Community Services and Youth Committee - Regular Meeting

Welcoming you to the Human Relations Commission meeting for today, June 25th. This meeting is called to order at 617. So with that, will Commissioner Fujimoto please lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? 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. And with that, Secretary, can we do roll call?

Yes. In no particular order, Commissioner Gordon. Commissioner Forney?

Present.

Commissioner Martis? Commissioner Woods? Commissioner Rhea?

Present.

Commissioner Harmoosh?

Yes.

Commissioner Melendez? Commissioner Agramon?

Present.

Commissioner Goh?

Present.

Vice Chair Fujimoto? Present. Chair Galbraith? Present. And Commissioner Lewis?

Present.

Thank you. We have quorum.

All right. Thank you, Secretary. With that, to comment on any matters within the jurisdiction of the Human Relations Commission, you are invited to .

Public comment is now open for this item. Call 951-826-8688 and follow the prompts to access the meeting. To request to speak, press star 9. When called to speak, press star 6 to unmute. You can also join via Zoom. The meeting ID can be found on the agenda.

Thank you. That's new. And can we do the other statement please?

Pursuant to the City Council rules of procedure and order of business resolution, the members of all Boards and Commissions and the public are reminded that they must preserve order and decorum throughout the meeting. In that regard, members of the Boards and Commissions and the public are advised that any delay or disruption in the proceedings or a refusal to obey the orders of the Board or Commission or the Presiding Officer constitutes a violation of these rules. The City of Riverside is committed to fostering a workplace that provides dignity, respect, and civility to our employees, customers, and the public they serve.

All right. Thank you. Has there been any public comment or is there any public comment?

No callers.

All right. Thank you. Moving forward to items two through three on the agenda consent calendar. Would any of the commissioners like to pull any item for discussion? Commissioner Farney.

I don't know exactly what the structure is, but within the minutes, I would appreciate having specifics of what the commissioners have gone to, attended, supported, representing the commission, or just being active in the community so we can see the breadth of what we are doing, and others can as well. If we need to provide that in a written form, we could do that. But that's my one concern regarding the minutes.

Do we need to pull that item to then discuss it and then approve it? Or can we take that feedback and then approve the consent calendar?

It depends. Commissioner Farney, would you like that moving forward? Or would you like that to be added into these minutes?

Let's just do moving forward. It's a lot easier. Okay.

Okay.

If there's any other discussion, please use your button. If not, we can call for a motion.

You want a motion? I move that in future minutes, we include the specifics of the activities of each commissioner that are reported. A motion to approve the consent calendar. Okay, I'll move to approve the consent calendar.

Thank you. Do we have a second? second okay so motion by farnie second motion by commissioner go mr lewis i just put my name just the second emotion but he did already perfect thank you thank you please vote

Has everyone voted? Oh.

There we go.

We have eight yes votes. Motion passes unanimously.

Alright, thank you. And then I want to circle back to the motion that I know you intended to make. I don't know if we need a motion for that, so are we OK to move on? OK. Thank you. So with that we can move forward with item number six on the discussion calendar review of code of ethics and conduct. Is there any public comment from our audience?

No callers. All right, thank you.

And thank you for joining us today.

My name is Tola Perkins, and I am here to present the Riverside Municipal Code 2.78 Code of Ethics and Conduct. Again, I'm Tola Perkins from the Board of Ethics. Next slide. Purpose of the Code of Ethics and Conduct, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.020, to achieve fair, ethical, and accountable local government for the city of Riverside. Public officials are expected to comply with the provisions of this Code of Ethics and Conduct and shall aspire to meet the standards in the conduct of their responsibility as a public official of the city of Riverside. Next slide. Scope, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.030, public officials subject to the code, number one, mayor, number two, city council members, number three, all members of appointed boards, commissions, and committees appointed by the city council and or mayor. Next slide. Implementation, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.040A, upon election, reelection, appointed, or reappointment, public officials shall be given a copy and required to affirm receipt and understanding. B, within 90 days of taking office, public officials shall receive training. C, city attorney or designee shall serve as a resource to assist public officials in understanding and abiding by the code. Next slide. continuous of implementation. D, all bodies whose members are covered by this chapter shall adopt rules of procedure, which include provisions of this code. E, chair of each body is responsible to provide appropriate guidance to its members and, if needed, communicate concerns to the Board of Ethics. F, only those who live, work, including vendors and contractors, or attend school in Riverside may bring a complaint unless alleged violation took place outside city limits and complaining party personally witnessed or observed the alleged violation. Please take note that the city council adopted the asterisk mark in blue, including vendors and contractors, on January 27, 2026. Next slide. Going into core values, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.050. A, to strive to create a government that is trusted by everyone. B, to strive to make decisions that are unbiased, fair, and honest. C, to strive to ensure that everyone is treated with respect and in a just and fair manner. Next slide. Continuous with the core values. D, to strive to create a community that affirms the value of diversity. E, to strive to ensure that all public decisions are well-informed, independent, and in the best interest of the city of Riverside. F, to strive to maintain a nonpartisan and civic-minded local government. Next slide. Continuous of core values. G, to strive to ensure that all public officials are adequately prepared for the duties of their office. H, to strive to ensure that appointed members of boards, commissions, and committees attend regularly scheduled meetings. Next slide. Continuous of core values, please take note that letter I was adopted on May 19, 2026 by city council. I, digital communications must reflect the city's commitment, the city's commitment to impartiality, fairness, and integrity. online activity messages or actions should not create or appear to create bias partisanship or predisposition on city matters that fall within the subject matter jurisdiction of the public officials and our quasi judicial procedures next slide Going into prohibited conduct pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.060. A, use of official title or position for personal gain, prohibited. B, use of divulgence of confidential or privilege information, prohibited. C, use of city resources for non-city purposes, prohibited. D, advocacy of private interest of third parties in certain circumstances, prohibited. E, endorsements for compensation, also prohibited. Next slide. Continuous of prohibited conduct. F, violation of government code sections 87100. Regulating financial interest and governmental decisions made by public officials, prohibited. G, certain political activity also prohibited. H, display of campaign materials in or on city vehicles, prohibited. I, knowingly assisting another public official in violating this code of ethics and conduct, also prohibited. Prohibited conduct continues. J, negotiation of employment with any party having a matter pending, prohibited. K, ex parte contact in quasi-judicial matters, prohibited. L, attempts to coerce official duties, prohibited. M, violations of law, local law, prohibited. N, convictions of federal or state law affecting their office, prohibited. Let's take note that O was also adopted by the city council on May 19, 2026, which states digital misconduct also prohibited. Next slide. Going into written complaint procedures pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.070. A, only alleged violations of prohibited conduct shall be grounds for a complaint. Please take note that the next section that I'm going to speak on was adopted and amended on January 27th, 2026 by city council, which reads, complainants are covered by whistleblower policies and the city will not retaliate nor tolerate retaliation against those who, in good faith, report suspected fraud, waste, or abuse, or participate in an investigation of a suspected violation. Next slide. Continuous a written complaint procedures pursuant to Riverside municipal code two point seven eight point zero seven zero B complaints are submitted on forms available from the city clerk C complaints and evidence are filed with the city clerk D complaints must be filled out completely in accordance with this chapter next slide Continuous of written complaint procedures. E, complaints must be filed no later than one year of alleged violation. F, city clerk reviews for completeness. G, any filed complaint not in compliance shall be administratively rejected by the city clerk with the approval of the chair of the board of ethics. Next slide. Going into pre-conference procedures. Pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.075, A, complainants must submit one revised complaint only to add additional allegations within 30 days of the original filing. B, city clerk sets matter for a pre-conference for no later than 45 city business days. C, city clerk provides a copy of complaint to public official within 10 calendar days. Next slide. Continuous of pre-conference procedures. D, Board of Ethics, also known as BOE, conducts a pre-conference prior to a hearing date set by the city clerk. All parties are to attend the pre-conference. However, the absence of a party shall not be grounds for a continuance. The free conference shall be conducted as follows. One, BOE reviews complaint to determine if it complies with all of the following to establish jurisdiction of the BOE. A, complaint procedures have been followed. B, complaint is against a public official. C, complaint alleges a violation of prohibited conduct. And D, complaint does not restate violations of previous complaint. Next slide. continuous of pre-conference procedures. Two, if a majority of the BOE determines that the complaint does not comply with the provisions mentioned in the prior slide, the chair states the findings of deficiency and calls for a vote of the BOE to dismiss the complaint without a hearing. The statement of findings is adopted at the next meeting and it is the final decision of the BOE. If a majority of the BOE determines that the complaint complies with all of the provisions mentioned in the prior slide, then the pre-conference proceeds. Three, the BOE shall facilitate settlement discussions between the parties by allowing the parties to confer privately to determine if a resolution can be reached. If so, then no hearing is necessary. If not, the pre-conference continues. Next slide. continuous of pre-conference procedures. Four, the BOE reviews the submitted tangible evidence to determine if it is relevant to the issues raised in the complaint. If it is determined by the majority of vote that such evidence is irrelevant, then such evidence will be deemed inadmissible at the hearing and shall be excluded. Five, the complainant may verbally present any and all evidence that will be presented at the hearing to prove allegations in the complaint. The public official has same opportunity. Six, the BOE shall determine by a majority of the vote whether the complainant has shown that the evidence more than likely than not shows that there may be a potential violation of the prohibited conduct. Please note the next section that I'm going to read was adopted on January 27, 2026 by city council, which reads, all evidence shall be taken in its totality with equal weight given to both parties. Next slide. Continuous of pre-conference procedures. Number seven, if it is determined by the BOE that the evidence shows it is more than likely than not that there may be a potential violation of the prohibited conduct has occurred. Then a hearing panel is selected by random draw of the BOE members to consist of five members and one alternate. The city clerk sets a hearing date for no later than 45 city business days following the pre-conference. Eight, if it is determined by the BOE that the complainant failed to show that it is more likely than not that there may be a potential violation of the prohibited conduct, the chair of the BOE instructs the city clerk to prepare a statement of findings for adoption at the next regular meeting of the BOE. This statement of findings is the final decision of the BOE. Next slide. Going into hearing procedures, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.080. A, public official shall file a written reply no later than 20 calendar days prior to the hearing date. B, city clerk shall provide copy of written reply to complainant no later than 10 city business after receipt. C, Board of Ethics shall have the authority to adopt hearing procedures not in conflict with this chapter. D, pre-conferences and hearings on their merits are not formal judicial proceedings. Technical rules of evidence do not apply. Next slide. Continuous of hearing procedures. E, chair of hearing panel presides over the hearing. F, no new witnesses or evidence other than what was submitted may be introduced at the hearing unless hearing panel determines complaint is discovered after the filing. G, prior to commencement of the hearing, either party may ask for a continuance. H, only one continuous of the hearing shall be granted to each party. Next slide. Continuous of hearing procedures, aye. Complainant goes first and shall have the burden of proof by preponderance of the evidence. Bless you. J, public official proceeds second and may make an opening and closing statement. Examine witnesses, evidence, and introduce rebuttal evidence. K, neither party shall be allowed to examine the other party, however may across examine. L, hearing panel may ask questions of the parties or witnesses. M, parties may present rebuttal evidence. next slide continuous of hearing procedures in upon conclusion of evidence presented the chair shall facilitate verbal deliberations by the hearing panel oh all findings shall be approved by majority of vote and a panel shall direct city clerk to prepare statement of findings or designate members to prepare statement of findings to include recommendations for sanctions panel must approve within city 30 city business days P, within five city business days of approval, city clerk notifies all parties in writing of the decision of the hearing panel and the appeal procedures. Next slide. Continuous of hearing procedures, Q. No member of the Board of Ethics who is the complainant of subject of the complaint shall sit as a member of the hearing panel. R. Neither the complainant, not the public official against whom the complaint is filed, shall be represented at the hearing by an attorney. Although an attorney may be present and consulted at the hearing, the attorney shall not address the hearing panel nor participate in any aspect of the hearing. Next slide. Going into appeal procedures, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.090, A, a decision of the hearing panel may be appealed to the city council. Appeals of pre-conference decisions may only be appealed if the appeal is based upon a clear procedural error. Appeals are filed in writing with the city clerk within 10 city business days following the date of the decision. Appellate must specify the clear procedural error or abuse of discretion. The city clerk shall place the appeal on a city council agenda within 30 city business days. Next slide. Continuous of appeal procedures pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.090. If there is no appeal, the decision of the hearing panel becomes final and there shall be no further right to appeal. The City Council will then determine if sanctions should be imposed, if applicable. C, the record on appeal shall consist of a transcript of the hearing, the complaint and the tangible evidence and testimony considered at the hearing. No new evidence will be received nor considered by the City Council at the hearing on the appeal. Next slide. continuous of appeal procedures D City Council shall review record if no finding of clear procedural error or abuse of discretion the City Council shall adopt findings of the hearing panel if there is a finding by the City Council of a clear procedural error or abuse of discretion by the hearing panel that finding shall be clearly stated and the matter shall be referred back to the hearing panel for a rehearing to reconsider the matter in light of the findings of the city council on appeal. If the city council finds a violation was committed, the city council may determine sanctions. If city clerk notifies all parties and there is no further right to appeal. Next slide. Continuous of appeal procedures. F, city clerk shall notify all parties of the findings and determination of the city council on the appeal. The findings and their determination are final and there is no further right to appeal. G, complaints, replies, supporting documentation, transcripts of hearing, notice of appeals, and all decisions thereon shall be public records and retained by the city clerk for a period of two years. H, no public official who is a party to a complaint shall participate in the appeal of a decision of the hearing panel and must be recused from the participation. Continuous of appeal procedures. F, city clerk shall notify all parties. Oh, next slide. Going into enforcement and sanctions, pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.100, upon a finding by a majority of the city council that any public official violated any provision, other prohibited conduct, or no appeal has been made to a board of ethics, finding such violation to the city council, may impose any of the following sanctions. Next slide. Going into enforcement and sanctions. Pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.100. A, elected officials. One, public apology by official to complainant. Two, recommendation for training. Three, removal from regional committees. Four, removal from mayor pro tem rotation. Five, public censure. Or six, restrict from traveling to attend meetings, conferences outside city limits. Continue, please. Continuous of enforcement and sanctions pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.100B, appointed officials of boards, commissions, and committees. One, public apology by the official to the complainant. Two, recommendation for training. Three, referral to the board, commission, or committee of which the appointed official is a member for public censure. Four, public censure by the mayor and city council. Five, removal from chair, vice chair, or other leadership positions. Or six, removal from office as provided by city charter. Next slide. going to monitoring and oversight pursuant to Riverside Municipal Code 2.78.110. Prior to end of July each year, the boards and commissions shall agendize and discuss at a regular meeting the effectiveness of this Code of Ethics and Conduct Code. and make recommendations to the Board of Ethics for consideration. B, prior to end of August, Board of Ethics shall discuss effectiveness of this code, consider Board Commission recommendations, and submit recommendations for amendments to the Governmental Processes Committee's BGPC for consideration. c prior to end of september the gpc shall discuss effectiveness of this code and instruct the city manager to present a report to the city council for its discussion and consideration d prior to the end of the year the chair of the gpc shall present a report to the city council at a public hearing in the evening The city council shall make an independent evaluation of the effectiveness of this code and consider those recommendations of the BOE boards, commissions, and GPC. The city council shall direct city attorney to make any changes to the code it deems appropriate. Next slide. As you can see, we've come to the end of your annual training, Madam Chair. I would like to state to the commissioners that the Human Relations Commission discuss and review the Code of Ethics and conduct for its effectiveness and forward any recommended revisions to the Board of Ethics for consideration. Once more, my name is Tola Perkins, representing the Board of Ethics as a board member, presenting you the annual Code of Ethics review. Thank you.

Thank you, Tola. Of course. Just overall, very robust and comprehensive, so I really appreciated that training.

You're welcome. Thank you, Battle Chair.

Of course. Is there any comments or questions from my fellow commissioners? Commissioner Lewis?

Job well done. Thank you so very much, Commissioner Lewis. I appreciate that. Thank you.

Commissioner Fujimoto?

I just wanted clarification. We have until the end of July if we have any recommendations, so that means we have the next meeting or not?

At this point, yes. You need to send any recommendations to the Board of Ethics or the City Clerk Office, and you can also use Ms. Stephanie here as your point of contact to reach out to us.

And do we do that as individuals or as a commission?

As a commission.

Okay.

Yes. And then Stephanie will reach out to you all as a team of commissioners.

Awesome. Thank you. Thank you. I did have a couple questions myself. I did notice that there was a bullet added for digital misconduct. Is digital misconduct identified or defined as to what that means?

Yes, and our city attorney team will be coming next to go over the Brown Act, and he too can support that answer to your question. Thank you, city attorney.

Thank you. And then I was looking at the code of ethics that was provided, and it also looks like item 2.87.120 was also repealed in this most recent motion by the city council. Do we know what that item was, just out of curiosity?

To the point, what's the section again?

2.87.120. It's on the last page of the code of ethics that was provided.

Okay. In your package, correct, Madam Chair?

Yes.

So all commissioners have received a package. And in that information, I would have to send it over to Stephanie to support you all with that information. And thank you for your consideration and patience while I get the information over to. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so very much.

I debated asking and I was like, well, they repealed it just a couple of months ago. So I'm curious as to what it was. Thank you, Commissioner Reyes.

Thank you. I just wanted to ask about the complaint process.

Real quick, microphone. It's on. Or at least bring it closer.

Is it better? I just wanted to ask about the complaint process. I know that it says that it has to be, the form has to be completed in full. Is the form only provided in English or what other languages is it provided in? And then I guess that's my question.

One second. We're going to the I want to get there. You're speaking up to languages also the languages can also be provided during the brown act related to the city attorney portion, but I will like to acknowledge your question related to the different languages. What keeps begins to present you will understand that information related to a second language or more.

Thank you.

Yes, you're very welcome. Thank you.

Mr Fujimoto.

Okay, under violation of Government Code Sections 87100, it said certain political activity prohibited. It doesn't define it, or is it defined anywhere, what the certain activities are?

What I can say, too, is in your package, it goes in more depth. As I stated, I'm performing the, you can go to page 11, slide 11, please, team, on slide 11.

Well, it is on slide 11.

Yes, I wanted the team to show it. yes so i can say inside your package it goes into more detail related to this section and the package that was sent to you by your team of commissioners thank you thank you so much seeing no other comments from my commissioners um we either are going to put forward a motion to accept

basically file and receive the presentation tonight or if we think that there's further discussion needed making a motion to agenda that the next meeting Commissioner Lewis I move that we accept the report as presented thank you is there a second yes I would like to second that all right thank you so motion to accept by commissioner lewis second by commissioner hamush thank you please vote

We have yes, eight votes, and one no vote by Commissioner Lewis.

It shows yes on my screen. I said yes.

It shows yes on my screen.

Okay. Correction. Thank you.

We have eight yes votes. Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you. Thank you.

And thank you again, Tola. We really appreciate your time tonight.

I appreciate all you commissioners, and I'm going to adjourn. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you.

Have a good evening.

All right. Now we're going to be moving forward with a presentation from our city attorney's office on the Brown Act. Item number four.

Good evening to the Board of Ethics. I apologize for my late arrival. So I am Anthony Beaumont, senior deputy city attorney for the city of Riverside, and I will be presenting the Brown Act training, which is a regular occurrence for the boards and commissions, but this year includes the 2026 Brown Act and Senate Bill 707 updates, sunshine ordinance, and digital misconduct and code of ethics updates. Next slide, please. So the Brown Act purpose is that the legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards and councils, and other public agencies in this state exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly. And this is in response, as I said during my presentation the last couple of years, to a series of articles in San Francisco, I think it was the San Francisco Chronicle, And I think they were in the early 70s. I tried to find these and I couldn't.

But an investigative reporter was looking into how local agency deliberations were done.

And apparently it's just as bad as you imagine. Backroom deals, stick with cigar smoke, the whole thing. It was terrible. So the state legislature passed the Brown Act. which states this has to be done up front. It's the people's business. Now, ironically, the state also has its own transparency act called the Bagley-Keene Open Meetings Act, but it's nowhere near as strict as the Brown Act, of course. Next slide, please. So all meetings of the legislative body of a local agency shall be open in public and all persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting of the legislative body of a local agency except as otherwise provided by law. And a key 2026 update is that Riverside must begin providing two-way telephonic or AV public access starting July 1st, 2026. We've actually been doing that for a while. Riverside's pretty good on its transparency. Next slide, please. The Brown Act creates certain minimum procedural requirements for conducting meetings. One of these rules requires the Board to adopt rules for the conduct of meetings of its business, including the time and place for holding regular meetings. That way the public has an idea of what to understand and the legislative body can't pull a fast one on them. For a 2026 update, effective July 1st, Riverside must adopt a written policy on handling disruptions, including from remote participants, ensuring clearing the room is a last resort and non-disruptors can stay or join remotely, and what happens if the AV system fails. And I don't have the complete copy of that here in front of me now, but I know I have, I've seen the mayor's notes for how that happens. And what you do is you first, of course, ask the disruptive person not to be disruptive. You can ask them again. If they refuse, you can tell them that they could be removed, but we don't go there quite yet. It can be very effective if the legislative body takes a break, remove the wind from their sails, so to speak. You can take a break for five minutes, come back. If they're still at it, take another break. Pretty much the last resort is clearing out the council chamber. But there is one class of people you cannot remove from the council chamber, and who do you think that is? The press. Now, this presumes that the press isn't being the disruptive person, right? But they're usually not. You cannot kick the press out. But they're not going to be a problem anyways. The worst case scenario is if somebody starts getting violent or throwing a fit, you would call security or call the police and have them removed. But I don't think that's really happened. Riverside's actually a pretty peaceful town if you think about it. Next slide, please. So a meeting includes any congregation of a majority of the members of what says CHB, but the legislative body, at the same time and place to hear, discuss, or deliberate upon any item that is within the subject matter jurisdiction. So since you have to have majority vote to take action on something that you deliberate, anytime there's a majority, the public has a right to be there to see what's going on. They have the right to know how they're being governed. Now, except as part of an open and notice meeting, the Brown Act prohibits any use of direct communication by personal intermediaries or technological devices by a majority of the board to develop order commission, to develop a collective concurrence as to the action to be taken on an item. So this would be an end run around. What if you all didn't meet as a majority meeting? here on the dais, but we're texting and emailing furiously and coming to some consensus. You're not allowed to do that. It has to be done in front of the public. A majority of the legislative body may not email each other to develop a collective concurrence as to action to be taken. This is all pretty common sense when you think about it. The public really does have a right to watch their governance in action, with exceptions. Security, certain personnel issues, legal strategy. You don't want to be discussing legal strategy with the opposition attorney in the audience, right? But except for those Brown Act exceptions, it's open in public. Next slide, please. For a 2026 update, Senate Bill 707, which is a state bill, clarifies the rules for permitted informational communications, including limited one-way distribution of factual information and certain social media activity. Prior to SB 707, you had this brave new world of things like Facebook. And what if one of you said, I think it's a great idea if we do this policy? And then a majority, a quorum, likes it. Somebody could argue, hey, that's a collective concurrence right there. They all just decided they think this is a good idea. Even if you just thought, hey, it would be nice to discuss it. So that used to be

Pretty widely advised against.

SB 707 says you can transmit certain things, certain one-way factual information, but still you have to be careful.

No collective concurrence.

Which is, social media is a minefield. It is a minefield. And I stay far away from it, and it hasn't bitten me yet. So we caution that all members should continue to treat social media interactions as high risk for inadvertent serial meetings. Next slide, please. So a serial meeting is a series of communications, each of which involves less than a quorum, but which, taken as a whole, involves a majority of that board or commission's members. It does not require a collective concurrence to occur in order for there to be a violation. City staff is allowed to engage in separate communications outside of a public meeting with members of the Board or Commission in order to answer questions or provide information regarding a matter that is within the subject matter of the Board or Commission provided that staff does not communicate to members of that Board or Commission the comments of other members. So Stephanie or city staff can give you all kinds of one-way information individually, but can't tell you how your other board policy or commission members feel about it. Next slide, please. A 2026 clarification is one-way distribution of purely factual information by staff to multiple board members is allowed only if it does not reveal other board members' views or facilitate agreements. Example, SB 707 permits board members to post factual information on social media or reply individually, but avoid chains that involve the majority or that reveal others' views. And since that's not clear-cut, my personal advice, professional advice, if you stay away from it, you don't get in trouble. Next slide, please. Public speech, that's an important part of our democracy, of course. The public has a right to address the board or commission at any meeting on any subject that is within subject matter jurisdiction. So if they wanted to talk about international relations, you could say maybe this isn't the time and place for it. But most people, they know where they're going and speak appropriately. For 2026 update, eligible legislative bodies must also allow remote participation through two-way remote access. And of course we do that. People can call in. Next slide, please. So the Board or Commission may impose reasonable restrictions upon public comment at meetings so long as such restrictions are not too broad and don't constitute prior restraints. They may also ask a member of the public to refrain from speaking on a matter not within the subject matter jurisdiction, because that's a waste of time, or from addressing their comments to one particular member instead of the body as a whole. Remember, you guys meet up here as a body. It's the body that speaks and acts. They're not supposed to make personal attacks on you. Next slide, please. The Board or Commission may require members of the public wishing to address to fill out a speaker's card. However, the public cannot be required to give names or sign a register as a condition of attendance, and that applies equally to in-person or remote attendees. Many cities do ask for names and addresses, and that includes Riverside, during oral communications in order to facilitate staff responses or the preparation of minutes. This practice is certainly allowable if it is identified as being voluntary. And it is very helpful. If the city is trying to keep a record of who made a comment, It's really nice if we can say who it was. That person may come back because if they sue, sometimes they have to do something called exhaust their remedies. They have to show that they brought this attention to the attention of the Board or Commission. And that's to their benefit, too, if their name is in there saying, you know, this person got up and spoke and said that. Next slide, please. The border commission may also regulate the total amount of time on particular issues and for each individual speaker subject to the requirements of due process. You can't give them 10 seconds. Time limits of three to five minutes are the most common amongst cities and counties. The chair is responsible for enforcing the time limit and depending upon the border commission may also monitor the time. Next slide, please. So accessibility enhancements. Riverside must conduct outreach to assess language needs and provide agenda translations and interpretation for public comment in languages spoken by more than 20% of the residents who do not speak English well. And agendas must also include remote access details. I don't know what the current status of the outreach is. I know we have Spanish translation and we have some sign language translation. And our agendas always include the remote access details. Next slide please. The agenda must specify the time and location of the meeting and a brief general description of each item of business to be transacted or discussed. If the matter is not on the agenda, it may not be discussed or acted upon, at least not substantively. The people have a right to read an agenda and know if they should or should not be there if something is of interest to them. Next slide, please. So there's exceptions to what you can speak about even if it was not identified on the agenda. Brief responses by members of the body and staff to statements or questions posed by the public. You can't know what they're going to ask ahead of time, right? questions for clarification, references to staff or other resources for factual information, requests to staff to report back on an issue, requests to agendize a matter of business for a future meeting, and brief announcements by members of the body or staff and brief reports on their activities. Remember, none of this is really deliberative, and you can't predict the future, so you need to have a little bit of leeway to say things which are not specifically called out on the agenda. But the touchstone is if you remember the public and you really wanted to know what was going on, what could you reasonably expect the agenda to have? That's always a good touchstone. Next slide, please. So Riverside has a Sunshine Ordinance, which goes above and beyond the Brown Act. It was adopted October 6, 2015. As amended in 2025, it can be found in Title IV of the Municipal Code. So some words of commissions are subject to it and some are not and the human relations Commission, I think it's an advisory board on the sunshine ordinance so it requires an advisory board to post a copy or image of the agenda and all reports and presentations in a location accessible to the public no later than 3 business days. City Council planning Commission. Board of public utilities and a couple others are subject to the sunshine ordinance which is 12 days advance. Now, the Sunshine Ordinance sounds like a great idea if you're a curious member of the public, but if you're staffed trying to get something noticed, it really, really delays time. transparency comes with a pretty hefty price. It costs time, time, and nobody's got too much time. So the city council recently tried to see, you know, which ones could get by with what the state requires, which is three days versus which ones have to have the 12 days and not being under the sunshine ordinance actually makes your life easier. Next slide, please. So one can supplement the agenda or agenda related materials no later than 72 hours before a regular meeting, but only if to add an item due to an emergency, delete a matter from the agenda, provide additional information or materials that were not known to staff or not considered relevant at the time, to correct errors or omissions, or change a stated financial amount if it was a mistake. or to continue to add or continue an item to a future agenda. Next slide, please. So, new rules for 2026. Assembly Bill 2449 rules have sunset December 31st, 2025, and Senate Bill SB 707 establishes new participation rules. There are new reasonable accommodations for disabilities, and it expands the just cause remote attendance requirement. It is somewhat more difficult now after the COVID has passed to do remote attendance. You can still do it. You have to provide just cause, and you're limited to the number of times you can do it. And the number of times you can do it, it's based on how often the body meets. If you only meet three times a year, you can't miss no less than three a year because you would never be there. Next slide, please. The reasonable accommodation for disability. Board members with a statutory disability may participate remotely. They still have to use two-way audio and video. And I don't know why they have this, but it's the law. You must disclose the presence of adults over 18 present in the remote location. I'm sure they had a reason for it. Next slide, please. Updates to the sunshine ordinance for 2025 only the City Council Board of ethics or the public utilities charter review committee the CPR see in planning Commission. Our subject to the sunshine ordinance which is to notice meetings 12 days in advance audio and visual recording of the meeting all other boards and commissions 72 hours in advance and audio record. Next slide please. 20 twist 2026 up based to social media. This is the digital misconduct. Of course it's prohibited. One example is online activity or messages that create or appear to create bias, partisanship or predisposition on city matters to that matters only while acting in an official capacity. These things have to fall within the subject matter jurisdiction of the public official. This applies to quasi judicial proceedings. when using official city accounts, and sanctions are limited to censure only. Next slide, please. And that's it. If there are any questions, I'd be glad to answer them.

Thank you so much. We really appreciate your time and meeting with us tonight. Is there any comments from my fellow commissioners? Commissioner Lewis.

My question is, how did the Name the Brown ad come about? Was it anything to do with Willie Brown?

No, no, and that's funny because that was mentioned at the last meeting I presented this at. It was not Willie Brown. It was somebody else. Okay. Although he was quite a remarkable person, wasn't he? Yes, he was.

All right. Seeing no other comments from commissioners, again, thank you so much for presenting to us tonight.

This was always very helpful.

Moving forward to the item number five on our discussion calendar to determine whether the absence of Commissioner Roya from the Human Relations Commission meeting on May 28th is recorded as excused or absent. Do we have any public comment at this time?

No callers.

All right, thank you. Do we have any comments from commissioners? Or do we have a motion? Commissioner Agramon.

A motion to excuse.

I'll second that.

I missed who the second was. Did you second? Okay, so motion to excuse from Commissioner Agramon, second by Commissioner Goh.

Please vote. Has everyone voted yet?

Is it still missing one?

We're still missing a vote.

Everyone might want to try again to push it. thank you we have six yes votes and two abstentions motion passes okay thank you moving forward with item number seven on our agenda this is the attendance of community events reminder this is the item in which the commission can talk about items that we wish to attend as a commission moving forward do we have any public comment for this item

No callers.

Thank you. And do we have any comments or events from our fellow commissioners that we would like to discuss at this time? Seeing and hearing none. If we have none, we don't take a motion. We just move on? Okay. Just making sure. I'll give it one more second while I flip the page slowly. All right, moving on to item number eight on our agenda. This is the section that I don't need to call for public comment, right? Sorry, I think you got cut off on my agenda. Correct. Okay, perfect. So item number eight on our agenda, human relations commissioner updates on external meetings, conferences, and committees attended. Typically, we go round robin with this. So I will start with Commissioner Lewis. Do you wish to report on any meetings that you've attended?

No. yes um i attended the juneteenth on on june 19th at the civil rights institute it was a great event and um i thank you to nancy who was able to pull it off it was for nancy i don't think we would have had our presentation the booths and all of that But it was well attended. They had standing room only, and they had to find some other chairs.

That's amazing. And if you have any pictures to share with staff, I'm sure we'd love to see it. Thank you. Commissioner Fujimoto?

Nothing to report.

Commissioner Goh?

Nothing to report.

Commissioner Agramon?

Nothing to report.

Commissioner Harmoosh?

Not this month.

Commissioner Rea? Nothing to report. Mr. Farney. I've been out of town somewhat, and I don't have anything to report. That's the same for me. I've actually been out for quite a few weeks this month, so it's a quiet month for all of us. Moving on to item number nine on our agenda, staff updates. Do we have any this month?

Yes, we actually have a couple. first one is the recommendation for the 2026 community support grant program was removed from the june 23rd city council meeting agenda and all applicants have since been notified via email of the cancellation of the program the second notification is pursuant to resolution number 24310 which directs the city manager's office to provide an ongoing reporting on federal immigration enforcement activity I'm here to provide the following update for the month of May 2026. The city's 311 system did not receive any community reports related to federal immigration enforcement activity. The Riverside Police Department, however, did receive one notification of ICE or Border Patrol activity within city limits. The City Manager's Office will continue to report back on any updates related to this matter and continue to report back to the HRC accordingly. This concludes my update. Thank you so much.

Item number 10 on our agenda, items for future Human Relations Commission consideration. Do any of the commissioners wish to request items to be added to our future agenda? As a reminder, on the back of the agenda packet is the new item presentation tracker that Stephanie put together. Um, if you haven't had a moment to look at it, if not, then, um, if you have any recommendations while everyone's taking a moment to think, I do want to recommend, um, having the different department heads coming to present. I know we had Chief Gonzalez the last month. I know in the past we've had several other department heads thinking of like the housing department. I think it would be really good for the commission to receive those on like an ongoing basis between all the different departments to hear what they have going on in the city and to be able to share any feedback that we may have.

Thank you.

Any other commissioners?

I see the ad hoc committee review item on the agenda, but I see no date or anything. I think maybe we should have some type of a date.

I think we held off on that one today knowing that we had two big presentations coming. Maybe we can consider it for the next month to review the different ad hocs that we have going on. Seeing nothing else, you guys are a quiet bunch today. With that, our next meeting is going to be on July 23rd at 6 p.m. I appreciate you guys spending the evening together tonight and have a great next month. Meeting adjourned at 718.