside and the affordable housing development developers could tap to build housing thus i am here to support the mayor's request on item 15 for city council approval of a resolution to support proposition one veterans and housing affordable housing 11.25 billion dollar bond on the november election ballot i thank the mayor for her leadership role as chair of the big city mayor's coalition in advocating for this bond issue i think it is important that the mayor be allowed to continue to advocate for this crucial bond issue this is not a tax increase associated with the bond issue our state is in the middle of the affordable crisis this would move us forward

thank you thank you mr hawksworth all right i have tinka friend followed by alex sandoval and then uh paul chavez welcome mr friend thank you welcome um welcome sorry good afternoon uh mayor and city council members and city staff

I didn't come down here to speak on Proposition 1, but I do want to lend my voice to say I hope that you support that. And I want everyone... in part of this governing body to know that we know that you care about the city we know that you're here in the position that you're at because you care about this city and the people who live in this city and I know that you try to be as wise as you can and I also know that you try to represent the will of the residents. And I hope that if you come to a decision and you find that perhaps it was not the wisest decision, I hope that you have the courage to change your mind. We all make mistakes. I urge you to reconsider University Terrace. I've already been up here several times in the past, standing before you, telling you why I feel that you should pursue this, as well as many other community members have spoken as well. What I want to emphasize is that I have not heard why this opportunity was rejected, except that this body didn't want to be dictated to by that of the state or that there were businesses in the areas that are against it. And I've heard from at least one council member that said that this was not the best option for the problem that we have. I want to remind everybody, I'm sure you've heard this, the quote from Voltaire, the best or the perfect can be the enemy of the good. This is a good plan. It was worked on by many people, including city staff. And if it is not, if you feel that it's not a good plan, or if there is another plan that is better, and if you know of one, why haven't you presented it? So please reverse your previous decision about University Terrace. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Friend.

All right. I have Alex Sandoval followed by Paul Chavez and then Margie Tadd-Williams.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. My name is Alex Sandoval, and I'm a resident of Ward 3. I'm here today because of the rejection of the Home Key Plus funds on January 13th, a decision made by council members Philip Falcone, Stephen Robillard, Sean Mill, and Chuck Condor, even while the proposed University Terrace Homes project would not be located in any one of their wards. It is clear that some city council members who voted to reject the $20.1 million state grant did so from a place of peer discrimination. They brazenly embrace and weaponize stereotypes of houseless and low-income residents to justify turning down millions of dollars that the city itself was clearly not willing to put toward low-income affordable housing. At the same time, I believe other council members turned down the funds and brought the well-planned project to a halt out of short-sighted political calculation to remain in the good graces of the Bailey family and the Arcade Restaurant Group, some of the only voices I heard speak in opposition to the project. Regardless of why you made your decisions, it is clear that the four of you have blood on your hands. As we know, 140 houseless residents, and likely many more, died on the streets in Riverside County last year. And it is clear that you all have made a decision that discriminates against our city's most vulnerable residents, many of them seniors, many of them disabled, many of them people of color, and many of them poor. It is clear to all of us that your vision for the City of Riverside is a vision that includes and lifts up some while pushing out and excluding others. We're here today to demand that the City Council revive the University Terrace Homes Project and immediately cease the criminalization of the City's houseless population. If you're going to actively deny housing to people on a list asking to be housed, it's not right that you should sweep them off the street and criminalize them for existing outside. I understand that the Homekey Plus funds may not be available anymore due to your disastrous decision to reject the funds, but this is not our mistake to correct or account for. If you can apply for those funds again, we demand you to begin that process immediately. And if the city of Riverside is not awarded those funds again, We demand you all to invest the city's money into reviving this project and into creating a fund that yearly invests dollars into creating affordable housing for low and very low income tenants and permanent supportive housing developments. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Sandoval. All right. I have Paul Chavez, followed by Margie Tad Williams, and then Matthew Snyder. Welcome, Mr. Chavez.

well thank you uh i'm here to address that we do my agency with the uh madison and railroad property uh you know it sounds very well the way it's been written but i'm not too familiar with it because if you were going to build something there uh i wish there'd be some things that you need to they need to address like a wall between the tracks and whatever they're building including the housing uh especially the housing because there's i used to live down on that street years ago And you see the old movies where glasses and cups used to vibrate every time the train go from one way to another. That's true. I know they're building the railroads a little different, so the vibration is bad. But still, the noise is there. The possibility of derailment is there. And these things need to be addressed. And if you've got to have housing, as indicated, are we, hopefully it will just be one resident, not an addition residents behind it. For the purposes, you are going to have a three-bedroom. Any bedrooms, you count two cars for each bedroom. So you could at least have six cars for that one unit. Where are they going to be parking? Is those units going to have availability parking for three cars or six cars? I don't think so. uh also on railroad uh the housing need to be as close to railroad as possible because anything beyond that uh you'll get pollution you'll get because there there was a study made now what too long ago about pollution around there from the freeway and and trains and it was quite heavy so that needs to be addressed also uh i know the expense of the house is very reasonable but still residents in that area are going to be very limited to acquire any property so therefore we are going to get individuals from le area or whatever and we have enough of that with your units that you multiple units that you're building had built uh permission to be built and you know uh what they got but uh 80 units or or more poor uh complex you know where's the traffic going our freeways are not built for all the savvy traffic you guys need to address that thank you thank you all right i've got margie ted williams followed by matthew snyder and then annabelle looks like nevadas

good afternoon mayor and city council members my name is margie ted williams and i'm a resident also raised in casablanca area and also representing the community action group in riverside there in casablanca and if i understand number 27 which is the issue in regards to the development on madison and railroad area If I understand it correctly it is stating that there are going to be only four Homes built in that area and then a storage facility in the majority of the area Which is something that we have discussed with our residents at a CAG meeting CAG again meaning a community action group and it was accepted a lot better than what we had before, which was housing through the whole area. And if I was informed correctly, the four housing were going to be near the Jefferson area, which is away from the traffic on Madison. And the storage area would be all the way up until you get to the housing there. Now, most of the individuals were happy with that coming into the Casablanca area because it's not housing through the whole street. It was just those four at the end, so I am speaking on behalf of a lot of the residents in the Casablanca area saying that this would be a great opportunity for the area to to be able to put that housing there again I would also suggest though as that perhaps behind those housings that I don't know if they're considering putting a block wall or something so that the railroad tracks there because if there is a track where they're there the arms come down and up and so the traffic would be just on this side but it would help to have something blocking in the back you know just in those four homes and and the rest would be fine so i'm here to say that we would be approved we would approve something like this in this area thank you thank you ms mayor if i could just real quick um the item on today's agenda is just uh the developers entering to a purchase agreement

they'll still we'll still have a planning commission meeting where you come out and discuss about the actual development and then they'll then it will eventually come to the city council so today this is just entering into a purchase agreement so that the developer can actually start doing anything on the lot just yeah so there'll be multiple community meetings before then and there will also be a planning commission meeting and a council meeting as well so then we would agree yes ma'am thank you so that's stay tuned thank you all right i have matthew snyder followed by annabelle looks like nevadas

Greetings city council members and mayor and city staff. My name is Matthew Snyder. I live in the Seachome area and Ward 4 with Chuck Condor, who unfortunately did not vote for the Home Key project. I noticed that our street is full of civil rights figures. And I think of Cornel West when I think of Martin Luther King always about what love looks like in public is what justice is. And that when we think about housing as a human right, I can tell my own story of this. Working at UCR, I was once a student. I was a graduate student at UCR back in 2000. I looked around for housing and I found housing. There was a two-bedroom apartment near the campus that was approximately $600. So for me and a friend, I just encountered and met and we moved in, it was $300 a piece. I just talked to a student this last year and she's sharing an apartment also near the campus, a half a bedroom for $1,200. so this housing it belies inflation because adjusted to inflation my my my 600 apartment in 2000 would be a thousand sixty eight dollars so if you do the basic math we have a major global national and city wide housing crisis that needs an availability of an answer the um uc professor of san francisco did a major study on housing in california and found out i know there's a lot of studies and analysts that talk about this, but it's basically this. If there's a lack of homes, you build homes. And we have 90 people that we could have housed in the Terrace Home projects that would have avoided suicidal ideation, suicide, drug overdose, and exposure to climate disaster weather, which we're increasingly going to face in the coming decade. And so I beseech you to reconsider this policy to find the money, if we're not able to get the money, to bring back the University Terrace projects. Housing is a human right. There are four human rights, food, shelter, health care, and education. City councils have a responsibility to make sure that there's food and housing when the city, the state, And the federal government failed to respond. And we know there's been a failure to respond by the federal government for decades on the housing crisis in the United States. Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders, and Ilana Moore have put together some solid ideas on housing policies nationally. But those policies are blocked on the national level. So it's time to actually respond to the crisis of housing by putting people into homes. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Snyder. All right. I have Annabel Navarez. Welcome, Ms. Navarez. ANNABEL NAVARREZ Hi.

Good afternoon, council. My name is Annabel Navarez. I'm a resident of Ward 1. I'm here to request that you bring back the University Terrace Project. Let me be clear about how far behind we are. we know that our arena numbers for very low income units here in the city is 4 861 and our city has only permitted 22 units in that category so that's less than one percent this project would help people even below that category extremely low income these are our most vulnerable residents They're not even asking for things like affordable housings. Some of these things are beyond their means. They're at the very bottom of the rung. And yes, even those without homes make up the residents of our community. The State Housing Department has already warned us that we're far behind and that we face potential legal action. And I hope that with the pending litigation, you reconsider to do what's right. We heard the council give discriminatory reasoning that actually conflicted with the facts that were brought forward by the Riverside Housing Development Corporation. And if you're worried about plight, I ask that you look inward to recognize why you believe this contradiction. How is uplifting our most vulnerable, many who are ready and asking for this help that are on the wait list? A place that has wraparound services, how that's gonna bring vagrancy. That's already existing in the area if you go by there anytime, which I do all the time. The University Terrace Project will have created 114 permanent supportive studio apartments for our lowest income residents. And for people exiting homelessness, I thought this is what we want to do. This is how we, do we want to solve homelessness or do we not want to solve homelessness? It's shovel ready and we still have an opportunity to accept these $20 million in state funding. To quote my friend April, let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. I also support the mayor's proposal to support Prop 1 and I applaud you for bringing that resolution forward. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Ms. Navarez.

all right let's have our first caller please can we have our first caller please yes good afternoon mayor members of the City Council and city staff my name is Adam and I'm speaking today as chair of the social and environmental Justice Committee of the Universalist Unitarian Church of Riverside. Our committee was formed because our congregation believes that faith without action is incomplete. We study the issues and bring our values into the public square because our tradition calls us not just to believe in love, but to practice it. University Terrace was a test of that practice for this city. It wasn't a controversial idea. It was a fully funded, evidence-based, carefully designed project to house 144 seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities at no cost to the city's general fund. This council rejected it. And in doing so, members of this body use language that a formal civil rights complaint now describes as discriminatory, stereotyping homeless and disabled peoples as criminals and dangers to the community. I want to speak to what our faith says about this moment. Our Unitarian Universalist tradition is centered on love, not love as a sentiment, but love as a force that makes demands on us and that calls us to see the full humanity of every person, including those our society has most failed. The people who would have lived at University Terrace are not abstract ideas. They are our neighbors. They are the senior who can no longer afford rent, the veteran whose service left invisible wounds. the person whose journey to this moment has included suffering that most of us will never know. Our UU value of equity calls us to notice that this city has produced 41% of its above moderate income housing while producing less than 1% of the very low income housing. Our value of transformation calls us to believe that institutions can course correct when they have chosen poorly. And our value of generosity calls us to receive what the state has offered and use it well. The original grant has been reallocated, but the funding remains available. The city can reapply. This Friday's mediation is an opportunity not just to avoid further legal consequences, but to begin repairing the trust of the community members who have filled this chamber for months, asking their city to do right by its most vulnerable residents. On behalf of our Social and Environmental Justice Committee and our congregation, I'm asking this council to reverse this January vote and commit to reapplying for funding. Our neighbors are still waiting. Love will not let us stop asking. Thank you.

Thank you.

Let's have our next caller, please.

Good afternoon, this is over a chop is. I've been sick so that's why I haven't been able to cut 10 City Council meeting or any other meetings pretty much. But I do want to see the catch 22 for the city trying to deal with the homeless trying to deal. As much as we can. And then we got funding for it, everything like that. But then the catch-22 is when other cities think that they could dump all their homeless people on us. And that's another thing that we'd have to address. And so that's why we have to address that part of it too. And now we're getting more homeless coming into our areas. that we were having a few months without any homelessness coming through our yards and everything like that. But now they're coming back again. They're coming back into our yards because other cities decide to bring their homeless over to Riverside because we got money or whatever to fix everything. Why aren't they responsible enough to fix their own homeless situation in their cities? And that's what they haven't addressed either at their site. Riverside can't handle all the whole area's homeless situation. We should be able to do it within Riverside. Other cities have to take on responsibility for their homeless people too. Also, I want to speak about the purchase cards. I was surprised to see how many purchase cards we had, and we didn't know that there was a procedure for that. And I was surprised because many times there was on the agenda for the city manager to speak, but we never spoke about what he was doing about the purchase orders cards that he gave out and how many and how that is restricting Riverside's money. And I'm afraid that if they all hit their limits, would Riverside be able to pay it all? So that's another thing. And then who is also reviewing those things to make sure they're purchasing things are for work and not for personal use. So nothing of that stuff was ever talked to by the public or told they could call somebody to be able to find this information out. So those are the things that so far I was going to bring up by city council. And hopefully, I'll be able to get more information later on. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Ms. Chavez. Let's have our next caller, please.

Hello, my name is Kay Persinger. I'm a resident of Ward 3. I'm employed in Ward 1. I'm also here to voice my support for the University Terrace Project. Although many of the people here have spoken very kindly and expressed that they believe that you have the best interest of the city at heart, it's pretty hard to feel that charitable when your words and actions don't reflect that. I've been deeply disappointed in the meetings that I've attended at how frequently some council members have spoken with derision and discussed towards the unhoused members of our community who are members of their wards as well. As if the unhoused people themselves are the problem. This is frankly despicable and as many others have already stated discriminatory and these attitudes and the poor decisions that they have led to are counter to the needs of the city, the will of the people and your basic legal obligations. As many have also pointed out, the city falls shockingly short of where it should be in terms of affordable and supportive housing. And this project that should have been seen as the most bare minimum obvious step has become something that residents have had to fight tooth and nail to encourage you to accept. So, as many others have, I'm here to say that this is something that you guys need to undo your mistake on. You need to take the steps necessary to receive funding and to get this project to happen. I also just want to briefly address what the previous speaker said. The idea that we shouldn't meet our basic responsibility by having supportive housing because of the risk that some cities might also fail to meet theirs is worse than saying that we should cut off the nose despite the face. We have the resources through this grant. We need to get the funds and we need to make this project happen. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's have our next caller, please.

Mayor, members of the council, my name is Alejandro Roche and I'm speaking for the Mandate Democracy Foundation of 501c3 and Ward 2 residents. I am a Ward 2 resident. I'm actually here to address Mayor Locke Dawson's recent opinion article in the Raincross Gazette on August 5th, almost a week ago, where she stated, and she literally uses the words, we cannot solve homelessness, claiming that it's not so simple and that drug addiction is one of the central drivers. Countless studies show California's crisis is structurally driven by an extreme shortage of affordable housing and rent burden, not individual pathology. That is why seniors and veterans are our fastest growing unhoused populations. Fixed incomes cannot keep up with gentrification. Trying to treat trauma while someone survives on the street is backwards. Stable housing is the essential prerequisite to meeting basic human needs. Housing is a human right. peer-reviewed data proves we can solve homelessness through the Housing First model, developed by psychiatrists in the 90s and adopted in 2003 under the Bush administration, of all people, right? That's federal policy. The data shows 90% of participants maintain long-term housing stability. Emergency room visits dropped by 37%. Those are just some of the statistics off the top of it. But instead of using science, this city relies on primitive, costly measures like sweeps. Worse, this council rejected the 20 million for the University Terrace project. The public demands immediate redress. We restore the project, secondly, The city of Riverside must present an affordable housing solution using the community land trusts model that does not sell city land. We are here to work with you if you choose to actually listen. Because either the mayor wrote that article and rejected a turnkey solution out of plain ignorance, or they simply do not care about the facts. Choosing corporate interests over community stability. Council members, you've now been educated on the scientific facts and officially now know how to solve homelessness. Housing, housing first, literally. Provide our neighbors immediate non-preconditioned housing and show some humanity. Restore the project. And two, your other homework is present a solution. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's have our next caller, please.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Councilmembers. My name is Nathan Kemp. I'm a resident of Ward 5, a representative of Director of Starting Over Strong, and a member of the Affordable Housing Organizing Network of Riverside. I'm asking this council to use Friday's mediation to establish a path to bring back the University Terrace project and fulfill the housing commitments the City has already made. It's been said before that it can be brought back, but that does not end the serious volatility to address what has happened for the housing need this project was intended to meet. Civil rights complaint arising at the file and the ongoing obligation to not only the 94 people that have been turned down, nor to the additional 101 people who are still awaiting housing to say nothing of the Less than 5% who have been given housing if they're under the 3% median income from the last six years is deplorable, and the city needs to do its fair share. We cannot market rate our way out of this housing crisis, and the city council needs to serve everyone, not just their donors. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's have our next caller, please.

Hi, good afternoon, council members. This is Adrian Caboyle-Rozay. I am an activist that speaks out against what I call a church encroachment within politics. I know it's a sensitive issue, and I mean no offense to the devoted followers. I am someone who tracks how many pastors enter into the field of politics and begin to influence. And believe it or not, there's a lot of pastors within Riverside County who do believe there should be a combination of church and state. So while it is a sensitive issue, it is a needed discussion to have. Now, it is vital that the government provides service to the people because when you do not, this leaves people vulnerable. And in this case, there are predatory churches who might target these individuals. So it is important for the city government to step up and offer these services. Now, as I've mentioned on the last council meeting, the inability to engage in recourse, that is if something happens wrong with churches, makes people very vulnerable. So this is merely to make sure that the residents have the proper services so that they are not taken advantage of. Again, I mean no offense to anybody. I know this is a sensitive issue for some. I respect the devoted followers. At the same time, it is vital that we do put some checks into this government. There's a lot of leaders who are afraid to speak out. There's a lot of influence that some churches have taken. And so it is important that we get some people to really step up and to represent the people, not to be afraid. And that's all I have to say. Thank you all very much. Have a great day. Bye-bye.

Thank you. Let's have our next caller, please.

Hi, good afternoon. Melissa McKeith. I'd like to change the tone of the discussion a bit on the university project to perhaps point it in a more positive direction. I have watched these meetings since May of I believe 2025 when it first came up. And it was very apparent to me at that point in time that this was going to be a controversial project that needed early intervention with a structured mediation or facilitation effort to deal with the issues. I know Janice Ruth very well. I also have done work for Beverly and Scott Bailey. And I do believe that if our city had more of a policy in favor of getting people to the table to speak to each other instead of at each other, it would be much more healthy and we might have been able to avoid the amount of community consternation and conflict that has arisen. I also know that part of the issue are restrictions that the state of California put on some of the requirements for who ends up in housing. I don't know those issues intimately. But I do know that having factual information before all parties and having the state at the table might well have helped to fashion a solution that would have been able to balance both the needs of the vendors in that area, but also the desire to revamp that hotel. Now we are far down the road. There's been a lot of nasty things that have been said about people on council whom I genuinely believe try to do what's best for our city. I don't think that they discriminate against the disabled. I'm sure that the people on the city council, when they're being accused of wrongdoing or called names, become defensive like all human beings, become defensive. And some of the statements are unfortunate. My point is this. I do not believe we have an ethic in the city attorney's office or in senior management that has facilitated discussion on hard issues. And I don't just mean homelessness. We have a lot of hard issues on water disputes. We have a lot of hard issues about climate. We are going to have difficult issues about our general plan going forward. And when the issue is raised about, well, why can't we mediate this in advance? The response I have gotten is you have to file a lawsuit before we're going to pay attention. I am hopeful with our new city attorney that some of that changes because I do think this is an opportunity to look at this situation and see how if we had had a facilitator early on on this and other really difficult issues our city is going to face, we would have a better understanding. And I think that people in Riverside are of goodwill, including the people we elect, in trying to solve these types of problems. So I hope something good comes of the mediation.

Thank you. That was our last speaker, so we'll close public comment and move on on our agenda. And we are now at our Mayor and Councilmember communications. I'll start with Councilmember Falcone.

Thank you, Mayor. Just one update because we're behind schedule here. Downtown Area Neighborhood Alliance meets Monday, August 17th at 7pm at the Isaac Walton building in Fairmont Park. Anyone who lives in Ward one or downtown specifically is welcome to join us. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. All right, Councilmember Robillard.

Thank you, Mayor. Just wanted to invite everyone to tomorrow night. We have a community conversations at the airport, August 12th from 530 to 7 p.m. Where residents will have an opportunity to meet our new interim city manager and hear from updates on public works, the Riverside Police Department, code enforcement and the airport. And while at the terminal, you can also view artwork currently on display for Ramona High School students. I hope to see you all there. I also want to give a quick shout out to Gunnar Roseloff and Nate Aguilar as their two students that are shadowing me for the day. Thank you.

All right, thank you. Let's go back to Council Member Cervantes.

Thank you, Mayor. Is this working? Okay, there we go. Thank you. Just a few items. I was proud and happy to attend Equality California Heather Leadership Summit up in Sacramento last week and was glad to be invited and able to be there for a day to participate and meet with many other LGBTQ plus leaders across California and to share the great work we're doing here in Riverside. And just want to share that for this week, one of the items that we have coming up is going to be the dale roberts gymnasium topping ceremony uh topping out ceremony that'll be on thursday uh 8 30. oh okay well apparently it's staff only just hearing from my colleague but we're excited to see the gym coming to completion so i just want to share when we do have the ground opening for the public we'll make sure that we have and everyone's invited so but there is great movement happening there as well as over at patterson park um of course in our i also want to mention i was glad to go with my colleague to the cesar chavez the community center we also had various workshops that are taking place for the renaming of the future auditorium but and the community center but want to share we were able to get a tour with staff to be able to see the facility and what's taking place there and very exciting to see so many developments again underway across the east side community so those are just some highlights And lastly, I want to share that I was proud to work with our office again with several groups from Riverside Peacekeeper Ministries to our local Megadar Watch groups that are helping families that are being impacted by ice and to share that our office was able to help to provide supplies. And so far, 30 out of 34 children, youth in our community that um we're in need of items we're able to get the support um so i really want to shout out again to my team my staff for the coordination and working to help to gather items that we could donate to them as well as to lincoln park neighborhood that serves our east side community um so a lot of a lot of need out there and just also want to congratulate all those that are starting school and getting back into session thank you to our teachers, educators across the communities of Riverside, but those that are in War II and over at UCR will also be starting up very soon. So we welcome you back into session and anything. And also want to shout out our teams. We did reach out and did, of course, a war drive to see where we can help to make sure that the locations as children and people, families walk to and from schools that We can have them clean, beautiful, for them to be able to move through these corridors and spaces. I just really want to shout out our public works team, code enforcement, and other groups in our departments that we worked with to help to make sure we can clear out dumpings and other things that are sometimes out there in these spaces. And so I really want to say thank you to our city staff for all the hard work that you do. And that's all I have. Thanks, Mayor. Thank you. Council Member Condor.

Thanks, Mary, and following Councilman McFalcone on difference of time, I just want to thank my field director, Frank Areola, for doing a fabulous job of covering Ward 4 for the last two weeks while I was on the East Coast celebrating my mom's 96th birthday with her and then taking care of her for two weeks. It was a great honor to do that with her, and thanks, Frank, for everything you do. That's it, Mary.

Thank you. Councilman Rimmel?

Thank you. And in deference to you guys, I'm not going to take my time. So there was a lot of comments made about it's hot outside. Well, there are 18 cooling centers around the city of Riverside. I could name all 18, but in a matter of time, I won't name all 18. But just know that the folks that are out on the streets, when our outreach teams go and speak with them, they tell them, hey, we can take you to the cooling center. Everyone is offered that opportunity. I spent nine hours out with our PSET team. We offered everybody we came in contact with, it's hot today, you should go to the cooling centers. All of them refused. So just so you know, I mean, we do have 18 cooling centers on a hot day like today. Folks, go to our libraries, our community centers, and our senior centers for those that are seniors. Our La Sierra Center, our Dale Senior Center, and the Gotsky Center are also operating as cooling centers. So when it's hot out there, take advantage of the 18 cooling centers. that are across the city, that are all on our social media, that are on the city broadcasts, that they are there. So we do offer folks the relief, try to get out off of the hot streets. Whether they choose to take that help or not is their decision. A couple events we had. The 29th was really exciting. The Riverside Children's Theater, which for most of its existence going back, I think, 60-plus years has been in Ward 1. They've relocated to Ward 5, and they have a beautiful new facility over at Adams and Lincoln. We had the ribbon-cutting on July 29th. And I had a wonderful town hall meeting with the community out at the Bourns Family Youth Innovation Center. Again, if you have not been to the Bourns Center, you have to. This is one of the jewels in this city that is underutilized. Folks need to go out and take a look at the Bourns Family Youth Innovation Center. Wonderful facility. Had a great community meeting out there. August 1st, I joined my friends from the Casablanca Home and Neighborhood Services for their annual backpack giveaway. Again, huge crowd out there for that. Kudos to Jerry and the team there. On the second, I helped Horizon Barbershop celebrate their fifth anniversary of business here in Ward 5. And then on August 8th, my team was out at the Church of God of Prophecy, again, helping with the community in another backpack giveaway. This Friday, I will be joining our code enforcement team on a ride along. So excited to see how our code enforcement operations go. And then next Monday, I'll be going out to, we have a wonderful facility that's privately funded. It's called Sunshine Haven. It's another facility just outside of my ward. It used to be Ward 5. It's now Ward 4. And then on August 27th, I'll be having a town hall for the residents of Ward 5's mobile home park. And that's all I have, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member Mill. Council Member Hernandez.

Thank you. On August 3rd, I attended my first Arlington Business Partnership meeting. Lieutenant Adam Lovesque attended as well, and we got to listen to and hear the concerns of local residents and businesses there in Ward 5 and 6. Shortly after the meeting, I attended the candlelight vigil for Peter Mullis, a hospital employee who was tragically taken from us on Monday, July 27th, close to the Kaiser Medical Center. I was moved by the compassion displayed by his fellow employees, friends and family. I'm once again thankful to the first responders, to the officers and paramedics who immediately attended to Mr. Mullis and to the investigators who were diligent in catching the perpetrator. On August 4th, I had the pleasure of attending the annual Albert Unified School District Child Nutrition Services Open House and Farmers Market. Families had the opportunity to explore healthy food choices, enjoy delicious samples, participate in fun activities, and learn more about nutrition. Families who attended also took home fresh bags of produce. Additionally, they had a showcase of nutritious items where parents, students, and the public had the opportunity to provide input on what food items they thought would best serve the students. I want to thank the Alvord Unified School District. for their invitation and the opportunity to not only engage with students and parents, but with the school board members, administration, and everyday staff that allow the school district to successfully serve our students as the school year begins. And on August 5th, I got to meet with the lead staff, Ray Aguirre, Daisy Brown, and Jonathan Rodriguez at the Arlenza Community Center. The team provided a tour of the facility, showing us many amenities, such as the recreation room, basketball court, a computer center, classrooms. boxing area, gym, and dance studio. They emphasize the importance the center has to the community and the impact it has on the kids who grow up there. And that's it, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Hemingway?

Thank you, Mayor. I'll be brief. I just want to wish all of the students returning to school, wish them well, a successful school year. And as Councilmember Hernandez said, we were able to attend the Alvord Child Nutrition Services Open House where we were able to sample some food i can say i know that all the food that is served tastes very good not not because i sampled all of it but impossibly and so take the opportunity now to just thank all the staff that serve those students the teachers and the staff that do remarkable work day in and day out in our school districts want to thank them and give them a shout out as the school year starts as well that's all thank you

Thank you, Council Member Hemingway. Just real quick, I want to correct the record for something. We had a caller who called in regarding an op-ed that I authored this last couple weeks ago, and while I don't appreciate having words put in my mouth, I question whether he read it, because I very much outline very extensively how we are addressing homelessness in the city and how we are taking action on every front, building more housing, expanding outreach, creating shelter opportunities, preventing homelessness before it happens, holding bad actors accountable, strengthening partnerships, fighting for the resources our community needs. There is no single solution, no overnight fix, but every person we help represents meaningful progress. So... Yeah, there was an entire over 1,500 word op-ed on all the things that we are doing to address homelessness. So I encourage all of you to go read it in the Raincross Gazette so that you can see the accurate representation of those words. A couple other things. I just want to say thank you to Code Enforcement. our code enforcement department, where I did a ride-along, and we learned about our complex properties and receiverships team. This is a new team dedicated to addressing the most challenging and time-consuming cases, so I want to thank Senior Code Enforcement Officer Brian McDougall, the team supervisor, Trey Trevelyan, and Northside Eastside of Riverside, and a special thank you to Ruth Mendoza, who was our gracious host and drove us around. So thanks for all you do for Riverside. It's a tough job, and I appreciate that. I want to thank the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the Association for Improvement of American Infrastructure for hosting an educational workshop regarding P3s, public-private partnerships. We learned best practices, how the public and private sectors can work together. to deliver transformational projects. I appreciated all the folks who attended. Thank you city staff as well as some members of our community who were there. And also last Friday I got to celebrate our interns from the Air Quality Management District, which we have a bunch of very smart interns at AQMD and we had a breakfast with them. UCR students, in my case, I got a couple interns, so they were fabulous, and I just want to wish them the best of luck in their future studies. Let's see. We have a couple committee meetings coming up, I believe. Finance Committee, 3 p.m. on Wednesday, August 12th. Mobility and infrastructure, 1 p.m. on Thursday, August 13th. The economic development committee at 3.30 on Thursday, August 20th. And housing and homeless committee at 3.30 on Monday, August 24th.

31st, yes. It was shifted.

It shifted. That's a housing and homeless committee? All right. August 31st at 3.30 p.m. All right. I'm going to ask our city manager now, item number three, if you have any updates you wish to share.

Yes. Thank you, Madam Mayor, and I'm glad to be here this evening. Just two quick updates, some comments from me, and then I'm going to invite a staff member up to give you a regular report or update for you. First, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for the warm welcome I received from the mayor and the city council, as well as the city staff, and as well as the community. So I've consciously spent some time getting to know people and meet people. That included department meetings, meet and greets in various capacities, tours, as well as visits to sites, and I'll continue to do that because it gives me the opportunity to learn about Riverside and meet people and make connections, and that's important. Even on that short time of the 12 days I've been here, that short time of meeting people and learning, it's clear to me that Riverside provides so many quality services and programs. You should be really proud of what we do. You have a lot of dedicated staff that care deeply and daily provide those services based on your direction and provide those to the community. Those are very important services and what we do is very important. And then finally, I'm just excited about working individually on behalf of the entire staff, and all of us are excited working with you individually as elected officials as well as collectively to help you meet your individual and collective goals as we move forward. And so thank you again for the warm welcome. And now I'd like to invite up Shakisha Gilliam to provide your regular government affairs report.

Thank you. Thank you. Welcome, Ms. Gillian.

Good afternoon, Council and Mayor. I'll be providing you guys with our quarterly Intergovernmental Relations and Legislative Affairs update. So over the past several months, the IGR Division continued advancing Riverside's priorities at the state and federal level while supporting our departments on major regulatory, legislative, and funding matters. We issued 26 position letters, coordinated meetings with our state and federal officials, and proactively engaged our delegation and the State Department of General Services on the purchase and maintenance of the California Tower building. We've also continued regular coordination meetings with the County Government Affairs Office as well as the Governor's Office of External Affairs. At the state level, California continues to operate in a constrained fiscal environment despite modest revenue improvements. The legislature did return on August 3rd, and we anticipate an extremely busy period. Hundreds of bills affecting cities are moving towards their final action. several significant bills this year that are impacting local land use and permitting processes. These measures will introduce new requirements related to ministerial approval for ADUs and townhomes, remote inspection for building permits, restrictions on permit plan check cycles, expanded environmental justice considerations for future general plan updates. We're also monitoring major proposed changes to EV and heat pump permitting, solid waste regulations, compostable produce labeling, as well as statewide battery recycling. On the behavioral health and homelessness front, legislation expanding care court will increase county workloads and require deeper coordination with the city. Additionally, as folks have mentioned, Proposition 1, the statewide housing bond, continues to progress and may create new opportunities for local funding. Some upcoming key legislative deadlines, August 17th through the 31st, will be floor session only, so there won't be any committee hearings. August 27th is the deadline to remove bills from the inactive file and send them to the floor for vote. August 31st is the last day for each house to pass a bill. And then, of course, September 30th is the deadline for the governor to either sign or veto bills. For the city, our legislative portfolio is in a healthy position. We have a number of bills that we took positions on. All of those are looking good going into the final weeks of session. We've got four bills that have clear committee process and they're on the floor vote. And then a number of bills that we have that are on appropriation suspense will be heard August 13th. There are three statewide ballot measures of particular interest. Again, Proposition 1, which creates that $11.2 billion veteran and affordable housing bond. Proposition 43, which would require two-thirds voter approval for any local special tax, including citizens' initiatives. And then Proposition 45, which proposes broad CEQA streamlining for housing, transportation, broadband, water, and wildfire-related projects. Turning to federal matters, Riverside has two projects that were included in the House fiscal year 27 appropriations bills, nearly $750,000 for the RPE backflow project and $250,000 for the placemaking project. These are strong placements, though Congress is not expected to act on fiscal year appropriation bills until after the midterm elections. In late spring, Councilman Robillard did meet with congressional offices and advance federal support for America Makes and our airport priorities. As a result of those discussions, the Pacific Contested Logistics Manufacturing Readiness Initiative, that's a mouthful, which supports America Makes, received $10 million in the House Defense Appropriations bills. There's two major regulatory developments that are also worth highlighting. First, the Office of Management and Budget, OMB, has proposed the largest overhaul of federal grant rules in more than a decade. It would prohibit the use of federal funds for DEI-related activities. eliminate fixed-amount federal grants, expand cybersecurity mandates, and require E-Verify for anyone working on federally funded projects. If finalized, this would significantly increase administrative requirements across city departments. And then secondly, the administration's 2026 Unified Regulatory Agenda outlines updates coming to a number of agencies, including the USDA, HUD, Department of Transportation, EPA, etc. And these are going to affect housing programs, transportation and safety rules, airport regulations, and more. The federal appropriations remains delayed under a continuing resolution through December 4th, meaning that timelines tied to grants and funding programs will be continued to shift through the fall. And that's the end of my report. I'm available for questions.

Any questions, comments for Ms. Gillian? Thank you, and I appreciate the update on Proposition 1. That is something that under my leadership this year with the big city mayors was our highest priority, was housing and homelessness, and happy to see this on the ballot that made it. I want to thank Jonathan Lopez and Michaela Cruz on my staff for helping to craft that language in a way that is, I think, helpful to us in our city, and I would ask my Colleagues support on that, but it is it is I think going to be very helpful in our efforts here, so thanks very much Okay council any Conflicts of interest ex parte communications anybody no, okay? finally human resources where Thank you for your patience Today we have a presentation from our human resources director. This is our department overview, as well as the 2025 employee of the year. So I will turn it over to Renee Goldman, our director.

Thank you. Good afternoon, honorable mayor, city council, and constituents. I'm Renee Goldman, HR director, here to give the department overview for 2025. So I'm going to start with our quick staff intro. This is our HR leadership team, which includes the two deputies, Mediana Gonzalez and Colleen Torres. I can ask you to stand. I like to call this the dream team. Together, we have a strong sense of collaboration, interdisciplinary expertise, and execution capacity we work in harmony to solve complex organizational challenges and we together lead a diverse team of valuable hr professionals who are highly engaged they have a strong positive team identity and spend the majority of their day in support of others here at the city so it is truly a beautiful thing i'm honored to lead and to be a part of Our mission as the Human Resource Department is committed to being a professional strategic business partner that values innovation, integrity, confidentiality, and diversity while continuing to provide a variety of resources to past, present, and future employees. Essentially, we have moved from being a traditional transactional HR work to strong strategic partners. Essentially, we align human capital with the organizational mission. So here's a quick snapshot of our org chart. As you can see, we wear many hats, so I won't take the time to go through each of these divisions. You can see here at the bottom that we show an FTE of 46, but we actually run really conservatively with 38 in an effort to abide by current budget shortfalls. This is approximately one HR professional for 74 employees and is consistent with other comparable cities. Our centralized service model Includes specialized in-house workforce functions and support of all of our city employees. We nearly stretch to 3,000 when consider all of the Volunteers and all of the interns that we work with and 11 different bargaining units including public safety and skilled utility and we use minimal or no outsourcing and So I want to review some of our departmental accomplishments. We successfully manage a high volume of recruitment activity, receiving and reviewing almost 32,000 applications in 2025. We conducted 37 onboarding sessions, ensuring new hires were thoroughly oriented supported and integrated into our organization we welcome 230 new employees we processed 172 internal promotions we hired 66 rec leaders 20 lifeguards three pool managers 11 lateral police officers and 36 police officers trainees and we attended 12 job fairs in 20 in 2025. Some other departmental highlights. We developed and implemented Power BI dashboards for safety, workers' compensation, to provide real-time access to critical metrics, trends, and performance indicators so that we can be intentional in all the decisions that we're making. We created and launched the HR Flipbook, which is a great centralized resource designed to provide employees with easy access to HR information, who to call, and it'll always be up to date that way. We process 337 leaves, including GLOA, which is general leave, FMLA, PDL, CFRA, and military. We also successfully manage and process 49 reasonable accommodations, ensuring timely, consistent, and legally compliant interactive process for employees across the organization, aiding departments in returning staff to work. We hosted 19 retirement sessions in collaboration with Mission Square, HiCap, and CalPERS, and we had over 368 employees in attendance. We hosted 19 wellness webinars focusing on financial wellness, health education, employee well-being, and topics that included financial resources, home buying, savings for college, and estate planning. We completed the 2026 open enrollment. We had over 828 employees that submitted changes and change requests, which resulted in 1,000 transactions completed. We introduced a new high deductible health plan with a health savings account with Blue Shield for the 2025 plan year. also completed our 2025 and 2026 very popular maintain don't gain program which is very fun wellness challenge that we do every year we we added a virtual six-week wellness challenge for walking to promote physical activity some of the competition for these gets pretty competitive as departments join and healthy, literally healthy competition. We launched the 2026 benefit poll survey. 450 employees participated in this and we had representation from all 18 departments. We developed an electronic leave of absence form which we piloted with the library and police and we hope to roll that out soon with the rest of the city. This year we organized for 2025 employee appreciation events. We reached approximately 14 employees. Something we did differently was we added additional sites. So we did three onsite mill events and then we implemented deliveries. We discovered that we had employees that were doing shift work that didn't feel like they were included in some of the events we did the previous year. So we did site deliveries to libraries, fire stations, the water quality control plant, the courtyard, police stations. We also collaborated with Blue Zones Project Riverside to certify and improve City Hall as a Blue Zone worksite, and this included establishing multiple wellness zones for our city staff. We secured and renewed five new agreements with benefit vendors and brokers via the RFP process. Our class and comp team has also been very busy, 32 classification actions, This includes new classifications, title changes, deletions, and bargaining unit reassignments, helping the departments to fulfill their needs. This includes 44 job description revisions, 12 reclassification studies, and 19 approved reclasses. For training, I'm very proud of our training. We delivered 3,844 training hours to employees. That's touching over 455 individuals and this does not include the training that's mandated for us to do legally. So this is in addition to that. We facilitated 19 Enneagram department division team development workshops with 300 separate one-on-one Enneagram assessment debriefs to support employee growth team effectiveness and communication. Our foundations of supervision, our fourth cohort graduated, 26 frontline supervisors took advantage of those courses. We had 137 supervisors participate in our HR essentials training. We also launch our 2025 citywide engagement survey and our periodic pulse survey check ins. We led four citywide virtual debrief sessions regarding that survey and develop a dedicated web page to ensure transparent employee access to all of the engagement survey results. We facilitated five citywide action sessions in which we engaged employees in identifying improvements across five key drivers of engagement. We conducted department-specific action sessions tailored to individual engagement survey results supporting targeted improvement and strategies. We provided all city department heads with customized department and division level PowerPoint presentations to support the sharing of the data for their own department with their staff. And we partnered with 14 department heads to present those department specific survey results, strengthening communication, transparency, and action planning across the city. Under education reimbursement, we process 190 reimbursements for 110 employees. We also this year, last year, expanded university college education partnerships by adding three new programs. So we are up to a total of nine now. Our Youth Service Corps grant was also renewed for our intern programs to the tune of $1.5 million. we process 382 volunteers live scanning and onboarding each of those into the departments we assisted department supervisors with 241 performance coaching discipline cases this code starts at lower level performance coaching right on through to high level cases we received investigated and or assisted an external investigator with 31 different complaints with all different types of allegations in order to fulfill our duty to investigate and to mitigate risk to the city. We facilitated and assisted six grievances. This includes all different types of issues, pay practice, different appeals, MOU policy interpretation, bringing each one of those to resolution. We were also able to update 11 policies for safety and health. We completed 35 ergonomic evaluations. We also completed our annual CHP audit with zero findings for the city and our annual inventory workers' comp report, achieving a reduction of $129,000 from the previous year while strengthening our program's efficiency. I'm very proud of the fact that we do not outsource workers' comp information. here in Riverside, which gives us a very high level of service. We also successfully resolved 44 individual cases, including six separate compromise and releases.

I'm sorry, Director. So we have ten minutes for the presentation. Council Member Falcone just reminded me, so I think we need to – we're four minutes past already. Okay. So we want to make sure you get to your – You got it. Apologies. Thank you.

So we have some promotions I'm going to go through. Adriana Parga, Michelle Vizcarra was promoted to a principal, Daisy Morehouse to a senior, Brenda Brooks to a senior, Tristan Martinez to an HR analyst, Veronica Angelo, also HR analyst, and Chloe Dominguez to a senior office specialist. We have some professional growth highlights you can see there, of course, work and certifications that our staff received. And then a legacy of achievement. We have 10 years of service for Jennifer Lopez, Joanna Cuevas, and five years for Alyssa Avila. So an honorable mention, Marcus received the Mayor's Unsung Hero honoree. He's made tremendous contributions to the department, the recruitment team, and has recently moved into training and development. And our Human Resources Department Employee of the Year, James McCalma. It's an honor to have James represent the HR department. I'm going to ask you to stand if you're still here, James. He joined the HR department. In October of 2024, he quickly distinguished himself as a highly motivated, solutions-oriented professional. From the start, he demonstrated an impressive ability to adapt to the fast-paced and dynamic environment of public sector service. In a remarkable short period of time, James has made meaningful and lasting impact on the department and the organization as a whole. His dedication, innovation, and positive attitude make him a tremendous asset to the city. His work exemplifies the spirit of excellence and service that this award is meant to recognize. And that is my presentation for the day. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. And congratulations, James, and congratulations to everybody who received years in service and promotions. It's amazing. We all depend on your hard work, so we thank you all. Thank you very much. And I know Council Member Condor has something.

Yeah, could you repeat all that, please? Wow, you guys really do a lot. You said 78 people per employee?

Yeah, that's where we're at in terms of average, generally, how you.

Only problem since last year is, where's my T-shirt?

I know, that's right. Thank you.

All right, thank you. All right, thank you. Thank you, everybody. Thanks for your patience and for all your great work. Appreciate it. Oh, council. All right. We are now at our consent calendar. So I will ask our city manager if he has anything he wishes to pull.

Nothing tonight, your mayor.

All right. Thank you. Ward 1? Pass. Ward 2? Pass. Ward 3? Pass. Ward 4? Pass. Ward 5? Pass. Ward 6?

Pass.

Ward 7?

Pass. Move to approve.

All right, we have a motion and a second. Council, to approve the consent calendar, please vote. All right. Motion carries unanimous. And thank you for your support of Proposition 1. I appreciate that. All right, Council, we are now going to go into closed session. I'm going to call on our City Attorney, James Johnson, to please announce our closed session items.

Thank you, Mayor. Yes, we'll be going into closed session to discuss items 28 through 39 under further members of the public, their written agenda descriptions. For items 33, 34, 35, and 36, I did want to note who we're just talking with. So for 33, we'll be meeting with the city's negotiator, Edward Enriquez, regarding 3700 Placentia Lane. We'll be meeting with... or discussing with a property by GCS Development, represented by Greg Scott. For item 34, we'll be meeting with our also negotiator, Edward Enriquez, about Lot 33 slash Convention Center, the APNs listed on the agenda. We'll be meeting with the Greens Group and Griffin Swindon, represented by Atman Kadakia and Corin Crawford, negotiators. Item 35, we'll also be meeting with Mr. Enriquez regarding 8605 Janet Avenue. We'll be meeting, represented on the other side by 10 Acre Ranch, represented by Amid Demise, negotiator. Finally, item 36, the city's negotiator will be Tom Hatch. We'll be meeting about 1101 to 1199 Orange Street. otherwise known as Riverside, former Riverside Golf Club, and the other side of the negotiation is Adrenaline Sports Resorts, LLC. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. And we will return as close to 3 p.m. as we can for our public hearings, but we are going to adjourn to closed session right now. Thank you. um city council's uh temporarily returned from closed session because we are a little late on our public hearing so we are just uh going to go back into closed session after our 3 p.m public hearings and so i will now call our public hearing to order for item number 40 i believe is that torn on is that correct and This is historic designation of a beautiful house and I am going to open public comment for item number 40.

Public comment is now open for this item, available in both English and Spanish. Call 951-826-8686 and follow the prompts to access the meeting in either language. To request to speak, press star 9. You can also join via Zoom. The meeting ID for both languages can be found on the agenda.

Okay, with that, I'd like to ask our Historic Preservation Officer, Scott Watson, to please give us a staff report on this item.

Thank you, ma'am. Good afternoon, honorable mayor, uh, block Dawson and members of city council, Scott Watson, historic preservation officer. The first item before you today is a historic designation request for structure of merit designation for the Havens residents. The residence is located at two one three nine archdale street situated on the Northwest corner of archdale street and fielding avenue in ward three. The Haven's residence was constructed in 1960 by the local architectural firm designed by the local architectural firm Cohen and Bussey for Dr. Fred Z. Havens Jr. and Mrs. Barbara Havens. Cohen and Bussey was a prominent Riverside-based architectural firm active throughout Riverside and the Inland Empire from approximately 1958 to 1972. The firm designed a wide range of residential, civic, educational, religious, industrial, commercial, and medical buildings that contributed significantly to Riverside's post-war development. Some notable examples of their work includes the board's headquarters on Columbia, as well as Castle View Elementary. The residence embodies distinctive characteristics of mid-century modern architecture. Character-defining features of the residence include long horizontal massing, post and beam construction, low-pitched rock gravel roofs, broad overhanging eaves, clear story windows, large fixed-pane glazing systems, sliding doors, and the use of natural materials, including redwood siding and desert rock veneer. Although the residence meets the eligibility criteria three and four for city landmark designation, the Cultural Heritage Board found that the historic integrity of the residence has been diminished due to the replacement of most of the operable windows and several fixed windows with vinyl frame windows. The replacement would not be considered appropriate under the citywide residential historic district design guidelines, which prohibits vinyl frame windows on historic resources. Additionally, many window sills shown in the original plans were removed during the window replacement. However, the board found that the residence retained sufficient integrity to be designated as structure of merit under criterion five. Additionally, the board included a condition of approval to restore the look of the original windows to be included as part of the property owner's Mills Act applications 10-year plan. And if they do this, they would be eligible for City Landmark in the future. With that, staff recommends that city council determine that planning case DP 2024, I'm sorry, PC 2026-00379 is categorically exempt from CEQA, approve the historic designation request, thereby designating the Havens residence as a structure of merit, adopt the resolution designating the Havens residence as a structure of merit, Approve the findings for zoning code map amendment and introduce and subsequently adopt the ordinance to rezone 2139 Archdale Street and other cultural resources overlay zone. This concludes staff's presentation.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Watson. Let me see if we have any public comment on this item. We have no callers. We'll close public comment. Council.

Move a staff recommendation.

Okay. We have a motion and a second. Please vote.

Motion carries unanimous.

Great. Love that house. Lovely. It's beautiful. All right. We are going to move on to item number 41. This is another...

designation so let's go ahead and open public comment for item number 41 public comment is now open for this item available in both english and spanish call 951-826-8686 and follow the prompts to access the meeting in either language to request to speak press star 9. you can also join via zoom the meeting id for both languages can be found on the agenda

All right, thank you. And I guess you're not going to sit down. Pretty much not today. Mr. Watson, please give us a staff report.

The next item before you today is a historic preservation request for landmark designation of Lionhead. The residence known as Lionhead is located at 2881 Rumsey Drive, situated on the east side of Rumsey Drive between Caramel Way and Victoria Avenue in Ward 3. Constructed in 1926, the property was designed by architect Henry L.A. Jekyll for developer and orchardist Howard G. Hensler. Jekyll's work contributed significantly to the architectural development of Southern California during the early 20th century with numerous residences, commercial, civic, and institutional projects. throughout riverside los angeles and orange counties he became particularly known for his spanish inspired architectural designs in the 1920s lionhead is eligible for designation under criterion 4 for its association with jekyll the estate includes a two-story spanish eclectic residence detached gatehouse perimeter wall landscape grounds and excuse me, and landscape grounds. The residence displays the character defining features of the Spanish eclectic style through its asymmetrical masses, irregular composition of intersecting forms, low pitch red clay tile roofs, smooth stucco wall surfaces, decorative carved wood detailing, exposed rafter tails, arched openings, ornamental wrought iron features, leaded glass windows, balconies, patios, pergolas, and integrated architecture within the surrounding terrace of the land. Additionally, still extant original interior character defining features include barrel ceilings, corbels, frescoes, wood beamed and coffered ceilings, wrought iron detailing, original doors, and original bathroom fixtures. As the property represents an excellent example of high style Spanish eclectic style and retains high level of integrity, it is eligible for City Landmark under Criterion 3. With that, staff recommends that City Council determine that Planning Case PC-2026-0388 is categorically exempt from CEQA, approve the historic designation request, thereby designating Line Ahead as the City Landmark, adopt the resolution, approve the findings for Zoning Code Map Amendment, and introduce and subsequently adopt the ordinance to rezone 2881 Rumsey Drive and add the cultural resources overlay. This concludes my presentation.

All right, thank you, Mr. Watson. Let me see if we have any callers for item 41. All right, no callers, so we'll close public comment and come back to council. All right, motion and second, please vote.

Motion carries unanimous.

All right, thank you. And our final public hearing today is another designation, so we will open public comment for this.

public comment is now open for this item available in both english and spanish call 951-826-8686 and follow the prompts to access the meeting in either language to request to speak press star 9. you can also join via zoom the meeting id for both languages can be found on the agenda all right mr watson and last one for me uh next is a city landmark designation request for ed

The residence is located at 5958 Edith Avenue, situated on the southeast corner of Lincoln and Edith Avenue in Ward 4. The residence was designed by Kurt E. Steinman for Dr. Robert R. Robinson and Margaret R. Robinson and was constructed between late 1966 and early 1967. The home exhibits mid-century modern architecture and is an excellent high-style example of Steinman's work. in residential design, featuring prominent horizontal lines and sunken carport flat roof lines with visible structural beams and extensive floor to ceiling windows, including transoms. Another character defining feature of the mid-century modern architecture is the post and beam construction highlighted in these construction photos. ED is historically significant as it showcases the core elements that define mid-century modern architectural style, therefore is eligible under Criterion 3. Additionally, the residence being designed by Kurt E. Steinman, who worked on a variety of projects, including Riverside City Hall, is a noted significant architect in the city. Therefore, ED is eligible for City Landmark designation under Criterion 4 as it represents his work. With that, staff recommends that City Council determine that PC-2026-00544 is categorically exempt from CEQA and approve the Historic Designation Request, thereby designating ED as the City Landmark. Adopt the attached resolution, approve the zoning code map amendment findings, and introduce and subsequently adopt the ordinance to rezone 5958 Edith Avenue to apply the cultural resources overlay zone. This concludes my presentation.

Thank you, Mr. Watson. We have a request to speak in chambers from, looks like Anna Geisert.

Welcome. Good afternoon, Mayor Lockdawson, city council members and staff. Thank you for taking the time to consider our application. Dominic, my husband, and I are the second and current owners of Edie, a home we love deeply. Edie's original owners... Robert and Margaret Robinson had a dream to build a home in Riverside where they would raise their family. We are indebted to their ambition, vision, and courage. Their daughter, Joanne, has been an important resource as we have looked to learn about the house. She provided the historic photos in our application. We thank her as well. As architectural historian Jennifer of JM Research and Consulting notes in our application, ED is a high-style example of the innovative work of master architect E. Kurt Steinman. The 1966 mid-century modern single-family residence features old-growth wood, post and beam construction, knotty pine, tongue and groove ceilings, flat tar and gravel roof, and aluminum and wood-framed windows. Swiss architect Eugen Kurt Steinman was the head of design at the local architectural firm renowned Evans and Simon where he spent two decades of his career Simon was a design architect of public spaces that continued to influence the city's civic academic and community identity including City Hall which received landmark designation last year and these very chambers Character defining feature of this room that you may already be aware of is the articulated lattice pattern brick behind you Take a peek behind the curtain after this meeting for me as a nerd of architecture. They're divine the Robinsons towards time in 1963 Riverside award-winning entry to the Portland Cement Association's horizon homes national architectural competition which promoted the use of concrete in residential construction and After taking this tour, they commissioned Steinman to design Edie. We would like to thank Jennifer Mermilliad, who prepared our application for City Landmark designation. We are lucky to work with Jen, who co-wrote a book on City Hall with Council Member Falcone last year, and look forward to a lifelong relationship and service of Edie's historic preservation. Thank you for your time, and we welcome any questions, should you have any.

Thank you. That house is gorgeous, I have to say. We have another speaker. So let me, we have a caller. Let's take our first caller, please.

Hello, this is Aurora Chavez. I'm just questioning the term of lion's head. Because over here, we've long determined that this hill over here was called Lion's Head in Ward 6. So I didn't know if that was going to be a different designation, or I just was surprised when I heard that they were going to call their area Lion's Head.

Thank you, Ms. Chavez. My understanding is that's the name of the house, which was given to the house when it was originally built in the 1920s. So it predates probably.

But our hill can still be called Lionhead, correct? Yeah.

It's just the name of the house. Okay, I just want to clear it up. Okay, thank you. All right, thank you. That was the last request to speak. We'll close public comment and come back to council. Council Member Condor?

Yes, I want to thank Anna. She knows what she's talking about. She sits on our museum board and does great work there, so move to approve staff recommendation.

All right, we have a motion, word four, second, word three. Please vote. It does, it does.

Motion carries unanimous.

All right. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Watson, as well. And thank you for your interest in architecture and particularly those who love the mid-mo. I, too, live in a 1963 house. All right. Let's see. We're going to go back into closed session now. And we do not have an evening session today. So we will just return from closed session to adjourn the meeting. Thank you. everybody here all right and I need to call on city attorney so let me see all right everybody good evening City Council has returned from closed session and I will call on our city attorney please to report out on closed session decisions Thank You mayor there is no reportable action at this time all right perfect thank you council any items for future City Council considerations All right. Thank you. And we are adjourned. Next meeting is August 25th. Thank you.