City Council - Regular Meeting

We're going to get started. So if you have a seat, we would like to have you take a seat. Not me. Well, good afternoon, everybody. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. It is so nice to see the chamber so crowded with a happy thing today. So I am so glad we could have a good day today. Because we're all here because we love us some Del Roberts. So that's... But I'm gonna be a bad guy here for a little bit and let you know that we do have some restrictions on how many people can be in the room, right? Because we do have a code. So folks who are probably in line right now, if you don't have a seat and they're outside, they probably won't be able to come in. I think LT's over there managing that, okay? And I think Don was saying folks can or cannot stand on the walls. What are we doing? And it's not at the well here. So yeah, you guys have to move off the well there. That's what we call that area. If we could get you just to move off. And y'all can party afterward. That's not a problem. So it is a council meeting after all. So it's relatively boring. But not this part, right? Not this part. So, well, hello, everybody. Welcome to the City of Riverside City Council meeting for August 25th, 2025. And it's also Del Roberts Day. Welcome to the 26th. Sorry, it's, look what's on my phone. It's on there. Sorry, it's 26 today. Is it? Is it 26? Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. So what I will do, I'm Mayor Patricia Black Dawson, and I am going to call our meeting to order today. And we start with an invocation. Are you able to do it for us today, Council Member Falcone?

Well, as the good Catholic school boy that I am and was, I'm happy to wing our prayer and invocation. Everyone, please join me in prayer. Lord God, we gather here today because we are thankful for the blessing of Mr. Dale Roberts, someone who has given his whole life in service to our community, to the betterment of Riverside, and to just doing good stuff, to doing your goodwill. We ask that you give him a special blessing on this 90th birthday and for many more years of blessings and community and fellowship together. We ask that you bless upon the city council with your wisdom as we make difficult decisions, both today and always, carrying with us the needs of all those that we represent and doing so with a heart for justice, a heart of charity. We ask all this through your blessed name. Amen.

Amen. All right. And if you are able, please stand with us to say our pledge allegiance to the flag. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right we will open our meeting now with public comment as we always do this is to comment on our consent calendar closed session 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 9. You can also join via Zoom. The meeting ID for both languages can be found on the agenda.

All right, thank you. First up, I have Ruben Greg Soto. Is Mr. Soto here?

Mayor, city council, Ruben here. I'm going to read a little bit from, you know, I've been kicked out of a lot of churches and anyway. The badge doesn't make you right. The badge gives you authority. The badge makes you corrupt. The badge makes you a liar. The badge makes you a sinner. I've never been proven guilty of any so-called crimes. You always force me to take a deal because you threaten me with prison time. Four years in state prison, so of course I'm going to take a deal. That way I can get out. And public vendors don't do their jobs. We all know that. If you ain't got money to get a lawyer, you're done. And so you're going to do time. I always do. They never proven me guilty. Now, I take the deal to make me a liar. You make me sign something that isn't true. But I come out, fight for another day for my justice and the truth and my restitution, my money. Every arrest has been falsifying legal dominance of a government or United States of America judicial system. That's a federal offense. Isn't that what they say is innocent until proven guilty? I have never been proven guilty. The only thing I've ever done wrong was got a DUI with meth. Every church I've been, every Christian church tells me, be more like Jesus. Why do I want to be like Jesus? Jesus was a drunk. Jesus made water into wine. I want to be like Reuben. I don't want to be a Jesus or a Christian follower, okay? Now, Christian churches kick me out, be mean. Hey, I'm going to do the rest of my life being me. And you know what? I don't go to church. I'm Catholic, okay? I was raised Catholic. Christians don't like Catholics. Now, Harvest Church first responders should be ashamed of yourself. No, you're not, but you should screw your religion. First Amendment, freedom of religion, freedom of speech. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Soto. You're welcome. Next, I have Errol Kosiewicz.

Yeah, can I use the overhead projector? You guys, I haven't seen you in a while, and I wanted to make some comments to you today. Now, California Public Records Request Act requires you to provide information to the public. Now I've been asking for almost two years for the city of Riverside to put all of the money that they've been stealing from the taxpayers through nonprofits to through vendors, through LLCs, through private businesses, through purchase cards. I've asked you in writing. You guys have given me the middle finger. So can you flip the second page? Okay, I have records going back of purchase orders to 2014 I have public records from the city. Can you I just want to show you the 2014?

Can you go to the third page?

Thank you very much Now I asked back in 2024 For a vendors list from the city of Riverside now Carmen provided this to me. It's 68 pages long worth 38 billion dollars Now, I've asked many of times for you guys to put this on your website so everybody can see it. I have it. I have it. But it's your right. It's up to you to put it on the website so the taxpayers can see what you're stealing. Can you flip the page? Now, this, go ahead. Thank you very much. I got three minutes. I'm going to use the whole three minutes. Now, this is IC Mark. Go a little bit down a little bit more. Thank you. Now, this is IC Mark. This is a public pension retirement fund provided by the city for more pension retirement money. Money laundered money to your guys' own retirement. Now, this was $49 million. It's your records, you guys. Your records, not mine. Your records. Now, these are wire transfers deliberately dealt with IC Mark, which is a nonprofit for public pensions. $49 million. No accountability here with public funds. Can you flip the next page? Thank you very much. Now, I wanted to talk, too, about blue zones. Okay, blue zones are made up... Zones or whatever it is to money launder money now go ahead and flip the other page because I only got 20 seconds. Thanks Now this was provided to me by the city clerk two hundred and eight thousand dollars of IH EP Now I I don't know what happened to either ten million dollars you guys we have a lot and lot of problems here and SO I'M ONLY AT NINE SECONDS RIGHT NOW. I COULD BE UP HERE FOR MONTHS GOING THROUGH ALL THE RECORDS THAT I HAVE, BUT WE NEED SOME ACCOUNTABILITY FROM OUR CITY COUNCIL. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

NEXT I HAVE TIFFANY TATE. TIFFANY TATE HERE. GRACE MARTIN, ARE YOU IN LINE? ARE YOU HERE? Okay, here comes Dr. Martin. Welcome, Dr. Martin.

Thank you, Mayor, members of city council. Good afternoon. Hi, Dell. Happy birthday. We love you. All right. I am actually here to comment on item 42. We understand that there is a letter to the JPA on your closed session item. It's going to be very brief. I know you're very busy. Grace Martin, chief executive officer for the March JPA. March JPA and City of Riverside have been long-term partners over 30 years, and we're very proud of that partnership, love working with their staff, and my request is simple. This item that's before the council in closed session is going into closed session for the JPA Commission tomorrow. with several other communications that did not make your packet that we will discuss in close session with the Commission. So we are just asking very respectfully to please allow the JPA to handle this matter as the lead agency. And our legal counsel is happy to coordinate additional information with their legal counsel. Thank you.

All right, thank you, Dr. Martin. All right, I have the Riverside County Black Chamber Health and Wellness. Who's here for that? There's no name on this. Black Chamber.

Black Chamber.

Hi, you guys calling the Black Chamber? You want to be members?

Yeah. Just call us up, huh?

Hi. Good afternoon.

I didn't know, Patricia, I was going to be speaking, but I just wanted to...

It's right here on the card. Okay.

Here he comes. Peppy's coming. Peppy, that clock is ticking. Get down here. How many seconds we got?

Here, go ahead. We on TV?

Are we on TV?

No, in behalf of the Riverside County Black Chamber of Commerce, I want to thank Dale Roberts for all the work that he's done in the community for the years that he's been here. I think it was a great deal of support. We are honored to have him in our presence and we just thank God for the 90 years that he's been here and that we hope that he has many, many more to follow.

On the issue that I wrote on the card just to stay congruent, I am with Covered California. We've been navigators since the beginning when Obama wrote the law. Cover California is still going strong, but it's being very challenged and strangling people that are of the DACA. So I wanted to talk to you guys about Riverside because we're going to be doing a big movement trying to make sure Luis, Luis, all of us can get together and work for those who are DACA related. Thank you.

Thank you both. Thank you very much. Sure. All right. Next, I have Juan Serrato. LEAVE FOR ITEM 35. WELCOME, MR. SERRATO.

WELL, HELLO. GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. MY NAME IS JUAN SERRATO. I'M WITH THE LABORS INTERNATIONAL OF NORTH AMERICA. SO I'M SPEAKING ON THE WCA agreement. So I just stand here before you today to express the unwavering support for West Coast Arborist, a contractor that has consistently demonstrated a commitment to excellence and responsibility with our community at Riverside. Throughout the tenure, West Coast Arborist has continually exceeded expectations with the quality of their work, setting a standard of excellence that reflects positivity on our city. THEIR DEDICATION UPHOLDING THE HIGHEST INDUSTRY STANDARDS IS EVIDENT THROUGH THEIR QUARTERLY TRAININGS, ENSURING THAT EVERY MEMBER OF THEIR TEAM IS NOT ONLY SKILLED, BUT ALSO CERTIFIED TO PERFORM THEIR DUTIES WITH PRECISION AND SAFETY. WHAT TRULY SETS WEST COAST ARBORIST APART IS OUR INVESTMENT COMMUNITY. WITH APPROXIMATELY 200 OTHER EMPLOYEES CALLING RIVERSIDE HOME, It is clear that they are deeply rooted in our city, both figuratively and literally. This level of local employment speaks volumes about their commitment to contributing to the economic and social fabric of Riverside. In the light of the exemplary track record and significant contributions to our community, I urge the council to extend their support to West Coast Arborists. By doing so, we affirm that we are a recognition of their valuable presence in Riverside and ensure that they can continue their outstanding work for the betterment of our city. So thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Serrano. Thank you so much, too. Thank you. Thank you.

and mayor if I if I may I just for my colleagues there's there's a boatload of Leona members outside they just couldn't make it into the chamber but I just want it there they're all all right so dr. Tiffany Tate are you here did you come back Tiffany Tate going once going twice you're not here I'm gonna move on okay we have a caller let's take a caller please

Hello.

Hi. Go ahead.

Hello, everyone in Riverside. If you're not aware, the city officials in this city are trying to sell you on this climate change policy that they're bringing in. This is a global plan coming from the United Nations, and their agenda 2030. Please Google that and look it up. But look at different versions of it because they're trying to tell you that this is about having clean water, clean air, all of that. That's not the truth. We've got fluoride and chlorine in our waters. If you're not filtering your water, you're really putting dangerous toxins into your body. And as far as the air, they're spraying the air every single day. Look up in the sky and you see these chemtrails. Those are toxins they're spraying. But you'd have to research that information. And this city, the officials, I know the mayor, she is very strong with this climate change policy, whether she is not aware of who's behind it or it just fits her policy. political agenda to her career. I mean, they get state funds by implementing these programs and federal funds. But then the bottom line, you guys are the ones that are going to be suffering because you're going to be having to credit for every carbon footprint, your carbon footprint. Anyway, on another note, 26 years ago, I was part of protesters. We were protesting the Taisha Miller shooting. If you remember that whole saga, it was pretty sad and how the city responded to that. Well, there were certain black members in the community that refused to speak out. And Dale Roberts was one of those citizens. He was not to be seen because if he would spoke out about that, he would not be getting the praise from the city that he is getting today. I was there. Talk to those people who were there. Pete Dell Roberts did not speak out on the shooting of Taisha Miller. There were other people that came forward, a lot of church members, a lot of pastors, local pastors, including Reverend Munford. Anyway, just thought I'd share. Thank you.

All right. Let's have our next caller, please.

Hi, my name is Christine Seaman. I just graduated with a Masters in Public Policy from UC Riverside. I just have a couple questions about the flock cameras and the ALPRs that are around the city. I'm curious if you all know uh probably not off the top of the heads but if there's a way for me to get information on how much uh the city of riverside is paying for those cameras um i'd like more information about the contracts and ucr is saying that they do not own the cameras that are on campus but the city does and i'm wondering if that's correct that's all all right thank you um let's have our next caller please

Good afternoon, honorable council, city staff. This is Patrick Maloney. I want to first off say congratulations on the amazing turnout. I tried my hardest to get in, but there is a huge line. So congratulations to Mr. Del Roberts on your 90th birthday and all you've done for Riverside. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and so many people and citizens from Riverside. You're incredible and thank you for what you've done. And just by that turnout, you can see all the love in the room of how many people appreciate what you've done for Riverside. from uh patrick mooney just a local resident love to have come in there but you are amazing so on a side note i just want to say thank you again to everybody who comes down to city council i know that there can be people that are a little bit over the top but they are passionate about their town so we got to get some people that we don't agree with and people agree with and i'm always very happy that people call in or show up and uh once again thank you from the bottom of my heart to mr dell roberts for everything you're doing for riverside And last but not least, I always have to do a little shameless self-promotion. Tonight, karaoke at the hideaway. Tomorrow, back to the grind is my Riverside open mic. Friday, I'm back at the hideaway. And if you're in Big Bear this weekend or many weekends, I'll be your emcee. So I hope to see you there. Other than that, I'm going to shut up now. And once again, congratulations to Mr. Del Roberts. And happy birthday from Patrick Maloney and all the people in Riverside that can't call in. So have a great day and thank you.

Thank you. Okay, I have Tiffany Tate. If you're here, Tiffany, this is the last time I'm going to call you. Come on down. Thank you. And after that, I have Dr. Regina Patton-Stell.

Thank you for being patient with me as I was running around all over Riverside. I just want to say that I'm happy to congratulate Del Roberts. I have had the privilege of being one of his speakers for his activities uplifting young women and girls in the community, and I am um so privileged and honored to wish him a happy birthday and to kick off his del roberts day from him uplifting young women and girls and bringing the black history day parade to riverside county and from him being a security guard and just moving forward and being a mover and shaker so it is a true honor to lift him up because it is important to give people flowers while they are still with us So thank you for recognizing him and giving him his flowers while he is still alive. So thank you for recognizing him, and congratulations.

Thank you, Dr. Tate. All right. Dr. Patton Stell. Okay, I got you. Good to see you. Welcome. Welcome.

Well, good afternoon. I am so excited. I have to tell you that I did not write the resolution. I'm here representing the Riverside branch of the NAACP. We are honored, like all of us, to be celebrating. We call him Uncle Dale. And thank you, guys. Talese wrote this. I'm not going to read the whole thing. I hope she's not offended. It's a book. But I'm going to highlight the resolution. Thank you, Talese. She's here with the actually framed copy. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Riverside NAACP branch, in recognition of a lifetime of service, leadership, and commitment to Riverside's youth and community, and in commemoration of his birthday. This is a couple of reactions I'm going to go with. Riverside and ACP Branch 1059 proudly recognizes individuals whose lives exemplify the principles of service, advocacy, leadership, opportunity, and commitment to the advancement of the whole community. Adrian Dale Roberts, lifelong Riverside community leader, graduate of Poly High School, 1955. He's distinguished himself as an athlete, swimming, football, and track. He's dedicated himself to positively touching and transforming the lives of Riverside's youth through his work. Through the city of Parks and Recs, through the school district, I could go on and on. He served as a assistant principal, football coach, go on. He established the Black Student Union, the Poly High School in Riverside area, subsequently serving as an advisor to the United Black Students of California. So after whereas returning or retiring from the district following 38 years of service, Mr. Roberts continued his commitment to students and families and adults in need. He still does it today. THERE'S SEVERAL WHEREASES. I'M GOING TO SKIP A COUPLE OF THEM. MR. ROBERTS' COMMITMENT IN EXPANDING THE HORIZONS OF YOUNG PEOPLE HAS PROVIDED RIVERSIDE YOUTH WITH OPPORTUNITIES TO EXPERIENCE PLACES AND POSSIBILITIES BEYOND THEIR IMMEDIATE SURROUNDINGS. TRIPS TO THE SNOW, THE BEACH, AND CONFERENCES DEDICATE THAT MEANS JUST DECADES OF SERVICE HAS THIS MAN DONE RECOGNIZED THROUGH NUMEROUS HONORS I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH HE'S RECEIVED THE SPIRIT OF CITY AWARDS AND WE'RE GOING TO SKIP A COUPLE WHERE AS IS NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE RIVERSIDE NACP BRANCH 1059 HEREBY HONORS AND CELEBRATES ADRIAN DELL ROBERTS for a lifetime of extraordinary service, leadership, mentorship, advocacy, and commitment. Be it further resolved that the branch proudly joins with the community today and celebrate this man's birthday. It is an occasion to recognize the remarkable life he has lived. Thank you, Dr. Still.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. All right, that was our last request to speak, so we'll close public comment, and we're going to move on on our agenda. And Mayor and Council Members have communications now, so we will start with Ward 1, Council Member Falcone.

Thank you, Mayor. In keeping with our theme, we haven't met in a couple weeks. So on the 13th of August, we celebrated the topping out ceremony of Del Roberts Gymnasium at Bordwell Park, which is the final. And that ceremony of which my colleagues, Councilmember Cervantes, Councilmember Mill, and the Mayor were there is the final upward construction for the building, and we're looking forward to that completion. The other thing I'll share, we're about to start a town hall tour all across Ward 1, and we have quite a few coming up, but on The 31st will be here in the City Council Chambers for a town hall for all folks in Ward 1 that maybe own historic properties or historic houses and need to know what are some tax credits and other ways to save some money when repairing or fixing up houses, their houses. On September 1st will be our Senior Citizen Town Hall at Bordwell Park Stratton Center at 1130 a.m. I hope to see a lot of folks there and a series of others from businesses to a general town hall to student town hall and we'll share all that online in the interest of time, Mayor. A lot happened, a lot of ways to get involved in Ward 1. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Councilmember Cervantes. Thank you, Mayor. I would be brief, but I was happy as well to attend the topping ceremony with the Boardwalk Park Advisory Group, Barn Luther King Senior Group, many other members of our community. Just a privilege and a moment of pride. I want to thank my colleagues that were able to be there as well. And those who couldn't, I know sometimes it's hard to... during the weekday but just very exciting time on the east side there are so many incredible developments taking place right now throughout the east side community whether it be the east elementary school patterson park cesar chavez community center boardwalk park gymnasium we're very proud of all the developments that are taking place but i want to especially thank Carmen Dell Roberts and all of the members, many of them are here in the chamber, partners who are a part of the advisory group that helped to champion that effort. It's beautiful to see it coming to life, and we cannot wait for groundbreaking. Well, we're in groundbreaking, but we cannot wait for grand opening day. So thank you, and any other updates we'll post on social media for ways to be involved. Much coming up in the months of September and October, but that's all I have now. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council Member Cervantes. All right, Council Member Robillard.

Thank you, Mayor. Last week, I had the opportunity to introduce our new city attorney, James Johnson, at Good Morning Riverside. It was great to welcome him as well as our interim city manager at the same meeting. Also, we had recently held another Ward 3 Community Conversations meeting at the Riverside Airport. We had a really, really great turnout to that. And just a reminder that our next meeting, it'll be on November 5th from 530 to 7 p.m. at Church on the Hill. And also last week, we had a chance to visit Gar Labs in Ward 2 as part of the Economic Development Rise series, and it was a great meeting with their team, seeing their operation firsthand, and seeing this 40-year-old business, which is now going to be passed on to its employees. It's going to be an employee-owned business, which is a fantastic thing. And it's happening right here in our city. And that's all for me. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Condor. Thanks, Mayor.

We've got more important things to do here. But one quick thing, Saturday, November 12th, coming up is the 51st Annual Military Affairs Banquet Picnic up at March where we feed 5,000 family members and military members. If you do want to volunteer for that, we still need some volunteers, contact our office, and we'll get you in touch with the security personnel to be there. But it's a great event. Again, 5,000 people are going to feed that day and thank them for what they do for our country. Thank you.

Council Member Mill.

Thank you, Mayor. And Dr. Tate made a comment about while Dell's still here. Dell at 90 looks better than most of us up here do. So, I mean, good Lord. He's going to be. So he's going to be around a lot longer, I can assure you that. Okay, I had a lot going on since we were last together. Got to go along with the city manager, went on a ride along with our code enforcement team. And I got to tell you, that's a tough job, knocking on folks' front door and telling them that they have issues at their home. So, so much respect for our code enforcement officers that are out on the front lines trying to improve the community and our neighborhoods every day. My team and I also went out to the Sunshine Haven Animal Rescue Hospital out in, it's actually in Ward 4, but it's a non-profit agency here in the city that helps with animals that have been, wild animals that have been injured and whatnot. What an amazing facility that the folks there have put together. And then this morning was out at CBU. CBU always doing something. And this morning we had the groundbreaking of the new dental hygiene building at CBU. Again, Dr. Ron Ellis is always at the forefront of where the job market's going to be, and we need dental hygienists here. so cbu now will be offering degrees in dental hygiene and we had the ground breaking out there this morning some upcoming events uh on thursday uh for the mobile home park in ward five uh we will be having a town hall for the residents of that mobile home park on september 7th which is labor day my office is very happy to help along with the inland empire labor council to bring the very first labor day parade to riverside we're going to have a labor day parade and then a little barbecue and fun over at White Park afterwards. So I hope the community comes out to celebrate with that. And then on September 12th at Vegas Park, we're going to have the Vegas Park Boxing Club show. It begins early in the morning, goes all day. You want to see some impressive young men and women. Come on out and check out the boxing show at Vegas Park. That's all I have, Mayor.

Thank you, Councilmember. Councilmember Hernandez. Thank you.

On August 19th, I was invited to meet with board members and staff of the Riverside Community Health Foundation. This was an informative meeting that highlighted the organization's history and evaluation with illustration, which illustrated their advancement and expansion in providing health services and preventative educational programs. One of them being the MAS program, Mujeres Activas en la Salud, led by Ward 6 resident Elia Camarena. On August 22nd, I had the honor of attending the ribbon cutting ceremony for the La Sierra High School's brand new football stadium. A huge win for La Sierra students who can now compete right on their own campus. And as an added bonus, the La Sierra Eagles celebrated a win that night. So that was awesome. Updates, upcoming events and meetings. There's a transformative climate communities grant public input meeting on Thursday, September 3rd, held at the Arlanza Community Center at 6 p.m. This is a community engagement meeting held where residents will receive information and have the opportunity to provide feedback on the available state grant that the City of Riverside is applying for that aims to provide investment in underserved communities to mitigate the effects of climate change. And that's it, Mayor.

right thank you counselor hernandez councilmember thank you mayor just two quick things um on days like this where it's nice and cool outside um we want to remind folks if they prefer cooler we have cooling centers throughout the city and if you're on the west side in ward 7 those cooling centers are at the la sierra library and la sierra senior center please know those are a resource for you um if needed to stay cool Also, on Wednesday, September 9th, my office will be collaborating with Councilmember Hernandez's office to host a meeting where we'll hear a presentation from our public works team, the Vision Zero project, and then we'll give some updates. Again, that's Wednesday, September 9th at La Sierra Senior Center from 6 to 7 p.m., and we hope to see you there. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Councillor Herman-Ray. Just a quick couple things for me. Last week, I had the honor of leading the Big City Mayors Coalition, the 13 largest cities in California. I led these mayors to Sacramento to meet with some legislators and have a press conference. So it was really well attended. That was great. And I'll be bringing them here to Riverside in October for a convening. Also, I was able to go to Ensenada this last weekend to celebrate our 50th anniversary with our sister city. They're our 50th, they're our second oldest sister city. So Ensenada and us are celebrating our 50th anniversary this year. So I got to meet with the mayor down there. And I just wanted to thank Latino Network for being able to be available, letting me speak with them last week and giving them an update on all the things we have going on in the city and for all their work in helping us with the Cesar Chavez Center and the Cesar Chavez statue renaming. So appreciate that. um we have a couple uh or no just one committee meeting coming up i think we have our housing and homelessness committee as at 3 30 p.m on monday august 31st here in chambers all right i am now going to ask our interim city manager tom hatch if he has any updates he would like to give us

Thank you, Madam Mayor. No report tonight.

Okay, great. Thank you. Council, any declaration of conflicts of interest? Anybody? Ex parte communications? No, no, no? Okay, great. Wonderful. All right. Yeah, that's the best thing, right? Okay. Well, we are now at Item 5. If you all don't have the agenda before you, Item 5 reads, Mayor Locke Dawson to recognize Adrian Del Roberts on his 90th birthday on August 23rd as Del Roberts Day. We have a number of folks who want to speak and present some certificates, but first I just want to thank Mary Welch, who's here in the crowd. Mary, wave your hand. When Mary reached out to me and said, do you think we could do something for Del? I said, well, let me think about it. Yes.

So that was not a hard decision to make.

But thank you, Mary. I appreciate it. And we are really pleased to recognize Del for his service to our community and also proclaim this day in his honor. So we have a couple of things. I think what I would like to do is I'll save the city's proclamation for the end, but I will call on a few people. I know I've got Council Member Cervantes is up on the list here. You want to go first?

Well, there are so many things that could be said. I will say in my five years of being on the council, I have never seen a line wrapped around City Hall for someone being recognized on their birthday. And I had to text a lot of people that the council chambers are packed. So I'm very sorry if you're trying to get in. But Del, it's a testament to the community that you have touched here in Riverside. You know, for me personally, I can't explain and put into words the impact you've had on my life and the lives that I've been able to see you impact in the Eastside and beyond is truly something to be proud of. And I hope that you are able to, I want to say rest in knowing how well that you have taken care of this community, but we all know Dale Roberts and he doesn't stop. Am I right? Right. But I think that that's also what motivates so many of us to keep fighting, to keep going, to keep showing up. And as I shared at the topping ceremony, but I'll share here with the community, I'll never forget sitting down with Del when I was running for city council and asking for his support. Because if you're running for War II office, you want to have Del Roberts standing by you. And I'll never forget, even Carmen as well, because when I went to talk to people at doors, I kid you not, there were times where they'd look at, say, all I need to know and see is that Del and Carmen are with you. And I'm with you. But I know that for me, that that was a testament to you. And again, to what you have done as a couple, as a community, and with everyone behind you. But your legacy is truly, to me, a reflection of your heart. and your soul, and for what you have given to us here in Riverside. And so I just want to say I wish you the happiest birthday. I hope you are able to take in all the love that you truly are worthy of receiving. And I hope that you just never forget that the impact you've made on so many lives Reaches beyond even the borders of the city of Riverside. We have Olympic athletes We have so many students youth who've gone on to incredible colleges spaces higher education leaders in different parts of the world and Some of their stories are tied to you and so I just want you to know that your legacy is going to live on in so many different ways and But we're so proud to be able to say here at the City of Riverside that we could celebrate you today and that your name will be on the building for the Dale Roberts Gymnasium that is coming to Eastside. Thank you. So with that, I do have a certificate from the Office of War II as your council member. A current council member, now we get to share you with Council Member Falcone. But just know that anything I could ever do, I'm a phone call away. And as we all say, when Dale Roberts calls, you answer. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Cervantes. All right. I hope you brought a wagon, Del, because I got quite a few things to give you. All right. Next up is your friend and mine, Supervisor Jose Medina. Welcome, Supervisor Medina. Thank you.

Well, it certainly is exciting to be here to celebrate Del Roberts' 90th birthday and Del Roberts' 50th. Day here in the Chamber of Riverside City Council. So thank you to the mayor. Thank you to the city council members. I first had the opportunity to meet Del over 30 years ago when I was a brand new teacher at Pauley High School. And I feel like Del maybe took me under his wing. But we certainly became great friends, and we remain great friends. When I was elected to the legislature, I happened to meet then-Senator Holly Mitchell. L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell. Holly Mitchell shared a story with me. She said she had never been to Sacramento ever before when she was a student at Riverside Poly High School. And it was Del Roberts who took her and the BSU members, and I think Holly was the president of BSU at the time, when Del Roberts took Holly Mitchell to Sacramento. And I can tell you this, having served with Holly Mitchell in Sacramento, she is a force. She remains a force on the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. It is really an honor for me to call Del a friend, and he really is a friend. And the history of Riverside and the history of Del Roberts are so much interwoven. You can't talk about the history of Riverside without talking about the history of Del Roberts. It is vast, and it is good. And if you have been fortunate to hear his stories, you know what I'm talking about. Or if you're fortunate like I have been over the years to be able to share a breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants, Zacatecas Cafe. He's been known to go there once or twice. So it really is an honor to be here. on behalf of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, to honor Del Roberts for all the accomplishments. There are so many that I won't really start to try to name them. But let me mention one, because just one. You know many of them. It was Del Roberts who, while he was at Riverside Poly, started the Multicultural Council. And the Multicultural Council, if I understand it well, brought students from different ethnic groups, different racial groups together. It was very important. It still is so important, right? And that just part of the work that Del Roberts has done over the years. Again, an honor to be here with all of you to celebrate Del Roberts and Del Roberts Day. his 90th birthday, and let me just lift up the proclamation that I bring from Riverside County Board of Supervisors that he can add to his wagon today.

Thank you, Supervisor Medina.

Thank you.

All right, while they are taking photos, I am going to call up Chief Larry Gonzalez to the podium. I know he is going to make some comments. If you can get in there, Chief. I don't, highly unlikely to make it to the podium. Thank you, Jose. Thanks for being here. Chief.

Happy birthday, Uncle Del, I guess it is. You know, I would tease him because he does get so many awards. I'm surprised he's not getting, like, the Del Roberts Award for Del Roberts tonight. Thought you had to die to get that many awards or something, but I'm glad you're here still at 90. In all seriousness, the things you'll hear over and over, the theme with Del Roberts is the same words you hear over, community leader, he's a leader, he's a coach, a mentor, and to most of us in here, a friend. I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Del Roberts' effect on community relations with the Riverside Police Department. I couldn't wait to talk. At first, I was like, oh, I'll say a few words. But after I heard the public comment come in, I said, I can't wait to talk now. Because I don't know who it was, but to get us through our darkest days and even our good days and our darkest days again, that man was there from the beginning. I don't know what meetings that guy was at, but the meetings I was at, Del Roberts spoke out. And he's been instrumental to not only his favorite chief being me, but the past chiefs.

Right?

Five chiefs ago, he's been involved. He was on chief's advisory boards during this time. And to build those relationships, it's taken us a long time. And that man's, if not the biggest part, a huge part, it's probably the biggest part of that, to build those relationships. I know he is somebody I can always count on. He's going to shoot me straight. He's going to tell me the truth. But as a friend, I always know that he has my back. Unless I'm wrong. Maybe not. But he's always been there as a friend. Just a quick little story. I was sitting on an interview panel last week for UCR. And a couple of police chiefs on there, a couple of higher education folks on there for a position there. And one of the questions that we were going over was community involvement, how important that is for UCR to reach out to their community. One of the panel members says, well, I was mentored by the best. I was mentored by Del Roberts. I said, well, I was mentored by Del Roberts. The other police chief who's in here said, well, I was mentored by Del Roberts. So it was great to see what a shadow he cast across this city. And I'm proud to call him my friend. And the last thing, too, is nice. In my position, I get phone calls all day long, texts all day long. They usually start off, hey, how are you? Good. How are you? And then it'll come in with, can you do this? Can you take care of this? Have you looked into that? Or Dell will call me regularly just to say, how you doing? You all right? I'm like, there's no question behind it. There's no ask, just to see how I'm doing. And I can't tell you how much I appreciate that and his friendship and relationship over the years. And I know it will be many more years that I have that relationship to rely on. But I'm thankful that... that he's always here for us, and building those relationships between the police department and the community. Because if we lose the community, we lose the police department. And we need that. So thank you, Dale. Happy birthday.

Thank you, Chief. I don't got a certificate for you, doctor.

And Dale, I have a very nice surprise for you. So let me ask the folks in back if they can play the video.

Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Oh, Leah, I got to go. Leah, I got to go. I'm about to record the message for Dale. I got to go. Okay, bye. Yes, Dale, that was Leah Newell telling me what to say in the video.

Greetings, Riverside.

Mayor Locke Dawson, thank you so much for this opportunity to share from my perspective in my delight and thank you and Riverside City Council for your brilliant idea of declaring an Adrienne Dale Roberts Day across the city of Riverside. I join with Poly Bears all across the land, including those who now call LA County home and congratulating you Dale in honoring you, Dale, for your decades of dedication and service to us as your students forever, to the school system across Riverside Unified and the Eastside and the Riverside community as a whole. You have no idea how often we all talk about you, the role you played in our individual lives, and the example you set in what civic engagement looks like. what civic engagement feels like and what every individual person can do to make their own community a better place for generations to come. That's how we've experienced you throughout the course of our lives. And I'm so thrilled that your fellow Riverside residents acknowledge it as well. So even though you're a Riverside boy, you do have family and friends and former students who call LA County home. So here, in the Hall of Administration in LA County, I want to bring congratulations to you from all of us on Dale Roberts Day in the city of Riverside. Congratulations.

So, Del, you're probably wondering about that. But so I sit on the South Coast Air Quality Management District with Holly. So we're colleagues. And I mentioned to her that we were doing this. And she said, oh, let me do a video. Let me do it. She had like very little time because she's traveling right now. She wasn't able to make it. She sends her regrets for that. But so she managed to get that in and get under the wire because it was so important to her like it is important to all of us. So we wanted to make sure she got her video in. So, okay. Council Member Conder, I've got the proclamation. Did you want to speak before we go? Okay. So I'm going to read the proclamation that declares this day Del Roberts Day and And then what we're going to do is I'm going to let you know we have a number of other certificates and recognitions from various folks. And then we can have you come in with Carmen and we'll take a picture with council if that's okay with you. Does that work? All right. So there are a lot of whereases. You're a whereas kind of guy. Whereas Adrian Del Roberts has dedicated his life to serving the city of Riverside through unwavering leadership, mentorship, and community service, leaving an immeasurable impact on generations of residents. Whereas Del Roberts graduated from Poly High in 1955, where he lettered in swimming, football, and track, demonstrating the dedication and teamwork that would become hallmarks of his lifelong service. Whereas while attending RCC, Dell began his career working at Butcher Boy Foods and later joined the City of Riverside Parks and Recreation Department at Lincoln Park, beginning a lifelong commitment to serving the youth of our community. And whereas Dell has generously served in leadership roles numerous civic organizations including RCC Foundation Board, Boardwell Park Advisory Committee, Salvation Army, Youth Service Center, Riverside Police Chiefs Advisory Committee, Mission Inn Foundation, while directing a community parades for Black History Month since 1980 and numerous other historic community celebrations. And whereas through countless youth trips, educational experiences, and mentorship opportunities, Dell has broadened the horizons of Riverside's young people, giving many their first experiences beyond their neighborhoods and inspiring them to pursue their dreams. Whereas Del's enduring legacy is strengthened by the love and support of his beautiful wife, Carmen, their four sons, Adrian, Glenn, Craig, and Terrence, and their shared commitment to faith, service, and the Riverside community through Park Avenue Baptist Church. Now, therefore, I, Patricia Lakdos, and Mayor of the City of Riverside, do hereby congratulate Adrian Del Roberts on the celebration of his 90th birthday and express our deepest gratitude for his extraordinary lifetime of service and proudly proclaim August 25th as Del Roberts Day in the City of Riverside. And we encourage all residents to join in recognizing and celebrating Dell. And just follow his example. That's all you have to do, and our world will be a better place. So, yeah, that deserves a round of applause. So I've got a certificate of recognition from Assemblymember Leticia Castillo here. I have a certificate of recognition from Dr. Corey Jackson, Assemblymember, and I told you you need a wagon. You need something. Lots of people. And a beautiful resolution from the California State Senate from Senator Sabrina Cervantes. So this is really quite beautiful. I am not reading all those whereases. There's too many of those. BEFORE WE TAKE A PICTURE, I THINK COUNCILMEMBER CONDER HAS SOMETHING HE WOULD LIKE TO SAY. AND THEN DELL, WE'D LIKE YOU TO COME UP TO THE MIC IF YOU WOULD.

NO, I JUST WANT TO REPEAT WHAT EVERYBODY ELSE SAID. BUT WHEN I FIRST CAME IN AND SAW DELL, I WALKED UP TO HIM AND I SAID, HEY, YOU OLD FART, HOW DID 90 YEARS HAPPEN? BECAUSE IT'S BEEN ABOUT 20 YEARS SINCE I MET HIM. BUT HE IS AMAZING. GOD HAS PUT HIM AND CARMEN IN OUR WORLD. 90 years. I just can't imagine where it's gone, my friend. It's just crazy. God's going to give you more. Keep working. We need your voice out there. Work until the day he calls you home. So thank you, my friend.

God bless. Thank you.

So do y'all want to hear from the man himself? You think you might come on up and say a few words, Del? And I mean a few words still.

Oh, boy. I think the less I say, the better. I don't believe it. I'll be short. Yeah, I know some of you know that's hard for me to be short. I'll give a special shout out to my wife, Carmen, who puts up. Every time I get an award, That means she has work to do. But I want to thank everybody. From the bottom of my heart, I've been in Riverside 81 years. And I came here when I was nine years old. And I can truthfully say, unlike some others, I've never wanted to be any other place. I love the city. I love the school system. I love everything about it. Not to say that this system is perfect by any means, but it's a lot better than some other systems. So I'm proud to be here. I'm proud to be a member. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. God bless you.

Sam? Oh, come on, what is he doing?

yeah so these guys can get photos

Okay, this is very, this is impossible.

Thank you. oh okay i see what you're saying you might have to get in there

Thank you.

I don't know, but I need to, I don't want to. Here, just take it. Take it from me. With him or what? Thank you, honey.

Come on, Lynn, grin. Come on. That one right there. You're good. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right.

Council and public, we're going to take a five-minute break so the chambers can clear so y'all can go party. And so we will come back and resume our meeting at 412, 415, somewhere in there. Thank you. Believe it or not, we have another few proclamations here. We did have a request to speak by somebody that was outside. We're not opening the phone lines again, but because this person was outside and couldn't get in, I'm going to go ahead and let her come in and speak to item 33. Is Maria Driver here? Maria Driver? I know. I'm sorry. Come on down. So we're going to let Ms. Driver speak because she was not able to get in during public comment.

I didn't want to speak about Dell, although it's wonderful to see such support. I do also want to offer my support for item 33, which is the rebate plan for battery backup available to Riverside residents. I think this is a great idea. We need to improve our energy grid, and the way we can do that individually you know on our own in our own homes with solar panels electric cars and battery backup is a way to take the strain off the city utilities help them so we don't have brownouts for other people and i just want to offer my support and also philip thank you for your idea of a moratorium on um uh yeah the data centers the best data center we have in riverside is our public libraries

I love it. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Ms. Driver. Thank you, Director Christmas, for our library system. Yes, yes. If I could ask folks to step out of the doorway so the door can close so it's quite loud in here. Please. We just need the doorway to close. It's a lot cooler next door, so... All right. Thank you. So item number six on our agenda is a proclamation recognizing National Nonprofit Day on August 17. And we have the Lighthouse of Hope Foundation here to receive the proclamation. One of our partners in our California Volunteers effort. So happy to see you here. But I'm going to let Councilmember Mill has the proclamation.

Thank you very much, Mayor. Thank you guys for hanging out. This is a great honor to get to honor one of our non-profits here. There are so many non-profits throughout Riverside. The mayor's office reached out to me and asked, do you have a non-profit in your ward that we could honor this year? We have a lot. And the first one that came to my mind was our folks from the Lighthouse of Hope Foundation. They're right there on Jackson in California. And they just do amazing, amazing work in the community helping those in need. It's heartwarming to see the work that you guys do. So I'm very blessed. We're going to honor you as part of our celebration of National Nonprofit Day. So I'll read a few of the whereases that we have here today. Whereas August 17th is designated as National Nonprofit Day, a day to honor and celebrate the vital contributions of nonprofit organizations throughout our city, And whereas nonprofits are essential to the fabric of our communities, providing support, resources, and services that positively impact the lives of countless individuals and families, that's something you most certainly do every single day. And whereas the dedication and commitment of nonprofit staff, volunteers, and advocates are critical to driving change and improving our community, and whereas by recognizing National Nonprofit Day, we aim to increase awareness of the important role Nonprofits play in Riverside and encourage all residents to support these organizations in their missions. And whereas the city of Riverside is proud to celebrate the innovative work of our local nonprofits to encourage community involvement and support for these indispensable entities. Now, therefore, I, Patricia Logg Dawson, that would be. Have a Sean Mill, yeah. Via Councilmember Sean Mill. Mayor of the City of Riverside, California, do hereby proclaim August 17th as National Nonprofit Day. The mayor and all of the council wish to encourage all residents of the City of Riverside to support nonprofit organizations that enrich our community, whether by volunteering, donating, or simply sharing their mission. Every act of support makes a meaningful difference, and it was dated this day, the 17th of August, 2026, signed by our mayor, Patricia Locke Dawson. We can applaud. Thank you. I feel like I need to put a little sign, let people know, okay, we can applaud now.

So Donna, I think, you're going to call Donna. Do you want to come say a few words, Donna?

Bringing up folks from Lighthouse of Hope. Also, our assembly member, Leticia Castillo, also have a certificate of recognition for the Lighthouse of Hope Foundation in honor of National Nonprofit Day on behalf of the California State Assembly. So congratulations on all the great work. Thank you for all the great work you do in my ward and for the people of Riverside. It's a blessing to get to go out and just hang out with you while you're helping folks. So please share a little bit about what you guys do.

so um yes i'm honored to be here today thank you so much for acknowledging the work that we're doing in the community so you already know that i'm donna saltia the founder and ceo for lighthouse of hope and we get to do so many amazing things not only with food but helping with food insecurity as well as the clothing and shoes and diapers and wipes and whatever we can do and not without my amazing team who sits with me and walks with me with my my last minute pop-ups we're all over the city doing things late nights early mornings whatever we can do to continue to make sure that the community knows that we're there for them and i want to give a huge shout out to you thank you mayor as well but thank you so much for coming out to my community food distribution it means so much to have the support of the city uh not just so much as like we need to be a scene but just knowing that there is work going on behind the scenes and we we do it from our heart on the blacktop in 3 000 degrees weather We're out there doing a mighty work for our community, and we're just honored to be here today. Thank you so much for acknowledging us and the work that we do.

Thank you. Thank you for, like, blessing our community. Yes. And not only are they in Ward 5, they also have a location in Ward 3. You're on Brockton, right?

Yes, Tibbet Street, yes. We're there on Sunday. So you're spreading the love. We're making a great impact. You're spreading the love across town. We're spreading the love. Yes, ma'am. Yes, thank you so much.

Come down. Bring your team down. We've got a picture. Come, come, come.

Where are we going?

Look at the lolly.

Everyone look at the lolly. Okay, I'll take one. Perfect. Damien, you good?

Thank you, Council Member Mill. I couldn't think of a better representative to recognize non-profit. Okay, we are now at item number seven. Item number seven is our next presentation, and this is a proclamation recognizing September as National Preparedness Month. we have Mark Amos from our Emergency Operations Center here to accept the proclamation, and I'll just read a few whereases out of here. I won't go through the whole thing, but just so folks know. Whereas emergencies and disasters can occur unexpectedly, whereas the City of Riverside's Office of Emergency Management and partner agencies from organizations from the federal to the volunteer level dedicate countless hours, whereas this month is National Emergency Management Awareness Month, Whereas next month, National Preparedness Month, creates an opportunity for everyone in the City of Riverside to prepare for any type of emergency, including those due to natural hazards such as earthquakes, wildfires, and now extreme heat, technological hazards, and industrial accidents. Whereas emergency preparedness is a responsibility of all people in the City of Riverside, and each resident is encouraged to help build preparedness. And whereas people can find local emergency preparedness information and resources, including classes, through the Ready Riverside program at readyriverside.org. Now, therefore, I, Patricia Lock Dawson, Mayor of the City of Riverside, do hereby proclaim September 2026 as National Preparedness Month in the City of Riverside. And with that, I would like to invite Mr. Annis, please, to come forward and give us some remarks about this.

Thank you, Mayor and Council, for recognizing National Emergency Management Month and National Preparedness Month. Our Office of Emergency Management Team serves Riverside every day with planning, building capabilities, strengthening public policy, and coordinating the long-term recovery after disaster. We have many dedicated OEM staff here today representing our office and our work in response, recovery, grants, and preparedness. Community preparedness is how we build a resilient nation and more importantly, how we build a resilient Riverside. We need residents to prepare and plan for various hazards that we may face, whether that's an earthquake, wildfire, flood, or extreme heat. We would love to discuss with residents what they can do to prepare themselves, family, neighborhoods, and their businesses. They can reach out to schedule a presentation on our readyriverside.org webpage, which is also linked on the city's main website, riversideca.gov. We are also excited to continue our partnership with the gallery at Tyler Shopping Mall with our Ready Riverside Public Safety Expo coming next month, September 26th, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. Residents can come out to meet first responders, pick up checklists, and get their preparedness questions answered. As I mentioned, our website, it offers simple steps to get residents ready to build a kit, make a plan, stay informed, and get involved. Getting involved can mean community emergency response team training, which is a 20-hour program. We've got two of those coming up, one next month, and late September and another in early November. We also have listos training, which means ready. We can take an eight hour course and get residents ready for disasters that may come our way. We also can get involved by just using the 311 app. or calling 311 when we see a storm drain in need of cleaning. So whether we're facing this week's extreme heat, hopefully not next week's, or the winter El Nino rains, getting prepared now helps protect our families and our neighborhoods. Thank you for the support, and we appreciate this emphasis on preparedness.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Annis. And I do have a proclamation. If you'd like to come into the well, we can take a photo.

Wednesday National Preparedness Month.

Oh, Councilmember Condor.

Yeah, one of the things I like to say every time we talk about this issue is if you have to leave your house and leave it fast, one of the things you need to get and make sure is your medications. So one thing I advise people to do is go to Home Depot or Lowe's, get a parts box, small parts box, and put a week's worth of each of your medications in that box and put it somewhere preferably towards like the front of the garage where You know, if the house collapses, you can get to it if you have to run. And then about every 90 days, change those out because in a disaster situation and you need your medications, you might not be able to get them. So make sure you have that backup plan for yourself. Take care of yourself. Take care of your health. And just go get a little parts box, a couple bucks. It'll pay for itself in your health. Thanks, Mayor.

thank you councilmember honder and i'm sure that and many more tips are available on the ready riverside website so we are now at our item number eight and periodically we get to hear from our city departments and they get to do an overview tell us what they're up to and employee recognition and today we are here to Here from George Khalil, the director of our innovation and technology department. Mr. Khalil.

Good afternoon, honorable mayor, council members, and colleagues. My name is George Khalil, your chief innovation officer. And it's my pleasure to present before you today the overview of our departments. Our mission, I'll skip reading all of it, but we're essentially the glue that connects all departments. We work on the back end. We make sure that staff have the resources, the tools, and the software to be able to serve our community. WE'RE STRUCTURED UNDER THREE STRATEGIC DIVISIONS. WE HAVE OUR INNOVATION TEAM UNDER PRASAD MAHALI'S LEADERSHIP. THEY LEAD OUR RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT. THEY LEAD OUR BUSINESS PROCESS TRANSFORMATION, DATA ANALYTICS, PROJECT MANAGEMENT, GIS, INNOVATION AND CLIENT SERVICES, AS WELL AS AWARDS AND RECOGNITION TO MAKE SURE WE'RE BRINGING POSITIVE ATTENTION TO THE GOOD WORK OF THE CITY. Our strategic initiatives under Matthew Burrows. He leads our enterprise application team, database, infrastructure, data center, networking, operations, video cameras, and web application development. And administration under Chris Garcia. He leads our budget, procurement, policy purchasing, and special projects. A little bit of an overview. We're supporting the complexity of the city of Riverside is broad. We have 72 locations that we're connecting. We have more than 9,000 connected devices. And last year we had 36,000 support tickets to serve all of our city employees. And with that volume, just to put that in context, we have a support ticket coming in every 3.8 minutes if we're accounting for business hours, just to put the workload and volume. Love Chief McKintz for presentation, so I'm gonna use similar parallels. That's 140 service requests coming into IT per day, and that's not counting projects, maintenance, and things that we have to maintain. And the team has done that, and we're able to achieve 95% customer satisfaction rating. We're big believers in performance management, and we measure every service request as followed by a satisfaction survey. We have 37 projects from system upgrades, from permitting system enhancements to financial system upgrades, etc., as well as defending the city. Some of our major accomplishments we had, a lot of you have seen Rivi, our AI agent that we have on our website. It's also integrated with our phone system. It supported in excess of 5,000 conversations in the last year, and it's doing about 10% of the call volume right now coming into our 311 call center and achieving a fairly high satisfaction rate, 90 plus percent. Generational change project. We're trying to transform the city. So we have our chat bot is available 24 seven. We're continuing to enhance that. We're leveraging AI. We deployed Microsoft co-pilot to enhance productivity and support all of our departments. We're also leveraging data-driven decision-making, as our mayor always encourages us to. We launched the Dash. The Dash is accessible to all leadership for monitoring how their performance, employee, overtime analytics, et cetera. We also launched our GIS roadmap to be able to leverage a lot of real-time decision-making and dashboarding capabilities that Esri has, and much, much more. There is infrastructure upgrades, enhancements, maintenance, and replacement of outdated infrastructure. Some of our goals, we're continuing to defend the city. And just to give you context, we're under a constant barrage. And it's not just the attacks. I wanted to also mention the productivity enhancements. We had 27 million emails that was delivered to the city in the last 12 months. 21 million of those were filtered upfront by our cybersecurity systems. If we just put 10 seconds per email that staff would have to read, that is in excess of $3 million of labor, about 50 plus employee, full-time employee year long by just having to offset that volume of email coming through. So not only are we dealing with protecting the infrastructure, but we're also increasing productivity. For a little comment, about 18,000 of those were advanced malware attacks, ransomware. About 64,000 were phishing emails. About 4,000 were fraudulent wire transfer attempts trying to exploit the city. We also leaned in with homelessness. We built through our GIS supporting field staff to be able to do surveys, outreach surveys, and supporting our HHS team, as well as optimizing infrastructure, replacing end-of-life cameras through the investments we have through Measure Z. Baseline operations, we've seen year over year about 18% increase. We had about 30,000 service requests, 31,000 service requests, and 37,000 this year. And it's about 18% increase year over year. The department is not just recognized, we're recognized nationally. We've earned the 2025 Municipal Information System IT Excellence Award, Digital Cities Awards, and we're a national contender on many recognitions. Little personnel matrix, and I thought that's helpful. As all departments look for efficiencies of how can we do better, faster work, we rely more on technology. Our staffing level has been fairly static. We have some vacancies right now, but as you can see, our work volume is year over year is exponentially increasing as well. Turnover, we have roughly 11 vacant positions we're recruiting. It does take us a little bit longer. The level of access we have requires getting PD security clearance. That takes a little bit of time, but it also means that we're able to have cross coverage with our police departments with about 9.5% turnover. We're a fairly diverse group. We have a really close-knit team. We work hard. We also like to have a little bit of fun. And age distribution as well, we're all over the place. And we have a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience in that team. Promotions, we've been investing into developing the team. And the team has been investing into developing themselves. Through competitive recruitments, we've had plenty of promotions. And every single one of them has been very well deserved. Some of our new hires, we have our new client services manager, Bernie, and Chris, our new admin services manager that just joined us. We are, a lot of the promotions that has occurred has been progression within our client services team, so we're leveraging some temp services, and we're grateful for the staff that are helping us keep city operations going while we recruit. We've also been leveraging interns. We've had really good luck with our interns being able to take the experience. They learned in the department to be able to have either a full-time job in the city or outside. And with that, our employee of the year, 2025 employee of the year is Eric Urena. Eric has recently been promoted to our principal IT analyst. He is more or less our one-man team for cybersecurity, all that wonderful things we're hearing. Eric is handling a lot of this, and he has a very positive attitude, a can-do attitude, getting to a yes, and trying to find the best way of supporting our business partners and protecting the city. We wish he was here today. He was expecting a baby. He's no longer expecting as of this morning, so he's getting two recognitions of the same day. So not only is he our employee of the year, he's a new dad. Congratulations. Double happiness. Wow. Yes. And with that, we recommend that the council receive and file the overview of the department and happy to answer any questions you may have.

All right. Thank you, George. Thank you. And can you have your team stand up so we can recognize all of them? Thank you. And I always say to George every time I see him, people don't appreciate the trains running on time until they don't. So we don't know what goes on behind the scenes, but we very much appreciate it. We know how hard you all work. So thank you so much and well-deserved recognition. Thanks, George. Thank you. Thanks for your patience today, too. Appreciate it. All right, council, we are now at our consent calendar, I believe, and I will ask our city manager if you have any items you wish to pull. Pass. Okay, word one.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Mayor. I'm going to abstain on item 13, pass on the rest.

All right. Word two. I'm going to pull number 13 and pass on the rest. Okay. Word three. Pass. Word four. Pass. Word five.

I'd like to pull item 34.

Okay. Word six.

I would like to pull item number 11 and then pass.

All right. Word seven.

Pass and move to approve the balance of the consent.

Second. Thank you. Please vote.

Motion carries unanimous as amended.

So we have also, let's see, I have 11, 13, and 34. Is that correct? 11, 13, 34. So we will open public comment for those items right now.

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Okay, thank you. And I believe that was Councilmember Hernandez who wished to speak to this. Did you have a question or comment, Councilmember?

i would actually like to make a motion to approve a substitution between council member rollard and myself on the housing and homelessness standing committee for its special meeting on monday august 31st As item number two, the proposed acquisition and conversion of Hotel 6 and Days Inn into affordable senior housing units is specifically in my ward and just for that item. The second one is to appoint myself to the standing committees previously held by former Councilmember Perry on the Mobility and Infrastructure Committee. Governmental Process Committee, and Youth Safety and Wellness Committee, as I think it's incredibly important that Ward 6 be represented on each of these committees.

Okay. Do we have a second? Okay. Council Member Cervantes. Okay, and I don't feel the public comment first or come back to council well Let me let me go ahead and hear public comment. I have a motion in a second. Let's hear public comment Go ahead Hi if you're unmuted you can go ahead and start speaking I All right. Caller, we are not hearing you, not seeing you unmute. So we will close public comment and come back to Council. Councilor Cervantes.

Yes, thank you. And I just want a clarification. And I do support and I think Council Robards hopping on to for we do have a committee meeting next week. And there is an item in Ward six, I just I don't know, looking at our clerk, we're able to include that in this because I know it's related to committees. Or if there's another action we can take to see if today the council can vote to make sure Councilmember Hernandez can join us for the meeting next week. What are our options regarding that first part of the motion?

Thank you for the question, Madam Pro Tem. The matter before you is to discuss the standing committees and regional organization assignments, which my understanding, consulting with legal, is that is a proper motion.

Okay, wonderful, thank you. So if that's the case, I'll actually let Council Member Roblark potentially respond to that, and then I have another comment for the second portion. All right, thank you. Council Member Roblark.

Yes, me and Council Member Hernandez discussed this earlier for the special meeting that just item number two, he would be able to sit on that committee for item number two.

So you're good with number two then? Okay, thank you. Council Member Falcone.

I was just wondering if we could separate the two motions if possible. I have no issue with the first one. The second one, though, I do have an issue with because that is reworking the whole way that we do seniority. And there's certain committees that I know myself, Council Member Robillard, Council Member Mill, wanted to be on, and that would be a violation of our seniority rules. So I'm fine with the first portion of the motion, but the second portion would not support because I would not like senior members to be, their seniority to be usurped.

okay so that was a substitute motion for just taking just mainly asking for you to separate them okay we'll separate them can we sorry hold on hold on hold on wait a sec and i heard a second from council member connor for the substitute council member

I just had a quick question. We did an agenda. I mean, is this the correct time to be bringing up the substitution on the committee? Because I have a real problem sitting in, but I don't know. Under the rules we have, that wasn't agendized. I don't know if that's proper under this particular item. I don't know if it is or isn't.

So the matter before you today is to discuss standing committee appointments. Now what that looks like in terms of a substitution, an appointment, that could all encompass standing committee appointments. So that matter is before you that what we have on the agenda is is the recommendation that was brought forth by the mayor's dominating screening committee, but certainly it's your pleasure to deviate from that recommendation.

I just thought that we had to agendize when we do a substitution.

That is how we have done it in the past.

That's how it was always done in the past. And I have no problem with it, but I'm just saying, are we following proper procedures? I mean, you know, folks, we have rules for a reason.

Bye-bye.

So under normal circumstances, if this item was not agendized as appointments to the Standing Committee, you are correct, we would bring it forth on the consent calendar with a substitution request. But because the matter is already agendized as appointments, it is a proper motion by Ward 6 to request the substitution.

okay so i think why in the past it's been past practice because it hasn't been the overall appointments but and it's been some special circumstance so i think that's what you're thinking so but it sounds like it's okay for this all right counselor fernandez

going back to you know addressing the separation of the two motions is I don't understand how it's you serving any of the seniority of the in any of the other council members it's merely You know, allowing me to sit on the or take the previous council members place on those committees until the next election where the council members will then have. the ability to choose their committees. It's not usurping. The other council members are already on committees, and this will leave a vacancy on those committees, and Ward 6 won't be represented on any of these committees.

Understood. Councillor Cervantes.

If we could, as I do have some comments on the second portion as well, can we vote on the first one for the substitution? I would recommend that. So I would follow Councillor Falcone's comments and I will make the motion to move forward with the first piece, which is substituting Councillor Hernandez to join us only for item two for housing and homelessness next week.

I thought you had already made that motion. Oh, I apologize. Okay. I had Ward 1 and Ward 4 was a second. Can we vote on that first? Yeah, let's go ahead and vote on that.

Thank you. And then if I could, Mayor, build on for the second item.

Motion carries unanimously.

Thank you. And for the second item, I would also like to, I hear Councilmember Hernandez, and I guess my question is to the city clerk. Given the recommendation from the Mayor's Nominated Screening Committee that we keep what's in place and we have Councilmember Hernandez that's now in Ward 6, would that not automatically then have him become the member that is holding the positions of Councilmember Perry? Okay.

Um, my understanding is that once the vacancy occur, then an action would have to re an action would need to be taken by the city council to make an appointment of a new council member per your rules.

And so if there is not an action for him to be to take those, what the charter says that each of us has to serve as a chair, um, vice chair and a member. So what process does he have to be able to occupy to fulfill the charter as an elected member of this council?

This, I think it, I can clarify with the mayor's nominating and screening committee discussion was that that would be taken up when, because there has to be that whole shuffling. You know this, Council Member Cervantes. There has to be this whole shuffling of.

And we all, and we gave our nominee our recommendations, our asks.

And so then there's seniority. And I think that's, there are not, that wasn't taken into account for these particular spots. So I think that's where the issue is.

But I guess that's where I'm like, so then what is going to happen in the interim for Council Member Hernandez to be able to fulfill the opening positions?

I think it was to hold those steady and leave them open until November, I think, or December. That was the motion at the Nominating and Screening Committee.

Well, and so I will say that the third-ranking senior member here now on this council, I personally, if we're going to talk about seniority, there are some other positions I have sought after and put my recommendations in. So for myself, I personally believe more so, though, that it is not – in the interest of our residents, of our community at large. And if I could look to our city attorney and to the clerk once again, though, it's my understanding that it says very clearly in the charter that we each are to have a role as a chair, vice chair, member. I'm seeing Council Member Hammond going to make a face.

I'm confused. Does the proposed list not have Council Member Hernandez in seats? No. What I'm looking at here, it shows proposed list and it has... Was there not...

Well, it's a proposed list, but then the proposed list. Well, that's what we're voting on.

So he would have a seat on the Finance Committee. He would have a seat on the Housing and Homelessness Committee. And he would have a seat on, at least what I'm reading, isn't that what the committee voted?

Well, the comment I made related to seniority and the usurpation comment that I made is that, for example, Council Member Perry had the most seniority of all members up here. There are certain committees that Council Member Perry was on that now that once he vacated the seat, I know half the people aren't even listening, but Mayor, you're listening. Once Councilmember Perry vacated that seat, there was highly sought-after seats that he vacated. In particular, a seat on the Mobility and Infrastructure Committee is highly sought-after. And there was other members that wanted that seat. And so because there are certain members that have more seniority than Councilmember Hernandez, we would then get access to that seat before Councilmember Hernandez would. Similarly, as Councilmember Sorantes has more seniority than I do, if she wanted that seat, she would have access to that seat before I could have access.

I agree. And so I'll say three quick things. One, I think at some point the governmental process committee could look at we only do this every two years, not if someone wins outright in June. I think that should come forward just as a side note. Number two, I think we're talking about two separate things. What you're talking about is seniority of how the shuffle happens. What I think Council Member Hernandez is talking about is thinking that he's not going to be able to serve on any committees. But I'm saying the proposed list has him serving on three committees. I think there might be some confusion. What we would approve today would have him, in fact, fulfilling the charter obligation and serving on three committees, yes?

Let me let the city clerk respond to that.

Thank you. So let's start from the beginning. So the mayor's nominating screening committee received a presentation from the city clerk related to the preferences that were provided by every council member. The proposed list that you see as part of your packet was the list provided to that committee at the time. The committee decided unanimously to leave the appointments as status quo, not consider the proposed list, but to leave everything as status quo and those appointments where Perry sat will remain vacant until this matter were to come up again in December when the new two council members from wards two and four, when those seats are sworn in. And so I provided the proposed list to you today just for a fact of information just in case you decided to go in a different direction, you had what information was provided to the mayor's nominating screening committee.

I see. So I had misread then. I thought it was we were going to approve this. It does seem odd that we would have a council member not serving on a committee. So...

So the mayor's nominating and screening committee, we were going to vote on that. And then Council Member Falcone made the motion to just not fill anything and just leave it open right now because we were going to have two other people come in and then there would be another... MASSIVE RESHUFFLING. SO I THINK THAT'S WHAT THAT WAS ABOUT.

AND MAYOR, WHAT I CAN RECOMMEND IS WE CAN TAKE IT BACK TO MAYOR'S NOMINEE AND SCREENING COMMITTEE. MY CONCERN IS THIS. I SAID THAT WHEN I CAME ON THE CITY COUNCIL, INITIALLY WE WERE JUST GOING TO INSERT ME INTO COUNCILMEMBER EDWARDS' FORMER SEAT. AND HER COMMITTEES, I DIDN'T CARE FOR ANY OF HER COMMITTEES THAT SHE WAS ON. AND SO I SAID, WHY WOULD I GO THERE FOR A FEW MONTHS JUST TO THEN BE REASSIGNED A FEW MONTHS LATER? So what we could do is the Mayor's Nominated Screening Committee could meet again, if your pleasure sees that fit, Mayor, to look at that. But what I wouldn't be supportive of is just plugging in Council Member Hernandez to where Council Member Perry was because, again, it goes back to what I'm saying is that that means other senior members on this dais do not get to be on committees that they want to be on. We can, the list I think that is there, that perhaps has that seniority folded into it, that seniority factor folded into it. You could vote on that list today, if I'm not mistaken.

You could vote on that list today. It was just the recommendation of the committee to hold it, but that list is there. I mean, y'all can make a...

motion to vote on that if you want if i may then i would recommend that we move with the proposed assignments because i believe the clerk was actually able to get what the senior what majority and everyone seniority was asking for which by the way clerk madam clerk thank you i know that's very challenging to do and i think what it maybe we could hold off is the regional assignments being paused until we have a new council. There's many of us that serve in those capacities, and then there's already alternates, and I think that could occupy any absences. So my motion would be as we move forward with the proposed assignments and hold on any regional assignments.

I second that motion.

All right, so we have a motion and a second. Councillor Robillard?

Ignore that. I was just going to say exactly what she said. Okay. All right.

Cool. All right. So we have a motion and a second to make appointments as recommended by the city clerk to the city council spots. Point of clarification.

When does this take effect?

I think immediately. Immediately, right? It would be immediately. And it would not include regional boards. And so those would be things like the JPA and –

So then, just a point of clarification, if it took over immediately, the first motion that we took is irrelevant because he would already be serving on the Housing and Homeless Committee. So it's irrelevant. So I mean, if that's the route we're going to go,

no you voted on it so you probably have to reconsider it i'm guessing or just so then i'll add a portion to my just a part of the record um well then we could uh would make a motion that we that we remove the substitution request for councilmember hernandez that council initially voted on

okay super all right so now we have a motion in a second madam mayor may i come may i clarify the motion just for the public because they did get a little confusing and so the motion on the floor is to adopt the proposed list that was recommended to the mayor's nominating screening committee and to withdraw the substitution request

And the proposed list is just for the city council. For the standing committees. Yes, standing committees. Okay, council? Everybody good? All right. Yes.

Just because this goes into effect right now, there might be scheduling conflicts and everything because people's schedules were reflecting old committee assignments. I don't know. That's a bridge we will cross, Council Member Robillard. Yes. And you will pick it up with the city clerk. All right, thank you.

All right, thanks. Everybody vote, please. Thanks for that discussion.

Motion carries unanimously.

Perfect. Yeah, welcome to the team, Council Member Hernandez. All right, item 13 was pulled as well, so we will open public comment for item 13.

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I believe this is Councilmember Mill who wanted to hear. No, it was Councilmember Cervantes. Sorry, Cervantes.

Thank you. And I also wanted to be able to make a comment, and then I think we have available. Thank you, Miranda, for being here, our head of economic development, for potential questions. But just for clarification for the public, you know, there was concern that this was on our agenda about two weeks ago, two or three weeks ago now, which had phase one and phase two tied to this item looking ahead. And For me personally, while we're always excited to create opportunities for veterans and for those in our community with workforce training, there is still language in here that references AI. And I know that there are still concerns around what that piece is going to look like. so I will say I might well I I think there's parts of this that are exciting that could be very helpful to what we're looking to do in the community I'm gonna personally abstain until we could see what other future items that we have coming from some council members around data centers and how that could impact Riverside and in our constituents but I just wanted to and I guess since we have you up here director Could you please speak to some of the adjustments that I think were made to this report as it related to language originally that said data center, and I understand it was removed, but just given that things are always ever changing, I wasn't sure if that's something that could emerge again in the future, depending on how this program could unfold.

Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, Honorable Mayor Lock Dawson, members of the City Council, Miranda Evans, Community and Economic Development Director before you today. This is in response to this MOU that was last heard in front of the Economic Development Committee last month at the June meeting This is with the Institute for Veterans and Emerging Technology Skills, also known as IVETS, which works out very well, and STEMWorks. And so really what we're looking at to address the Mayor Pro Tem's comments are how can we encourage and focus on workforce development as it relates to upskilling and reskilling for veterans? And that includes emerging technology. And so part of that is quantum computing. Yes, Mayor Pro Tem, you're absolutely correct on AI. And we also have language learning models included in that, robotics and semiconductors. Also considering infrastructure and training and job readiness around veterans in that area. And also defense and aerospace as we're continuing to build out that thriving cluster that we have in Riverside as well. So that includes drones, autonomous systems, and advanced manufacturing. So in response to comments received and the discussion after the June 18th, 2026 Economic Development Committee conversation, staff did go back and revise the MOU to remove that phase two, as you had mentioned, which could consider we didn't have any binding language, but it would consider the potential of exploring a data center. So that part was completely removed in terms of the staff report, the presentation, and the MOU itself. It is all non-binding and entering into this MOU really is a workforce development tool and authorizes Mayor Lock Dawson or her designee to be able to make any minor changes to that as well. So as we're waiting for the conversation coming in September at the land use committee surrounding data centers, staff out of respect for that removed that completely. We also have a representative today from the Institute for Veterans and Emerging Technology, Mr. Robert Nava, who might want to speak to that and add some additional context as well so that we ensure all of your questions are addressed.

No, thank you. I appreciate that. And I think just for myself, knowing that there's still layers that would need to be worked out in the future as it relates to more so the defense and aerospace. It references drones, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing. I think the drones autonomous systems for me are still a little bit of a point that I'm there's there's been a lot emerging in those sectors, some of which are very concerning, whether that's through our labor workforce, you know, with labor unions, with the autonomous systems or even drones through labor. some of you know i will say uh law enforcement agencies and other groups you know and how they're being utilized at this time right now in communities and so i i still have a little apprehension with some of the pieces but i was really i want to say i appreciate this language being removed regarding the data center and also want to thank councilmember robillard who i know is you know working on the side connecting and communicating with your team as you know he'd had work to help bring this economic development committee and so just today I still I think I need more information before I could feel comfortable confident moving forward but wanted to make those quick comments for the public as to why I personally will be abstaining but again loving the emerging tech component the infrastructure and I think there's some really great pieces to this But again, I think there's still some work we have to do in some other areas before I could feel comfortable taking a formal vote on it. But thank you for being here today and for giving us some insight. Thank you, Council Member.

Thank you, Director Evans. Do you want to speak? Okay, I can go to public comment first. I see we have no callers. We'll close public comment, and we'll come back to council. Council Member Robledo.

All right. Thank you. Just real quickly, you know, me and Council Member Cervantes and Council Member Hemingway were on the Economic Development Committee when it came before us, this proposal. And a couple of clarification points. You know, it is an MOU. There's nothing binding about this. This is just a framework of saying, hey, there's an organization in our community that wants to do this good work. Let's try to help them do good work. There's nothing detailed beyond that. The phase two portion of it, it had the bad, nasty word of data center in it. And you heard our IT team, we have a data center here at City Hall. We have a data center in pretty much every office building in Riverside. It's a server room. That's the equivalent of what we were talking about here. So nevertheless, we're going to move on from the data center piece and focus on the phase one part of this, which is workforce training. And it's not just veterans. Although they are the target audience, it is expanded for any Riversider. They can participate in this training and look forward to the future. And I think, you know, we have... autonomous shuttles operate in our city. We're the first city in the United States to have a government contract for a transportation authority. These are all things that are already happening in our city. And I think when we look at our economic conditions that we're in, There are winners and losers, and the ones who are not participating and not moving forward are the losers. And this technology, what's happening today is going to be 100% different tomorrow. You think about 10 years from now, you look at a PC from 10 years ago, it's an ancient machine compared to what we have today. And so I think... We'll wait for the data center conversation at a later date, but I think this MOU as it stands, which is phase one, it's not opening the door to anything that's scary. It's just getting people the workforce training that they need in a changing economy and denying access to our own residents to this kind of training I think is going to hurt us economically, but I'll leave it there.

Is that a motion?

Yeah, I'll make a motion to pass it. Thank you.

all right i have a motion ward three second by ward four councilmember falcone thank you mayor i don't want to get on the topic of data centers because we'll be discussing that land use but just want to explain my my abstaining vote because i have something in the works like that this item spurred that report that's why i'm abstaining is just there's too many things happening simultaneously i think it's bad timing on this thank you understood all right council we have a motion a second on this item please vote

and yeah it's okay don can you reset okay i think she reset Council Hernandez, did you try it? Okay. We'd appreciate if you didn't. Do you want to do a roll call? Let's do a roll call.

Okay, we'll do a roll call vote. Ward one. Abstain. Ward two. Abstain. Ward three. Yes. Ward four. Yes. Ward five. Yes. Ward six.

Abstain.

Ward seven. Motion carries with four affirmative votes, three abstentions. Ward one, two, and six. All right, thank you.

Now we're at our last item that was pulled from consent. This is item number 34. Now I think this is Council Member Mill. Let me open public comment for item number 34.

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All right, thank you. Council Member Mill, would you like to ask a question, or would you want Ms. Sato to go right into you?

I can kind of tell you where I'm getting. I have six questions for you. Okay. Really, with this value, I support responsible water conservation, but what I don't support is Sacramento passing yet another mandate, sending it down to us here at the local government, and then expecting our residents, our businesses, and HOAs to pick up the bill. And that's what that that's what I see. This is is another unfunded mandate from Sacramento So I have have some questions in the report you stated that there be no fiscal impact to the city so My first question to you would be How can the report state there is no fiscal impact when the city will have responsibility for outreach? administration inspections and enforcement

so we do there's no no in fiscal impact with the ordinance in and of itself though um we will have the fiscal you're right we will have that fiscal impact for any of the complaints any code violations that do go into effect just like we would with any other code code requirement the other we do have other requirements under this particular legislation as well as other legislation that passed around the same time to do outreach to customers and other items, but that is cost impacts that we saw from the regulation as opposed to from this. But you are correct, there would be an impact on our enforcement.

So if I'm a layperson and I'm at home reading council reports and it says there's no fiscal impact, it's kind of misleading to say that there's no fiscal impact when there in fact is a fiscal impact and it will cost the taxpayers of Riverside something. my next question is how many Riverside businesses HOAs and other properties will actually be affected by this ordinance do we know

I don't have that number right off the top of my head right here, but we have been reaching out to all of our customers over the last several years since this legislation passed and we have done several presentations to the Chamber of Commerce, to different Chamber of Commerce, to different neighborhood groups, and we are reaching out. We have done the assessment to look at which ones needed to be contacted, but I just don't have that number right in front of me.

Third question, what is the estimated cost of property owners to comply? Have you as a staff calculated that?

It is highly dependent on the land area and the landscaping that they choose to replace it with. This can be a small amount for a small space, and then depending on what it is, it can be very expensive for them.

Fourth question, how much rebate or other financial assistance is currently available and what happens when that funding runs out?

So last summer, there was a rebate that was available from the Metropolitan Water District for $7 per square foot. of replacement, and those rebates were very large. They rapidly ran out of money in that program. It is currently set at $4 per square foot, and RPU's funding, but that is pretty much fully subscribed. RPU's additional funding that adds onto that and supports that $4 is also fully subscribed at this point for our commercial rebates.

My fifth question, what hardship protections will be provided before issuing citations to businesses or HOAs that cannot afford these conversions?

So the support that we can provide on that and this is a part of the part of the the legislation that was passed was a delay in the implementation and if they are facing hardship or are in a disadvantaged community area they do have until 2031 for compliance to save up for the money hopefully we would also get some more funding available for additional rebates, but we can also assist those customers in applying for a hardship with the state department. Okay.

And I apologize for not letting you. No, no, that's fine. I'm not apologizing for my questions, and I'm not apologizing for sticking up for what I think are our businesses and our HOAs that we're being taken advantage of by our friends in Sacramento yet again. I'm not apologizing for that. I'm apologizing that I didn't give you the heads up ahead of time. That's okay. So my next question is, what happens legally if the council sends this back and asks to get those answers that I have? I know you weren't prepared because, unfortunately, my bad for not giving you the heads up on the questions ahead of time so you would have those answers. But what happens to us if we send this back and wait for you to have those answers so I can feel comfortable in voting yes?

some of the questions some of the answers we can develop ourselves and I can definitely get those answers for you for example on the square footage the number of customers that will be impacted with this we can we can get that number for the some of the other questions that you had related to funding I am not even sure that the state will have an answer to that if there's going to be funding made available. And some of it is, for example, would have been the water conservation surcharge that we no longer have here at the city of Riverside. That was what was providing our remaining funding for our programs here. And we're now pretty much, we're going to be bringing forward an item pretty soon to let you know that that money, as you directed from a council to have that money spent down in four years, we will be done with that probably this year. so legally though we can we can have you we don't have to we don't have to move on this today we have plenty of time to to move on this as long as we get this adopted before the end of the year we would not face any um penalties so we can bring this back um at a next at another meeting with the additional information that you have requested here. But we do have, if we do not, if the council does not approve this by the end of the year, there is the potential for penalties from the state if we are, because we would be found in noncompliance.

So I have other comments and I have a motion I want to make, but if you want to see if there's any public comment.

Let's see if there's any public comment for this item. All right. We'll close public comment. We'll go to Council Member Mill and then Council Member Cervantes.

Again, this is yet another imposed mandate from Sacramento on our city. And I want to be clear that we need an accounting of what it's going to cost us, what it's going to cost the businesses, what it's going to cost. I mean, I need to know what it's going to cost the taxpayers because, again, this report says there's not a financial impact. Clearly there's going to be a financial impact. I want to know what that impact is going to be. I would like to know what the financial impact would be on the businesses, the HOAs and the folks that are being required to pay for this. What kind of financial assistance is going to be available? I think it's important. Times are tough right now. We're Turn on the news. Businesses are struggling. This is yet another hit to the pocketbook for businesses, small businesses. And I want to know what we're going to do to protect those that are facing economic hardship. I think times are tough right now. and this is yet another Sacramento mandate that they give to us to impose on our residents, our businesses, and folks, I just don't think it's fair. So I have a motion that I'd like to make. I'd like to move that we continue this item and direct staff to return with additional information addressing the fiscal and administrative impacts of implementation and enforcement, the number of Riverside businesses, HOAs, and other properties affected, estimated costs to property owners, the availability and adequacy of rebates or other financial assistance, hardship protections, clear standards for determining functional versus non-functional turf, and confirmation that the ordinance does not impose requirements beyond those mandated by AB 1572. That's my motion. How long do you need?

The latest we could come back is in November, so we will actually have the report done in about 60 days. 60 days? Adam, we may actually be, I'm sorry. So we need to come back in November to you. So say 90 days? Yeah, 90 days. If you come back sooner? Yeah, if we come back sooner, then it'll be fine.

Continue the item for 90 days or sooner if you have the information available. Yeah.

all right so emotion is second counselor cervantes thank you i think for myself i'm just a little confused when we actually think about water conservation and the cost um it's quite expensive and to actually have to pay to make and the justification for this is the non-functional turf with portable water how it's no longer considered reasonable or sustainable use of Underwater state policy so I'm actually in the other side where I think this is going to save people money by not having not paying into just you know, which I I know that there's all different opinions on beautification when it comes to green landscaping and and I will say that though my on the other flip side I'd actually wonder how much are we saving right I mean I know where some residents but the clear layout of those who'd be impacted it says here more so common areas of HOAs common interest developments CIDs community service organizations it does reference local government public agencies this was unanimously approved by the RPU board um I guess I if if this item does come back I I personally don't I don't think I'll be voting today to move to extend it um I'm not in the like never in the favor of us wanting to be um have penalties come down from the state to not be compliant but I guess I'm kind of curious I don't know if you can speak to right now when this was brought to the RP board what was presented in terms of how this would actually have a fiscal impact positively for those folks. And I understand while they might have to make a slight investment in a switch of potentially desert landscape or some alternatives if they want to still have their properties be beautified. But would this not actually ultimately save HOA and other folks money down the line?

It does have that potential. There is an upfront cost. And like I said, it's very dependent on individual properties, what they already have in place. Because it depends on what their irrigation system is. And if they have to replace out that irrigation system, that's where cost is. But that is an upfront cost. But you are absolutely correct in that the customers will be saving money in the long term. by not watering, and they won't have as high of a water bill, or at least not as high as it would have been had they had turf in their yard or along their landscaping, because this doesn't impact single-family homes in any way. This is purely commercial, industrial, and institutional. We did not present those costs to the board, which is why I did not have that, but we will include that as well in the subsequent report that we bring forward.

All right. Council Member Hemingway?

Thank you. And maybe just for information that might come back as well. Do we are is Riverside in a unique space where obviously we have our own pub public utility? We have certain water rights. I've heard things in the past about use it or lose it and all the different things. Are we uniquely positioned that would set us a little bit apart from others that we might need to consider how these impact differently? If we don't have the answer for that, maybe that's something we can come back with as well.

We can we can we can address that in the report, but I do I Riverside is not uniquely positioned in in relative to the rest of the state in this in this space. Are we do have our own water 100% of our own water here, but as far as the state logos they did not separate out any any type of differentiation between whether you have your own water supply or you're depending on for example the state water project. So that is not separated. But having our own water supply and use it or lose it does not impact us in the way, because we do have a lot of growth and development additional, but we also have requirements to reduce per capita water usage. and report on that and meet those standards as well. Having this ordinance in place actually helps us meet those requirements as well, and those were under the Making Conservation a California Way of Life, which is another piece of legislation that we are working on implementing right now.

And then just as I was reading it, it does say common areas of HOA. I know I had questions from certain HOAs in our space where they have big green patches of common grass in the middle where they have picnics and movie nights. Would those be included in that space?

Those are excluded because those are active turf areas. So anything that is used actively where somebody is, whether it's picnicking or it's used for outdoor activities, those are excluded. So parks, cemeteries are excluded from the requirements. other types of uses hoa areas that are used are definitely excluded from this process and they have to self-certify um the hoa will be able to self-certify and they would be able to define that that is used for their for their area and then that may have answered my my last question here um we'd said it's mainly for all these larger commercial although it does say larger property owners with more than 5 000 square feet and i'm guessing i don't want to jump into ward 5 but with the greenbelt area

I'm guessing there are some that have lots of trees and, is it four now? Is it four? Sorry, it got re, sorry, thanks. That that would be a single property owner, not necessarily commercial on some level, but would they be affected? Maybe just a private homeowner that has a roof.

you know, no, it again, it only only applies to commercial industrial. So a large, somebody who has their own single property and it's not used for a business is not it is exempt from this. They are not required to comply.

I'm not a great environmental person. So thank you for inviting me. Thank you.

Thanks. I'm counselor reward.

Not to belabor this point. Again, I'm frustrated by these kind of mandates. I share the frustrations that Sean has. But when you do that cost analysis, I would suggest a couple, like two or three specific examples, like pick some properties, get the quotes on them so it helps us visualize the impacts, or not just us, but the community, the impacts, because... Yes, upfront costs versus down-the-road costs. I anticipate there's going to be a lot of dead grass around our city for a long time because people don't want to do the upfront costs. But anyways, that's a different story for another day.

And we do have those. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to talk over you. We do have examples because we have had several of our customers have already done their conversions or are in the process of doing that. Thank you.

All right. Councilor Falcone.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Tracy. That was actually what I was going to get to. I actually disagree with Sacramento on 95% of everything that they do. But in this particular case, I think this is a wise law. We've had several, and I've worked on some of them myself with landscape designers, several projects. And rebates have been available for ample time. Businesses have had time. There's a lot of churches, in particular, actually, in Ward 3 and Ward 5 that did this work. We did it in a park space that was kind of an underutilized park space here in Ward 1. And we didn't pay a dime because the rebates were available. So there's been ample time to prepare for this, I think. And I just think we have to get out of this, you know, 19th century mindset of the turf. It just, it has to be gone. So I think that this is one thing that I can agree with out of Sacramento. And folks have had time to do what needs to be done to remove their turf.

thank you councilmember mill yeah i'd just like to follow up on a comment or a question from uh councilmember hemeway uh when he talked about the the grass open space who determines who who makes the determination where that turf is functional or non-functional who who makes that call

So as far as code enforcement comes in, if it looks like it's active, it'll be kind of leaving it open instead of rigidly defined gives some leeway in that determination. But again, each individual customer will self certify and they can make some of those determination. If code enforcement is called, we will we will have to come out with standards at that time but it may be beneficial to allow instead of being so rigid you might have that flexibility because something you may want you know either to not enforce or to enforce based on the use that makes sense for that it might be unique for that particular site and it could be excluded or included if the definition is too strict which is why the state left it as open as they did

I think that gray area is where we run into trouble because when we go after property A, but not property B, I think that's where we run into, it leaves us open for potential lawsuits. You know, I just want to say, you know, I believe you said that we don't have to have this passed until next year, correct?

No, by the end of December this year. December 31st, okay, December 31st.

All I'm asking for is for more information. So I would hope that my colleagues would indulge in the fact that before we vote on things that we would have information as much information as possible before we vote on things. And all I'm asking for is the opportunity to have all the information in front of me before I vote yes or no. And I would hope that my colleagues would indulge me in being informed as to what we're voting on. So if we have until December 31st, there's no need that we need to move forward with this today. You can come back. Within 90 days with the information that I want, and I can make an informed decision. I would hope that I know my voters, my residents want me to be informed when I vote on things here, and I would hope that my colleagues would join me in wanting to have all the information before we vote.

Council Member Cervantes.

Well, in speaking to that, I was going to ask, Council Member, I'd feel more comfortable if we could look at maybe 60 days, just because I feel like I want to make sure we can get this before us and I can work with the mayor. Is 60 okay? I don't want to press you on this.

I, I, I'm, I'm a little bit worried because of the sunshine ordinance with getting everything done and some of the, and getting the postings out. But, um, as early, but as early as I can, 60, 90.

Yeah.

Yeah. Okay.

I I'm most concerned about getting the responses back from the state so that just making sure we have adequate time to get an answer for that okay well if I I'd be willing to support the extension of time if we can work with you hopefully in your team you know working on the agenda sending conference and whatnot on getting this back sooner as I'd love to be able to hopefully participate in it as well before the end of the year but I will say that for to wrap in then what my ask would also be is i don't know if we as a city are able to actually get a cost uh maybe a discount on turf if you know if we have a program or something uh if we're able to say you know you go through this program we go through a certain provider i don't know if other cities have done this but essentially if you were to go through the city and want to go through this turf abatement you know you'll get a discount for x amount of square footage but uh just even seeing if there could be some options like that brought forward for us to look at because i think that that's my thought down the line is we'll have to have some potential things that we could show people so i was apprehensive on voting to extend this but i'm willing to vote yes but if we can work to get more to the 60 versus 90 i'd feel more comfortable at happy to work with the the staff on the site um in terms of the when we bring this back to council

Thank you. And just to note, Council, we have a motion and a second on the floor. Council Member Condor?

Yeah, real quick. While I don't agree with everything that's been said, my colleague, Council Member Mill, has been very eloquent in his words. He's very passionate about this, and that's why I will support him on this. One of my problems with Sacramento and the way that they just come up with these damn laws that they have no idea what Riverside is. There's an old saying that there can be no justice as long as laws are absolute. Even life itself is an exception. It's an extension of exceptions. I don't like, again, some of the stuff that's here, but I'll support him on it.

All right. Thank you. Counsel, you have a motion and a second. motion carries unanimously right thank you council we're at item 38 now which is our discussion item the one we have today we're going to open public comment for item 38

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. And with that, I'd like to ask Alex Ramirez to give us a brief

try to be quick presentation thank you yeah good good a good evening uh member members of city council and mayor i'm here to to present our next uh public works project which includes uh fiscal years 25 26 sb1 street maintenance and the downtown bollard installation So a little background on SB1. The funding was passed in 2017 by Senate Bill 1. And it actually created legislation to increase funding for our local streets. And this is paid for through increase in gas taxes and registration fees. These funds are distributed to local municipalities through the State of California Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account, known as RMRA, as part of the SB1 Local Streets and Roads Program. Since it began, we have actually received $59 million from this program since 2017, so it's actually been making a good dent in our paving needs. Each year, the city council approves a resolution to accept a list that will be funded with these funds. So for the 2526 SB1 project list was adopted by this council on August 5th, 2025. Public work utilizes a combination of our paving management program and requests from residents and our council to develop our annual paving plan. SB1 is just one part of our pie for funding. We also receive revenues from other base gas tax from County Measure A and from Cities Measure Z. Altogether, we receive roughly $24 million a year for paving. This project primarily uses SB1 funds. I say primarily because the Main Street bollards will be funded through Measure A. So diving into our project, this project is going to rehabilitate southbound Day Street from the 60 freeway to Eucalyptus. It'll be only half street. The other half is owned by Marno Valley. They already paved their side. Brockton Avenue from Indiana to Arlington, Wood Road from Van Buren to JFK, La Sierra Avenue from Gramercy to Cypress, Washington Street from Indiana to Victoria. In addition, it will resurface 2.7 miles of minor streets within four neighborhoods altogether. It covers 6.4 miles of roadway with an average cost of $1.2 million per mile, not including the bollards. This project will utilize recycled asphalt from Wood Road, and we're going to use that at segments, unpaved segments of Harrington Road and Ferrari Drive to reduce the dust and erosion control. Using a recycled asphalt known as RAP is a new cost-effective method that Public Works has been piloting to address unpaved roads and alleys. This project also will repair curve gutters, sidewalks, and driveways, upgrade pedestrian ramps, and upgrade signage striping and make traffic signal modifications within the project limits if necessary. The project will implement curb extension pilot program with pavement markings and vertical delineators, install 26 edge-lit stop signs, seven solar speedback signs, and then finally it'll install 132 bollards along Main Street to improve pedestrian safety and to protect public spaces from unauthorized vehicles. Here is a location map of our street maintenance locations. And here is the location map of the Ballard locations along Main Street. Here's a couple pictures of how our streets are looking now, Brockton Avenue and Washington Street, Rylander Drive and La Sierra Avenue. They all need work. So staff recommendations today are the actions as follow. Award a bid number 8221 for the construction of fiscal year 2025-2026 SB 1 Street maintenance improvements and downtown bollard installation with 130 working days to Onyx Paving Company of Yorba Linda, California in the amount of $7,677,000. Authorize the city manager and designee to execute a construction agreement with Onyx Paving Company including making minor non-substantive changes if budget allows. And finally, with five affirmative votes, authorize the chief executive officer or designee to record a supplemental appropriation of $755,000 for the Main Street bollards using available Measure A funds. This concludes my presentation. I'm here for any comments or questions.

thank you mr ramirez let me see if we have any public comment for item number 38. all right no callers no requests in chambers we'll close public comment and come back to council councilmember falcone

you mayor i have one quick question then i'll make a motion uh went for the signage um is there a way for us to require these um contractors to do their signage the same quality and specs that we do in our sign shop because i can on the roadway i can drive and i can tell which signs are made in-house by the city of riverside because of their high quality and the really kind of crappy ones that are done by a lot of our contractors How do we ensure our specs are the same there?

Yeah, I have to look into our specs and see what are they doing to cut corners or save costs. Obviously, they're the contractors, so they're trying to go the cheapest way.

Because some of them, they crack and fade so much faster than the ones that we do. I know I'm a sign freak, but it's very visible. So I know Director Mustafa may have something there. Okay.

Council member, Nathan Mustafa, Public Works Director. Sometimes we've noticed that the graffiti coating, or I'm sorry, the UV coating as well can be omitted from some of the signs, which can cause quicker damage. And we've worked in the past to make sure that our inspectors have a closer eye on that. If you notice any that were recently done, please let us know. Because generally, the contractors, we have them within a warranty period. So if we need to go back

and quickly resolve that we can uh but we've uh made our teams aware of the issue in the past and and we'll be sure to inspect those programs are they still though doing this the same specs though because i think what's happening is they're they're living through their warranty phase which is maybe two years or something or a year but we have some that you know if you're driving from the corp yard to city hall using using city streets out on the freeway you can tell these are street signs like i think it's in the mix from ward five into word three

um uh i know roslyn i think is watching a few others that um you can tell that those are not made by our sign shop we should be uh our specifications should reflect the same 3m material that we use in our sign shop but we'll we'll double check that part of our specs following this and with that move staff's recommendation thank you mayor all right i have motion ward one second by ward four no other discussion please vote

Motion carries unanimous.

All right, thank you. For folks in the public, city council is going to adjourn to closed session now. We have no evening session tonight, so we will not be back out to have any further discussion or action items. We will come back to adjourn. I'd like to call on our city attorney, please, to announce our closed session items.

Thank you, Mayor. For the closed session items, please take a look at the agenda, and the items are described there. However, I did want to provide some additional information for item 39A, the Conference of Real Property Negotiators. The name of the party negotiating with is GCS Development LLC. That party's negotiator is Greg Scott. Location of property is 3700 Placentia Lane. generally described as AB Sports Complex. Under negotiations will be the price in terms of payment, and the city's negotiator will be Tom Hatch, interim city manager. Thank you.

All right. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. Welcome back, everybody. Okay.

All right.

Welcome back, everybody. City Council has just returned from closed session. I will please call on our city attorney to report out on our closed session items.

Mayor, there are no reportable actions. Thank you.

Really? Okay. Thank you, City Attorney. Council Members, any items for future agendas? Council Member Falcone?

Yes, Mayor. A couple years ago, we had a report on short-term rentals, and there was a motion that was made to have an annual review of that, and it's been two years and we haven't received a review. So I would like to revisit that short-term rentals ordinance within the next 90 days, please. Thank you.

All right. City manager's got it. Yes. Okay. Anybody else? Okay. All right. Well, thank you, everybody. And our next council meeting is Tuesday, September 1st. We will see you then. We are adjourned.