City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you for watching. Bye. Thank you. you

Mayor, we're ready whenever you are.

Madam Clerk, please start the meeting. Yes, Mayor, please go ahead. Thank you. I hereby call the Santa Ana City Council meeting to order. This meeting is taking place with in-person attendance and by teleconference via Zoom. The public may access the meeting via the Santa Ana YouTube channel or the city's website. Please bear with us as the technology may disrupt the flow of the meeting. Madam Clerk, please conduct the roll call.

Council Member Becerra. Council Member Hernandez. Council Member Lopez.

Here.

Council Member Phan. Here. Council Member Vasquez.

Present.

Mayor Pro Tempino-Losa. Mayor Meskwa. Present. Four members present. You do have a quorum. Thank you.

Madam Clerk, are there any additions or deletions to the closed session agenda? There are none. Does any council members need to announce their abstentions on closed session items? Look at Council Member Phan. It's usually her. Seeing none. All right. Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers for closed session?

We do not have any in-person speakers for closed session. We did not receive any email comments, but let me confirm with the one caller on Zoom to see if they're for closed session or regular session. Caller whose phone number ends in 826, please unmute. Are you speaking on the closed session agenda or the regular agenda?

Regular agenda, please.

Okay, thank you. Please hold until we reconvene at that time.

No further speakers. Thank you. We will now recess to closed session.

you Thank you. you Thank you. you So, Thank you. Bye. you you Thank you for watching. you Thank you. you Thank you. Thank you. Bye.

Madam Clerk, please start the meeting. Yes, Mayor, go ahead, please. I hereby call the Santa Ana City Council meeting to order.

Madam Clerk, please conduct the roll call. This meeting is taking place with in-person attendance and by teleconference via Zoom. The public may access the meeting via the Santa Ana YouTube channel or the city's website. Please bear with us as the technology may disrupt the flow of the meeting. This is a meeting to conduct the business of the city. There's an opportunity to call for a recess or break or even to clear the meeting room if a meeting becomes too disruptive to properly conduct business. Warnings will be provided prior to any action being taken. We appreciate your cooperation. For everyone's safety, per the fire marshal, please do not stand or place objects in the aisles, in front of the dais, along the back wall of the council chambers, or in front of any entrances or exits. During City Council presentations and oaths of office, guests of individuals being recognized are invited to come to the front to take photos. For the roll call, Council Member Becerra.

Here.

Council Member Hernandez.

Present.

Council Member Lopez. Here. Council Member Phan. Here. Council Member Vazquez.

Present.

Mayor Potempa and Yalitza.

Presente.

Mayor Miswa. Present. All seven members present. Thank you. Madam Clerk, before we proceed to the Pledge of Allegiance, please make an announcement. For members of the public on Zoom or teleconference to request to speak during public comments on agenda or non-agenda items within the city's jurisdiction, you must dial star 9 from your phone or click the button labeled raise hand from Zoom now in order to be in the speaker queue once public comments commence. Hands must be raised prior to 545 p.m. Thank you.

Thank you. The first item on the agenda is our beautiful Pledge of Allegiance. And I would like to ask Cortez to please come up and lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Come on up, young man. Thank you. Big responsibility here. Let's give him a round of applause.

May we stand, put your right hand over your heart, ready, begin. 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.

Great job. Thank you.

That's our future, ladies and gentlemen. Okay, next is our... Words of inspiration provided by Pastor Greg Cruelly, sir. Hello.

Let's pray. Lord Jesus, please instruct us and teach us in the ways that we should conduct this meeting. Please counsel us with your loving eyes on us. Let your aim in this meeting be aligned with your direction. Let your plans be orchestrated by you. Father, let your will be done in this meeting so that this can be a meeting that is based upon your desires for us. Whatever it is that you want to result from this meeting, Lord, let it happen. In your name, Jesus Christ, amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, sir, very much.

Thank you, Pastor. Madam Clerk, are there any additions or deletions to the City Council agenda? There are none. All right. The first presentation is mine. I want Santa Ana 8U Pony Baseball All-Stars. Come on up. What's up, guys? Look at this. More? Okay, good job. All right, look at this.

Yeah, come right behind me.

Thank you so much.

I'm going to put it down because one of you are going to come up and speak, so I'll lower it, okay? Do we know who's going to come up and speak yet? We don't know, coaches? Somebody will. All right. Well, good evening, everybody. Let's welcome and recognize Santa Ana AU All-Stars for an outstanding 2026 season and congratulate them all on their incredible accomplishments. This is very near and dear and personal to us. The city manager and I were at their game when they played Mexico. We could tell you all about it, it was a great game. All right, throughout the 2026 All-Star season, this team demonstrated what it means to compete at a high level, earning six All-Star victories, 92 team hits, 99 stolen bases in just 13 games. Yeah, that's great, right? 88 runs scored, 57 RBIs, 23 extra base hits, including 15 doubles, three triples, and five home runs. Yes, give it to them. One statistic that truly stands out is their 99 stolen bases in only 13 games. You guys are awesome. Yes. That remarkable accomplishment reflects the hustle, the confidence, the teamwork, and the aggressive style of play that defined this team throughout the season. And let me tell you, we watched them. They're amazing. Tonight, we are proud to recognize these outstanding student athletes. Louis Martinez.

Who's Louis?

Raise your hand. Jet Ceja. Charlie Castellanos. Raise it high so everybody can see you. Victor Ventura. Cortez Ventura. Isaac Penalosa. Adrian Penalosa. Jonathan Sanchez. Andy Buenrostro. Albert Venegas. Noah Sanchez, Antonio Molina, Aaron Corona and Nathan Arana. None of these accomplishments would have been possible without the dedication of their coaches, their parents, their families, and all their supporters. And let me tell you, we're watching the game. We got to see all the parents and grandparents and Nina's and Thea's, everybody out there dancing and supporting them. They were literally dancing too, by the way. It was great. Thank you for investing your time, your encouragement and commitment in helping these young athletes grow both on and off the field. And coaches, thank you for everything that you do. You are shaping our future and it's so important. Thank you all very much. Let's give the coaches a round of applause, please. To cap off an already remarkable season, the Santa Ana AU All-Stars captured the Memorial Day Tournament AU Kid Pitch Division Championship, defeating, let me say it again, defeating a talented team from Culiacan, Mexico in the championship game. Oh yeah, they beat them, they beat them good. I'm sorry, what was the score again? Nine to one. That's right. It was nine to one. Their performance showcased exceptional teamwork, determination, and sportsmanship, making this victory a proud moment for their families, their organization, and the entire Santa Ana community. Congratulations once again to Santa Ana 8U All-Stars on an outstanding season. I just have to say, as I... indicated earlier the city manager and I and my chief of staff we were there at the game and it was something else I have to say they they you guys you guys are pretty amazing pretty amazing even when they tried to challenge you and Mexico came over and was like no no no they're trying to challenge you right but you guys won what is this what's the score again all right so what I'm going to present to you here today let me put my glasses back on I can't see without them It's a certificate of recognition awarded to Santa Ana AU All-Stars in recognition of your outstanding teamwork, dedication, and sportsmanship. Congratulations to an exceptional season and for proudly representing the city of Santa Ana. You guys are just amazing, and we can't see what you're gonna be like when you're 18, 21. Some of you will be sitting up here, council members, the mayor, judges, attorneys, lawyers, Policemen, firemen, teachers, yes? Okay, all right, so who's going to speak on your behalf? One of the coaches or a couple of the coaches come up, but who's going to speak? Which one of you are going to speak? No, which one of the players? Which one of the players? Judd? Is that Judd? Oh, I think you can vote on your behalf.

Come on up. You want to say something, too?

Thank you, parents and coaches, for coming to our games.

Yes, great job. Thank you.

I'll be honest, I wasn't prepared. It's okay.

We're not either.

But I do appreciate everybody's support, especially growing up in Santa Ana and not having this before. These kids are something they're never going to forget, right? They're never going to forget being up here in front of everybody, being on YouTube. So I really appreciate it.

From the mayor and all the council members, we want to present the certificate of recognition to the Santa Ana AU All-Stars. And please continue to invite us to the games. I have to tell you, city manager, myself, I even took my husband. He doesn't go anywhere. He went. That's awesome. And he watched, and it was a beautiful game. And you guys are amazing. So, again, thank you for everything that you do.

Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Thank you, everyone.

All right, the next item, presentation is by Councilmember Lopez, recognizing Jonathan Martinez. You're gonna.

Okay, good evening everybody. I'm really excited to be recognizing an incredible local artist whose work reminds us not only of the beauty of the natural world, but also our responsibility to protect it. Jonathan Martinez, known professionally as Art of the Endangered, go check out his Instagram account, has spent the past decade creating vibrant, captivating works that celebrate wildlife and inspire conservation. His signature style filled with bold colors and dynamic movement brings endangered species to life and encourages viewers of all ages to appreciate and protect our planet's biodiversity. His talent and dedication have led to collaborations with organizations including the National Wildlife Federation, the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society, and the World Wildlife Fund. In 2020, Jonathan began a long-term creative partnership with the National Wildlife Federation, resulting in a beautiful mural at Esperanza Elementary School dedicated to students, teachers, and families. That mural received widespread recognition, including a front page feature in the Orange County Register art section. His work has also been highlighted by NBC for its powerful message of wildlife conservation. Jonathan's artwork has earned national recognition as well, His work has been featured on the National Geographic website and is showcased on the general pencil company art kits distributed across the country, allowing aspiring artists nationwide to experience and be inspired by his creativity. And honestly, for me personally, this is something that's really, really amazing. to see some of the young people that grew up here in the 80s or the 90s really accomplishing their dreams. And I encourage everybody again to follow Jonathan and support his work. On behalf of my office, thank you, Jonathan, for using your incredible talent to make a lasting impact on our communities and for inspiring future generations through your passion, your creativity, and your commitment to conservation. Congratulations on this very well-deserved recognition.

Good evening, everybody. Thank you for having me. First of all, I want to thank Councilwoman Jessie Lopez, her team, and the City of Santa Ana for this recognition. And, of course, my number one supporter is my parents. They have always supported me since I was a kid. Thank you. Always very thankful for them. Growing up here in Santa Ana, I graduated back in 2010 from Santa Ana High School, and the arts wasn't really a thing back then. As the years went by and me creating art, we're becoming a full-time artist now for over 10 years. It's been really impressive seeing how much the city's been taking notice of how much we need the arts, especially with our youth. I've been having the privilege, too, of giving classes through General's Pencil and other organizations here in Santa Ana, as well as LA County, in San Francisco, up north, and different parts of the country. One thing that I do ask for the city is that we continue to support these programs. We continue to help up-and-coming artists to be able to find a way, get inspired, you know, through different art projects, and also because, you know, Growing up in the early 2000s, it was way different back then. You know, there was a lot of like gang activity, a lot of different stuff that, you know, we don't really see as much today. And the arts was one of the things that really helped me get through all of that. And I really encourage the city to keep doing what they're doing. It's been a privilege to be able to create, to be able to inspire the youth here in Santa Ana. And as for me, I have more projects lined up with the National Wildlife, other wildlife organizations throughout the country. And I'm gonna keep representing Santa Ana in the best way possible that I can. Thank you, everybody.

congratulations congratulations congratulations all right madam city attorney do we have anything to report out of closed session mayor council members members of the public we did have several closed session items we do not have reportable action thank you very much

We're going to go into public comment. This is the time of the meeting for the City Council to receive comments from the public on agenda and non-agenda items. Madam City Clerk, please explain the public comment procedures and call the first speakers.

Thank you, Mayor. Pursuant to resolution number 2026-024, speakers are requested to address the City Council directly and to refrain from profane language, racial epitaphs, and libelous or slanderous statements that may disturb the decorum of the meeting. Pursuant to the Brown Act, the City Council may not enter into discussion at this time. Speakers will have three minutes for their comments. Before calling speakers, I'll report the summary of emails received as of today by 2 p.m. We received a total of 15 e-comments, one pertaining to item 13, one 14, one on item 15, one on item 17, one on item 18, one addressing item 20, and nine on non-agenda topics. Those were distributed to the City Council and posted online for public review. We'll now hear from members of the public that are physically present in the council chamber, followed by those on the conference call or Zoom to provide comments on agenda or non-agenda items. Please state your name and the ward or neighborhood you reside in for the record. When you hear your name, please line up in the center aisle behind the podium. The first three speakers, Kathy Moorhead, Johan Lopez, and Christina Kelly.

This is on? You can move it up. Go ahead and move it up.

Good evening, Mayor and city council members. Thank you for listening to me today. I'm here to let you know I do not support Chapter 26 at all. I live in Park, San Diego, Ward 3. And I actually hope it never comes to the next meeting's session. I think there's a lot of people who do not support this and do not want it. So I just wanted my public voice to be heard. Thank you.

Johan Lopez followed by Christina Kelly and Nina Jurek.

Good evening, Mayor Emescu and members of the Santa Ana City Council. My name is Johan Lopez and I'm honored to be back before you this evening. A few months ago, I stood here to speak about an issue that often goes unnoticed, the importance of expanding access to dental care for senior residents. and tonight I am grateful to return with something even more meaningful, my sincere appreciation. On behalf of Community Care Clinic, Affordable Dentist, and Dentists for Seniors, I want to thank Mayor Valeria Mezcoa for her willingness to partner with our team to bring free dental screenings to the Santa Ana seniors during the Dental Resource Fair on September 26th. This partnership represents something much greater than a single event. It reflects a shared belief that every senior deserves the opportunity to receive quality healthcare with dignity, compassion, and respect. For many older adults, something as simple as accessing a dental examination can be incredibly difficult. Limited transportation, financial barriers, medical conditions, and mobility challenges often prevent seniors from receiving the care they need until a minor problem becomes a serious one. By opening the door for this partnership, the city is helping remove those barriers and bringing preventative care directly to the people who need it most. We are proud to stand alongside the city of Santa Ana in this effort and remain committed to serving our community through free screenings, oral health education, affordable treatment options, and mobile dental services for seniors who cannot easily travel. Mayor Mezcua, Thank you for recognizing that oral health is an essential part of overall health and for your continued commitment to improving the quality of life for Santa Ana residents. We hope this event is only the beginning of an even stronger partnership that will continue reaching more seniors and families throughout our city. To the members of the council, thank you as well for your dedication to the residents you serve each day. Thank you.

Christina Kelly, Nina Jurek, Allison Stanley.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and members of city council. This is in regards to action item 18. My name is Christina Kelly and I am a proud union carpenter of the Western State Regional Council of Carpenters. We support building housing. We also support projects of size should leave a lasting benefit for the communities in which they are built. The Sandpoint project will bring 400 new homes to the Santa Ana and that is significant. But we believe a development of the scale should also create meaningful opportunities for the skilled local workforce. to build it. Our organization has approximately 1,200 active members who live in the city of Santa Ana. These are our residents, they raise families here, they support local businesses here, and they have invested years in completing state approved apprenticeship training to build projects safely and to the highest of the standards. For nearly two years, our organization has worked in good faith to engage the applicant on workforce comments, that would have benefited both this project and the City of Santa Ana community. Unfortunately, we have yet to reach an agreement. While the applicant may not be legally required to make those commitments, nothing prevents them from voluntarily demonstrating that they want local skilled workers to share the benefits of this project. We are disappointed that this project will not be an example of housing, production, and meaningful workforce commitments. We can go hand in hand. We remain committed to working with the applicants who are willing to create meaningful opportunities for the skilled local workforce who we call the city as our home. Thank you.

Nina Jurek, Allison Stanley, Suman Basin.

I'm Madam Mayor, City Council, City Manager, Nina Jarek, Ward 5, Washington Square. Incredibly grateful for the partial allocation funding for the purchase of a park. I can't thank you enough, and now I can just hope and trust that the negotiations are going well. All of Washington Square is... anxious for that park. We do have our quarterly general meeting coming up on Thursday and we look forward to an update on that. As time goes by, having a park in Washington Square becomes more and more important. We had our big Fourth of July celebration. During that celebration, I met neighbors who'd only been in the neighborhood for about eight months. They had a six-month-old cute little baby boy. I would love the opportunity for him to enjoy a park. Also, I found out my neighbors across the street are pregnant with twins, and they already have a one-year-old. So a park becomes more and more important as time goes on. If there's anything else Washington Square, any of the residents can do to assist helping write grant proposals, fundings, resources, whatever we can do to help, we're here. Please reach out and we look forward to continuing to partner with you. Thank you.

Allison Stanley. Suman Basin, Virginia Bernal.

Good evening, Mayor Inescu and city council members. I'm here to thank you, Mayor Inescu and Council Member López for helping me with the situation that I brought to your attention. I'd also like to thank, sorry, Chief Rodriguez. I don't know if he's here. I don't know who he is, but I want to thank him too. I'm sure it can't be easy. dealing with and addressing all the things that the public throws at you. So I just wanna let you know that I'm grateful for your responsiveness.

To mine, followed by Virginia, and then Anthony Agama.

Here, and council members.

Can you bring your mic down a little bit, please? Thank you so much.

Thank you. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Suman Basin, and I'm a resident of Santa Ana. I respectfully ask the city council to consider adopting resolution in support of lowering electric bills for residents, seniors, working families, and small businesses. Electricity is not a luxury. It's a necessity. Families are struggling with rising utility costs while also facing higher prices for housing, groceries, and other basic needs. Many seniors on fixed income and small business owners are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with these expenses. A city council resolution would send a strong message that Santa Ana supports affordable, reliable, and transparent electricity rates. It could encourage state regulators and utility providers to prioritize rate payers' affordability, expand energy efficiency, and build assistance programs, and carefully evaluate future rate increases. to ensure they are necessary and justified. While the city does not set electric rates, it has an important voice in advocating for its residents. A formal resolution would demonstrate that Santa Ana stands with its community and support that help reduce the financial burden of electricity cost. I respectfully ask the council to adopt such resolution. And thank you for your time and your service that you provide to us.

Virginia Bernal, Anthony Agama, Dale Helvig.

Greetings, Mayor and council members. Thank you for your public service and today for considering a resolution to support much needed legislation to bring down our electric bills. My name is Virginia Bernal, longtime resident Santa Ana Ward 5. There's a huge cluster of laws that we need to rein the rapidly rising electricity rates. I'll mention three that interest me especially and hope they will be included in your resolution. On a prior meeting, I requested support for Senate Bill 905 in its original unamended form. Its purpose, to reform the excessive profits of SoCal Reddison that contribute to an unaffordability crisis. SB 905 will make their executive's compensation dependent on how well they control the cost of electric bills. and by demanding investments that lower risk, so they don't have the excuse that their business is high risk. Another bill, the exploding interest in artificial intelligence is leading to the creation of very large data centers. California Senate Bill 886 by Senator Padilla attempts to prevent a huge increase in utility costs and prevent environmental damage. AB 886 will hold developers of data centers responsible for all transmission and interconnection costs and require they use renewable energy and battery storage, keeping with our state's extremely important climate mitigation goals. Another challenge is the billing of electricity, because an increasing percentage of customers do not buy the generation of electricity from SoCal Edison, only the transmission and distribution. These customers may have rooftop solar, or they are participants in community shows aggregation, such as the Orange County Power Authority. These customers are accused of being subsidized by other rate payers. If so, that is shocking. To help solve billing problems like this, Assembly Bill 1761, by Assemblymember Chris Rogers requires full transparency on all data and methods used in calculating rates by the corporations and by the California Public Utilities Commission. This is important because long-term fixed costs need to be shared fairly. By ensuring greater transparency in how electricity charges are arrived for various groups of users, AB 1761 will help ensure that all customers pay their fair share. City Council, on behalf of Santa Ana residents, we're all electric users, please give strong support. Virginia, your time is up. Thank you very much.

Anthony Agama, Del Helvig, Lynette Wardinsky.

Good evening, Mayor Meskla, council members, and members of the public. My name is Anthony Agama with Climate Action Campaign, a nonprofit watchdog here in Orange County. I'm back before you tonight because you heard our community's concerns. You agendized item 24, to stand in support of meaningful reforms of our broken utility system. This resolution could not be more urgent. Southern California Edison's rates have more than doubled over the last 10 years, up 101%. Nearly one in five Edison households are now behind on their bills, owing an average of $833. Santanero families are being forced to choose between groceries and keeping their lights on. And while families fall behind, Edison posted more than $5 billion in profits last year, a 200% increase, even after state investigators found Edison responsible for the deadly Ian fire that killed 19 people and left thousands homeless. there is no end in sight with more than 10 rate hikes awaiting approval at the california public utilities commission right now how is this possible because for-profit utilities have rigged the system to squeeze families and the proof is right next door in the last three years anaheim which was served by a non-profit public utility electric bills did not increase at all zero percent Meanwhile, Southern California Edison's customer bills increased 40% over the last three years. Anaheim families saved nearly $2,200 per year compared to families in Santa Ana, due in large part of not being forced to pay for corporate profits. The bills in this resolution would help rein in excess utility profits and stop unnecessary utility spending that gets passed directly onto families. They would also help California prioritize cheaper, cleaner, local energy solutions instead of constantly building expensive projects that raise our utility bills even more for decades. Four votes on these bills are expected before the legislators' August 31st deadline. San Diego already passed a similar resolution in support of these reforms. A yes vote from Santa Ana tonight puts one of the largest cities in Orange County on the record, and Sacramento will notice. this is a bipartisan common sense urgent item we are glad to continue serving as a resource thank you for your time and for your leadership Dale Helvig followed by Lynette Wardinsky and Steve Wardinsky good evening Dale Helvig 36 year resident of ward 3.

It's good to see on the consent calendar three items that will either renew or establish new leases on the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. It's good to see that happening. Mainbury Park Permit District, from Tustin to the 5 Freeway, from 17th to the 4th Street, all wants to be part of a new parking permit zone. That ought to tell us a lot about what we need to do about all this high density housing that we're building in that area. We're gonna be known as Permit Parking USA versus Tree City USA, if we keep this up. Item 18, density bonus agreement for the Watermark Sandpoint multi-use development. The City of Santa Ana continues to approve mixed-use developments that allow density bonus agreements. This is a trend that's unsustainable. Some questions the City needs to consider, as we continue to exceed RHNA goals, is someone in the City looking at the long-term effect this has by this 2,000% increase over RHNA? Why do we continue to placate every developer's desire to build a maximum size project for any given piece of land? We continue to hear the American dream is to own your own residence. This project does nothing to make that a reality. It also removes much needed parking for adjacent offices where this project is going. Approving the density bonus is a mistake. And I wonder why the council is even asking to look at this if it is state mandated. At a minimum, the project should be placed on hold until the next RHNA cycle. Projects such as this only pad the pockets of developers while contributing to the long-term decline of quality and the quality of the residents around it. Do not approve the item. It also appears that the City does not have the manpower, will, or support needed to stop multi-event use of fireworks. I urge you to consider this. As an interim measure, impose an environmental justice fee on the sale of all fireworks. This fee could be used to compensate the City for expenses associated with fireworks, i.e., the cleanup and policing that's needed following these events. We had a pile of trash in the middle of the street that was left there for two days because the residents didn't want to clean up their own trash from the fireworks. Attach the fee to the issuance of the permits might be a solution. Thank you.

Lynette Wardinsky, Steve Wardinsky, Ayn Kressia.

Hi, good evening, Mayor Meskua and council members. My name's Lynette Wardynski. I live in Park Santiago, Ward 3. I'm a 26-year resident. I am speaking out against any proposed changes to Chapter 26 that would allow vendors in our park. I am completely opposed to this possibility. I have emailed all of you. Thank you, Mayor Meskua, for your response, and Mr. Penaloza for your response. Ms. Jessie Lopez, I emailed you twice. I did not get a response. I believe you and Mr. Penaloza are running against each other as assemblymen. It's been noted. Thank you. My closest park is Park Santiago. It's been beautifully renovated just recently. My neighbors and I are very grateful for it. We use it daily. We love having that nature preserve. we appreciate the security patrols that work hard to keep it safe and healthy for everyone to enjoy i am opposed to any proposed changes to chapter 26. city finances being what they are our parks do not need the additional burden of any additional burden such as vendors policing them trash pollution further oversight and maintenance. I recall in the past some vendors that were push carts whose permits were so delayed because city employees could not keep up with any permitting. So we do not need additional burdens and I thank you for all of your attention to this matter. I am sitting with several people, some who choose me to speak, some who are watching from home. We're all watching you, thank you.

Next three speakers, Steve Wardinsky, Ayn Krasia, and Isaiah Suizar.

I have to move that quite a bit up. Good evening, Mayor Meskwa and members of the City Council. I'm also a resident of Ward 3, probably not surprising given my last name and hers, for slightly less time because I was the lucky one who married into living in Santana, but I'm also rising to oppose any change to Chapter 26. for many of the same reasons that my wife just pointed out, but I would also ask the Council to consider not only the possible liability that happens when we see tragic incidences like those in Los Angeles and other neighborhoods where vendors are attacked, where they are robbed, where the city could be considered negligent for not protecting them or not responding to any sort of crime against them. The last thing I'm doing is blaming the victim here, but that is an extra expense as well as an extra responsibility that the city may want to consider taking on if they decide to change Chapter 26. I would also relate my experience as a Ducks season ticket holder leaving games and being forced to walk in the street as opposed to the sidewalk, which is rather narrow, because of the dissent of the pushcart vendors selling hot dogs after games that basically stop anybody from getting in and out of the arena. Given the... narrowness of the park walkways, especially in Santiago Park, which the city has spent a great deal of money, time, and effort making into a very nice area for us to spend our time. I would hate to have that clogged up with a bunch of vendors that make it a much less enjoyable experience to be in that park. We really deeply appreciate the effort and the money and the time and the resources that this council has spent now and in the past on Park Santiago and making Santiago Park a very nice and wonderful little pass through where it used to just be, you know, kind of something on the way to the bridge. We very much would like our park and other parks to remain in that state for all of us to enjoy. So we very much oppose any change to Chapter 26. Thank you very much for your time, and we appreciate you hearing us out. Thanks.

Fine. Followed by Isaias and Mary Meduena.

Good evening, Mayor, council members, and members of the public. My name is Ayn Cration. I'm the Orange County Policy Director with Climate Action Campaign, a nonprofit climate policy watchdog here in Orange County. As is explained very clearly in the agenda memo under item 24, SoCal Edison announced in February that it made five billion dollars in profits from SoCal families in 2025 and I have to underscore here that we are talking about billions not millions and humans the human brain doesn't readily understand this but a second if a dollar was a second then a million seconds would be eleven and a half days while a billion seconds would be 32 years so it's it's quite a lot of money and Interesting to note, how does this compare to other states and other utilities in the United States? SoCal Edison's $5 billion profit was the largest profit from any utility in the United States in 2025. And so that is according to the Nonprofit Energy and Policy Institute. And that is why more than 800,000 SoCal Edison customers are now behind on their bills, according to the CPUC. Also, last year, Edison's CEO received a 20% pay raise, totaling almost $17 million, and it would take the average Californian about 213 years to earn that amount of money. It's important to note, and he got this outrageous bonus in the same year that state regulators found that Edison caused the Eaton Fire, which of course caused 19 people's deaths and homelessness for thousands. So how do we get here? Well, a lot of people don't know that Edison is a for-profit utility and that they're traded on the New York Stock Exchange. So as such, they have a fiduciary duty, a legal responsibility to generate profits for their shareholders. And that's what they're doing, and they do that by rigging the system. According to Consumer Watchdog, Edison and the other investor-owned utilities spent $30 million on lobbying and campaign contributions to state legislators last year. Meanwhile, Santa Ana families do not have time to lobby state officials or to follow regulatory proceedings. They're just left to struggle with impossible choices, and that's why your voice on this resolution matters. There's no question that voters want action on this. A recent survey found that 83% of voters said reducing electricity bills should be a top priority for lawmakers. In addition to the San Diego resolution that was recently adopted, the cities of Irvine, Costa Mesa, Laguna Beach, and Buena Park have either agendized or are looking at similar items. But if Santa Ana were to move forward and vote for this one tonight, it would be the first city in Orange County to take this important action to protect families. We're also very excited to see the language regarding engaging directly in CPUC proceedings, which is absolutely feasible and these proceedings absolutely affect residents. So that would be a wonderful move as well. So we look forward to sharing the exciting news regarding Santa Ana's leadership on this issue. Thank you.

Next three speakers, Isaias Huizar, Mary Meduena, and Joe Meduena.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Isaias Huizar. I've been a resident of Santa Ana for 46 years. I voted for some of you guys up there. And my concern is with the city of Santa Ana parks and recs. part-time employees. I was an employee for Santa Ana for 12 years, for more than 12 years, and on June 18, I was told that my services were no longer needed by my supervisor, America Dobledo, and was given no reasons for that. My concern was if it was budget problems. I've been here for 12 years and was not given a reason, and I was just concerned that employees that have worked there for less than that time were kept on payroll. I'm just saying that before being an employee for 12 years, I was... volunteer coach for more than 10 years, youth sports coach. And my concern is with the Parks and Rec's supervisor, America Lobledo, treating the employees not fairly, and just concerned that maybe some of you know what's going on, and maybe just bringing it up to you guys to see if something can be done and protect the part-time employees of this city. I just want to thank you for your time, and have a great evening. Thank you.

Next three speakers, Mary, followed by Joe, and then Angela Capoccia.

Mayor and council members.

Can you come up closer, there you go. There you go, thank you.

I'm here to speak out against amendment of chapter 26. The city has spent millions to improve our parks and to make each one an enjoyable experience for families to escape city life. Adding vendors to the parks and nature preserve would create noise and trash while disrupting fragile local ecosystems. There is currently a petition on change.org with almost 400 signatures showing that residents of Santa Ana do care about the health of our parks and the nature preserved. My hope by being here is that my elective council members and mayor reconsider the amendment of chapter 26 and truly do what is best for our parks and all the residents of Santa Ana. I thank you for your time.

Joe Meduena, Angela Capoccia, Myra Ruiz.

Good evening, Council. First, I want to commend Councilwoman Lopez. I do, I'm a big wildlife conservationist kind of person. I believe that we in the wildlife, when one goes, eventually the next one will go. That's just been proven. So my concern is, so if she is so much about conserving wildlife and preserving all the money we spent on it, which I think is fantastic, that I would say is great use of my tax money, it really is. I always hear families out there enjoying the park and stuff. So now, why would she bring the proposal to a man, chapter 26, when she's so for wildlife? To me, it just doesn't make sense. Where I work, the landlord there, in the evening, rents out his parking area to vendors to come and sell his stuff, and guess what happened? They all have trash cans. Next day we come up to work, we're picking up trash. So unless you have a budget that's gonna go around and make sure that trash is picked up and whatever else, I just don't see it staying the way it is right now. Now, stuff that was brought up to me was SB 946. It says here that we don't have to do anything if the city already has, says the local authority has established an existing program that substantially complies with the provisions of the bill. So if we have that in place, we don't need to do anything. We don't. I reached out to other city managers, and they said, hey, you know what? SB, one of the other ones, we got 635 and SB 972. All these say is that they have to have a permit. If they don't have one, it's our right to the city to tell them, go away, you have to get a permit. Once you get a permit, hey, then it's up to us, the city, to pay for someone to see what they're doing. All their stuff that they sell to us is supposed to be in an area that has been declared, what is the term here? It must be an approved facility where the food is prepared, given to the vendors, and take to sell. Do we have someone doing that? I don't know. Is the money there for that? Their carts are supposed to be approved to hold the food before it sells. Again, do we regulate this kind of stuff? I don't think so. Okay, so the thing is, a lot of things that are happening here, I know it comes down from the state, but it's also for us to interpret how it affects our city.

Joe, your time is up.

Thank you very much for your time.

Angela Capoccia, followed by Myra Ruiz.

Good evening, I'm a seven-year resident of Ward 6. My name is Angela Kaposha. I am here because our residential parking, permit parking system excludes the majority of condo owners like me. Every time we bring this up to the city, we are told to be patient. A parking study is occurring. Wait till it's presented to city council. I was told to check in May, September, November, February, May, July. Imagine my surprise when I see on the agenda not the long-awaited parking study, but a proposal to expand permit restrictions in Mayberry Park to nearly double its current size and to change from stickers to placards. This is not the action of a city council that is looking to overhaul an inequitable system. When I purchased my condo, I was able to park near my home. Today, because of permit eligibility is only for single family homeowners and people who live in condos with less than four units, I cannot legally park anywhere near my home. I have to walk three quarters of a mile currently. This passes, I have to walk a mile and a half. The message this sends to the city is that when it comes to expanding restrictions, everything is easy. But when you try to have a more equitable distribution of parking, it's going to take years. Whether intended or not, single-family homeowners' interests are being prioritized while condo owners are asked to wait indefinitely. I have to choose between receiving a citation, walking nearly a mile after dark, or putting my car to business and risk being towed. This only worsens if we double the size of that parking restriction. I would like the City Council to answer three questions. When will the results of the parking study be presented publicly? When will the city council consider extending permit eligibility to condo owners? And why is it that questions of equity in parking are never discussed when you're talking about expanding permit parking areas? I bought a home in the city. I pay taxes in this city. I vote in this city. I love this city. Yet I am being treated as much less of a person and as a citizen of a city because my home shares a wall with my neighbor. Condo owners are homeowners who are being asked to wait year after year after year while our potential parking is narrowed and we have to continue to try to find a way to make it work. Why is it a public good that we all pay for is limited only for a small subset of residents? I urge the Council to delay any further expansion of permit areas until a parking study is complete, findings are presented publicly, and the issue of equitable access is addressed. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council. My name is Myra Ruiz, and I am a resident of Ward 3. And I'm here because I believe our parks should be places where families can relax, children can play, and people can enjoy nature. Our parks, and especially our nature preserve, should be spaces for recreation, not commercially activity. When I go to the park, I want to feel like I'm at the park, not at an outdoor marketplace. I want a place where my family can enjoy some peace and quiet, have a picnic, watch the kids play, and spend time together. I'm also concerned about keeping our parks clean. More vendors can mean more trash, which affects not only visitors but also wildlife. Animals can end up eating human food and also garbage, and that harms the environment we're trying to protect. I also have concerns with the city budget. We know we've had some financial difficult decisions that we have to make, so I don't understand why bringing another program that is gonna require permits, inspections, enforcement, administration, and are these permit fees gonna cover the whole cost, or are the taxpayers expected to pay for this? And what about enforcement? What happens when somebody doesn't have a permit? What are the penalties and who will enforce them? The city already has a limited staff and resources. How many permits will be issued? Will there be a limit for each park or are vendors just gonna be able to go out throughout the city, throughout the parks, wherever they wanna go? And also, how will those decisions be made? I support small businesses and people working hard to provide for their families. However, I believe there are better places for vending than in our parks and nature preserve. So I ask you to please think about the families speaking here, residents, and let's keep our parks parks. And thank you so much.

Mayor and City Council, that concludes the speaker cards for speakers that are present. We'll now begin with the Zoom speakers. When unmuted, please unmute, announce your name.

I'm sorry, Jennifer, we have somebody.

We concluded the speaker cards.

You have to have filled out a speaker card so I can't allow you to speak, but thank you very much for coming tonight. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam Clerk. All right.

Speakers that are on Zoom, when unmuted, please announce your name and your order neighborhood that you reside in for the record. Caller whose phone number ends in 826, please unmute to make your comment.

CALLER 826. YES. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL. MY NAME IS YOLANDA BALL AND I'M A RESIDENT OF WARD 3. I WOULD LIKE TO SPEAK ON AN AGENDA ITEM REGARDING THE CHAPTER 26 AMENDMENT WHICH WOULD ALLOW VENDING IN PARKS. I STRONGLY OPPOSE THIS AMENDMENT. THERE IS NO NEED TO AMEND CHAPTER 26 BECAUSE THE STATE IS NOT REQUIRING SENATE ANNA TO DO SO. EVEN IF STATE Even if state laws differ from local policy, in the past, Santa Ana has adopted its own ordinances such as rent control measure and sanctuary city policy. Allowing vending in the parks would create significant problems. It would disrupt our already fragile ecosystem, generate more litter, and increase loitering. Parks should not become places for private businesses to operate for profit. Vending in parks does not provide any benefit to residents. It is also important to note that parks and rec does not have the resources to monitor and enforce vending activity. Santa Ana is a highly density city with limited green space. The city of Santa Ana has done an excellent job investing in our parks. Please don't compromise over the progress. Our parks should remain places for recreation, nature, and families, not commercial activity. I respectfully ask the city council to protect our parks so they can continue to be enjoyed by families, children, and future generations. Thank you for your time.

Mayor and City Council, that concludes the public speakers.

Thank you. Before we move forward, Mr. City Manager, I just want to be clear that the item 26 that the public comments will be on the next meeting in July, is that correct?

No.

When will that be coming back, sir?

We're not thinking of bringing it.

You will not be bringing it back?

No.

Okay, I just want clarification for our position.

Yeah, there's no amendment to Chapter 26.

Okay, thank you. All right, the consent calendar items number three through 20 are before us. Councilmembers, please announce any items that you'll be abstaining from due to conflict, and if there are any requests to pull an item from the consent calendar for further discussion. Councilmember Vasquez? I'll pull 18, please. Thank you, sir, I already pulled that one. I apologize, I did pull 18. Okay, Councilmember Lopez?

I'm not pulling any items, but I will register a vote on number 20 and 12 as well.

And what is your vote, ma'am? Yes or no? For contact? 20 or 12. You said 20. You're pulling it? No, I'm not pulling. Just registering a vote. Thank you. Okay, thank you.

Councilman Hernandez. For clarity, registering a no vote on those two items.

Thank you. That's what I was trying to get. She didn't say no vote. I just want to make sure. Okay. Councilmember Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I am also supportive of pulling item 18. So I see that you've already pulled that. I would also like to pull item five.

Thank you, sir. Councilmember Becerra.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll go ahead and pull items 13 and 18, and I'll register a no vote on item 19.

Thank you, Council Member Fan. Thank you, Mayor. I'd like to announce my recusal from number 18 as the developer is a client of my employer, Rattan and Tucker. So I will leave the room while you discuss. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I would like to just register a no vote on item 20 to be consistent with the last no vote I took last month. And also, I will be also registering a recusal on number 12 due to a campaign contribution and out of an abundance of caution. If the item is pulled, I will be leaving the room.

Thank you, sir, very much. Okay, at this time, do I have a motion and a second to approve the remainder of the calendar? I'll make a motion.

I'll second.

Thank you, Councilman Hernandez. Let's prepare to vote for the remaining items.

Motion by Mayor Emescua, seconded by Councilmember Hernandez, to approve consent calendar items 3 through 20, with the exceptions of items 5, 13, and 18, which have been pulled for separate discussion and consideration. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Go ahead. Councilmember Lupita. Okay, thank you. Vote is seven ayes, no nays, with recorded no votes by Councilmember Lopez on items 12 and 20, a recorded no vote by Mayor Pro Tempagnolosa on item number 20, and a recusal on item number 12, and a no vote by Councilmember Becerra on item number 19. Motion carries. First item pulled for discussion is item number five, pulled by Councilmember Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam City Clerk. Madam Mayor, I pulled this item out of an abundance of caution. I support any member of our community applying to become a commissioner to serve the city of Santa Ana. Each of us have had the privilege and the opportunity to appoint people to serve the public. I do have ethical concerns when we are in the middle of political season and one of my colleagues is looking to leave the city council to run for higher office, which he has the right to do. But the term for the individual he's looking to appoint would end in 2027. This person also happens to be a candidate for city council office. The questions that I have is, should this individual win in November, would they resign? They would be looking to fill a city council seat here. And so I want to ensure that anybody who is looking to sit on these commissions, that they don't use our commissions as platforms, as platforms to campaign for themselves, for the special interests that are important to them. But that is why I pulled this item. I am no different than all my colleagues here. I've had the privilege to be able to appoint people to the committees that I have here in the city. To my record, one of the things I want to speak to is that none of my commissioners have ran for office. I have appointed people who have been candidates, but I have never appointed somebody who is actively running for office. And that's where the boundaries, I think, are very different. I support this individual's right to serve on this commission. I just draw ethical concerns when this individual is laughing in my chamber at these concerns that he's looking to be a council member in. While you're looking to serve on a commission that oftentimes commissioners use as platforms. I want to make sure you don't campaign on my city's back. So out of an abundance of that caution, I wanted to raise awareness to everybody here. And I will make a motion to move this vote to not move forward with the appointment of Mr. Chavez. Thank you.

I'll second that.

We're not done with comments yet at this time. So Council Member Becerra.

Thank you Madam Mayor. So I appreciate Council Member Hernandez's comments. What I didn't hear though was I guess part of your motion would be to remove commissioners that are running for office on other commissions because Mr. Chavez's opponent happens to be on the Planning Commission. Now I was on the Planning Commission when I ran for office. I think it's something that asking folks to serve in the community whether it's on the council, whether it's a commission, I don't think there's a problem with that. I have to say the commission that Mr. Chavez is going to be serving on, hopefully, I don't see that as a way to springboard yourself into elected office. But if he manages to pull that off, God bless him, good for him. But again, if we're going to single out Mr. Chavez and we're talking about commissions and whether it's fair that they run for office, then I would hope that you would also then advocate for the removal of all the commissioners that are currently running for office. Is that something you'd be willing to support?

I'd be fully supportive of anybody who serves on our commission that their roles be very clearly defined. If you're a commissioner, you're a commissioner. If you're a candidate, you're not serving on our commissions. I think that it's great when there are people who serve on our commissions and through that mist of service, they find inspiration where maybe one of these seats is open, they decide to run. I don't like using our commissions to create eventual elected officials up here. And all of us, I think, have that same responsibility. These are where my ethics, I wanted to raise this concern to all of you, because I think Mr. Chavez is a great individual. I'm very concerned about the fact that, for one, this is a candidate, Number two, my colleague is termed out of office, so this would be a very short tenure for Mr. Chavez, who is already in campaign mode. I think that Mr. Penalosa, my colleague, could bring forth a different candidate who may not be seeking public office, somebody who would be very passionate about this particular board, and I think that that serves Santa Ana residents better. But again, this is a democracy. We have the right to disagree.

Well, and so I'm going to go back to my question, which is, so would you also advocate for removing the planning commissioner that's also running for that same seat?

I would be consistent with that. I don't support any of my commissioners that are serving in Ward 5 running for office and using the city's platform.

So may I propose a friendly amendment then that if Mr. Chavez can't serve on the commission, then we would also then remove the commissioner from the planning commissioner that's also running for office as well?

I think I would entertain that conversation coming back to us at a separate City Council agenda, if that's something you'd like to agendize, I can assure you I will be here for that conversation.

Thank you.

Mayor. Yes, Mayor Pro Tempore. Thank you, and I just want to thank Councilmember Hernandez for the condescending comments. First of all, this isn't your chamber, this is the people's chamber, and just wanted to make that point of clarification. And with that said, I just wanted to make a sub-motion to move forward with approving whatever the item was, item five, to appoint Giovanni Chavez to the Rental Housing Board for a partial term. And I'll make that sub-motion to move forward. And that's it, Mayor. I'll second that.

Yeah, hold on, I'll get you right now. Council Member Vazquez?

I don't think there's an issue with having this person sit. It's just that he's a candidate now. That we have a planning commissioner who has served over years But years, they were doing this for the love of the city, for the work, for putting in time. And many times over, we do get people running for office from our commissioners. They do get trained in how to be at a meeting. And this happens. But using this seat... To push yourself forward in a campaign, I just find a very little, no integrity in that. Just using this position for your own benefit, not for serving the people of Santa Ana. You have an agenda, and it wasn't to serve the renters. This person wasn't here when we were passing rent control, when we were passing renters' rights. He wasn't walking, knocking on doors for renters' rights. He wasn't collecting signatures for renters' rights. He wasn't talking, he speaks very often now at council meetings, but he wasn't doing that when we had rent control. So because he's using this platform now to push himself forward to have more access to the public, then I'm going to vote a no, and that's why I second Council Member Hernandez. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Vance. Councillor Lopez, is your mic up?

Yes. Go ahead. Well, first and foremost, this is not how I want to be spending my time. I have disagreed in the past when my colleagues have retaliated against community members for not believing or sharing the same political ideology. I have spoken up when members of this council have blocked the prerogative of council members' ability to make an appointment. And so tonight I am going to be consistent with my past actions. And so I hope that as this discussion proceeds, I hope that everybody can look at your literal code of ethics and conduct that is in front of you. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Fann.

Thank you, Mayor. Madam City Attorney, I do have a couple quick questions for you. First of all, is there anything prohibiting a candidate who is running for office from being appointed to a city commission?

No, there are no such prohibitions, and I even went the extra step in looking at this item to determine whether that particular board or commission would have appeal rights up to the city council, because I would tell you that if that were the case, I might have a different opinion in terms of potential problems with someone hearing a matter that was then going to be coming for the City Council. And in this case, the Rent Control Board, none of their items are appealable to the City Council. They're all administrative in nature.

Thank you. And even if there were an appealable action from the rent board to the city council, wouldn't that be similar to a planning commissioner who runs for office and then later on has to recuse themselves from the appeal?

It could be similar. And the only reason I looked into that is because we have had so much trouble keeping a quorum on our rental review board. And that was one of the reasons that I kind of looked into it. But I did not find any legal or ethical reasons. My only other concern would just be that while any individual, whether you're elected or appointed, that while you're serving the city, that you don't use public resources or use that seat to campaign. That would be a caution. Right.

We would hold every individual, whether appointed or elected, from this, including staff, right? If there's a staff member who decides to use city resources for any campaigns, that would be illegal, correct? Correct. Okay, thank you. So I was not expecting this conversation, y'all. I thought that, you know. I was. Number one, this is an individual who lives in the ward, right? Number two, there's nothing in our policy statement indicating that you cannot appoint somebody to a vacant seat in order to serve. I 100% understand the concerns regarding renter's rights. I was there for every meeting. I was there even while on vacation. Therefore, a lot of that conversation, but whether or not this person supports tenants' rights specifically is unrelated to their position on the rent board. Members of the rent board are required to be impartial, are required to provide due process to anyone coming before them, and if there's anyone who makes predetermined decisions based on their, whether it's political affiliation or personal feelings, that would raise issues for constitutional issues for both the tenants and the landlords. And so for me, I didn't see this as a controversial thing. If the city council doesn't like the idea of a sitting commissioner or board, potential commissioner trying to use this process in order to run for office or elevate their profile, then we can consider a policy. Though, I'm a little bit concerned about that too, because we all have First Amendment rights to run for office, and if you meet the criteria to represent your city well, whether you're a new resident or late bloomer, Fine by me. So I would support this item moving forward. I think that this is also very different. I think Council Member Becerra, you had the experience of former Council Member David Benavidez removing you in an effort specifically removing you without cause in order to nominate Roman Reina, who later on committed a federal crime by committing perjury, stating that he was running in Ward 4 and living in Ward 4 when he did not and still continues to owe the city $500,000. So if we're going to talk about... Utilizing this process for political gain, we should consider that for all nominees. And I can tell you that my nominees are not running for office, have not run for office, and have many of them continue to serve consistently. But you know what? I don't have a problem with someone running for office from the commission. I was a planning commissioner. I ran for office. So was Councillor Becerra. It's great that others weren't. Some come from the school board, and some come from nowhere at all, and that's what makes our council great. So with that, I would like to call the question. Thank you.

Okay, so you call the question. We all had an opportunity. I'll just be really quick. I didn't come from nowhere, just the school board. I was a commissioner, too.

I was a commissioner at a school board.

I mean, nowhere as in you didn't have to be on some appointed group. No, thank you. Thank you very much. And Council Member Lopez, thank you for saying let's not take up time doing this. We have a lot of business to do tonight. So let's just vote, please. And, you know, I think we all need to remember. Council Member Phan said it best, you know, whoever wants to run for office, by golly, run for office. It's not easy, you gotta be thick-skinned, you gotta take the heat, as you're watching tonight. It's season of politics, so it's gonna get a little silly up here, so I wanna apologize right from the get-go. And, you know, sometimes some people can do things and then they hold other people accountable in a different manner. because they can do it but we cannot so i i just you know i'm going to just say let's vote and move on and let's take care of some business tonight so madam clerk yes this is a substitute motion by mayor pretend penaloso seconded by councilmember becerra to appoint giovanni chavez as the ward 6 representative to the rental housing board

Vote is five ayes, two nays. Nays by Councilmembers Hernandez and Vasquez. Motion carries. If Giovanni Chavez is present, he can come forward for the oath of office.

Giovanni Chavez, if you're here, please come up so we can swear you in. You want to go down with him, Mayor Pro Temp? And congratulations.

I, Giovanni Chavez, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign, domestic, and I'll bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California. And I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I'm about to enter. Thank you.

All right, congratulations. Let's move on now, please.

Madam Clerk. Yes, Mayor. The next item pulled is item 13, pulled by Council Member Becerra. Of course. Council Member Becerra, it's all yours, sir.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So this is the lease agreement with LAZ Parking California for office space at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. So according to the staff report, LAZ Parking California has requested to lease approximately 190 square feet of non-retail office space located on the first floor of the SARTIC for one year. So I don't have a problem with that. I'm absolutely fine with it. But this item calls into question the fact that with all the other ground floor open spaces, We should be having more uses that are more geared towards train and bus passengers, restaurants, coffee shops, et cetera. So what I'd like to know is, because I've brought this up numerous times at meetings here on the dais, so I'd like to know where we're at with attracting more of those types of businesses, especially on that ground floor to serve the commuters coming through the stations.

So at the moment we are working on an RFP that should be released within the next two weeks to attract retail or food establishments or something that would be open for both the local residents and also for all of the commuters. So that RFP will be the first step to see how we can get interest. If we don't have enough interest based on that RFP then we would move forward to try to retain a broker to assist.

So we haven't had a broker this entire time?

No.

Is there a reason why? You just don't want to have business in there?

Our staff has been actively working to try to recruit through our Economic Development Division, and they have had meetings, they've worked with people that are interested. It's just, it hasn't been enough to really go in there because of, there's a lot of tenant improvements that are needed. So I think if we open it up, market it a little bit more, then we'll see what opportunities we can get there.

I mean, the first thing we could do is just put a for lease sign in the window. That would be nice.

Council Member, again, as a reminder, and you're right, you did mention many times, but as far as the construction improvements, tenant improvements, and outside, so it's very difficult to actually attract good businesses when you're doing tenant improvements, right?

I can tell you from the folks that are waiting on the platforms,

Right.

The construction hasn't stopped them from getting to the platform. So I bet you they would hop the tracks to go get a bagel or coffee.

I appreciate that. But that's the reality, right? We're making improvements inside and outside. So that's the way we're doing it. And in fact, this is probably the first time we're doing an RFP because it was never done before. You're absolutely right.

Well, frankly, I don't care if you do an RFP. I don't care if you ask a local broker. Let's just get those things populated.

It's getting done.

All right.

All righty.

So I hope we don't have the same discussion again from the dice.

All right.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. City Manager. I think Council Member Lopez.

Yes, I just wanna thank staff. I know that my office has been discussing this, right? How do we activate this space? Also recognizing that because it has not been active for so long, people do not think of the space as somewhere that they can go and get coffee or a breakfast burrito or a bagel. And so I understand the concern. This is obviously something that my office has approached you about. And I think that any business owner that comes in, we're going to need to work with them very closely so that they don't fail. Because again, this is not a place where people immediately think about going. And my preference is always going to be RFPs. I think that that is a good balance. Checks and balances are important in local government so that we don't face accusations We're giving preferential treatment to one person or versus the other. Everybody loves to throw that around. And so I think that it's going to be important for us to work within our local business community to bring someone in. Thank you.

Thank you, when we make a comment that everybody loves to throw it around, we're giving preference, I'm not quite sure what that means, but I would just say thank you for bringing them to our city and into our SARTEC there. I think we have two other businesses that'll be leasing as well that are on here, and so the other issue, and I know we've brought it up before, is, and I will not beat the dead horse, we know that we've hired three additional economic development staff, I believe two years ago, Mr. City Manager, when you first came on, correct, with your team? And so they've been working hard, and so we can just ask them to work a little harder. And so they are, so that we don't have to keep having these questions. And we appreciate all the hard work, so thank you. There are no other comments? I'll move the item. Councilman Hernandez? I'll second your item. Councilman Hernandez, go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just want to fully echo the same comments, Mr. City Manager, from my colleagues here. I would like to see more diversity when it comes to the Santa Ana Transportation Center. What that looks like for me, would be seeing perhaps coffee shops, bakery, sandwich shop, you know, food that is accessible, affordable, food that's desirable. If you're waiting for a train, what would we like to see, right? A coffee, a bagel, some pan dulce, what have you, right? Something where I could buy a Santa Ana shirt, something Santa Ana related, maybe a key chain, right? But I would envision us getting a little more creative with that amenity. And so that's the final comment I just want to echo. is for us to activate the bottom floor of that train center and for us to have businesses that attract more member of the public to spend their money there. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Hernandez. Final comment before we vote, Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to, you know, support my colleagues in reiterating what I told you last week, City Manager, about the space at the train station and our desire to see something really, that space really activated. I know years ago there were staff members in CDA and Public Works talking about brewery in the works, you know, on the southern part on the first floor and numerous other shops, coffee places and whatnot.

No cannabis.

And to know that it's been seven plus years and that nothing has come to fruition in that area is also, you know, frustrating. But then again, we're the only city in America that can't seem to advertise on bus stops for whatever reason. So it's one of those never-ending repeating patterns that we keep seeing with just our inability to bring these landmark stores or storefronts in places like the train station. But those are my comments. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's vote, please. Mr. City Manager, go ahead.

Just quickly, and so not to sound defensive, and this is one of those balanced components where we're very supportive and appreciative of the city council comments. There's no debate. We agree. But it's like Mayor Portilla said, seven years plus, right? We literally went last year, I mean, to bring an RFP now is significant because we had leaks that hadn't been fixed for five, six, seven years. We're working on fountains that we literally spent over a million dollars on a fountain rather than the infrastructure. So not being critical of past administrations, I'm just stating the obvious. So there's an understanding that we share in the frustration. And so as a city manager, I'm proud of the staff, what we seem to have achieved the last two years and how we're moving forward in that capacity. But we totally understand and totally agree and accept all comments.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager, for saying that, and we appreciate your comments. And again, as I always state, and I think most of us up here do, since you and your team have arrived, you're moving things at a pace that has never been moved in this city. Never, ever been moved. And so we thank you. And I think it, I know for me personally, it's just, Mayor Pro Tem always talks about Bristol from diapers to his kids' diapers, I get it. But I swear it's tattooed somewhere that Bristol will be done this year. And so we're waiting on that. So you are with your team doing great work and we really appreciate you. So let's prepare to vote now at this time, please.

Motion by Council Member Becerra, seconded by Mayor Meskwa, to approve the recommended action for item number 13, a lease agreement with LAZ Park in California LLC for office space at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. Vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries. Mayor and City Council, the next item pulled is item number 18. So I pulled item 18. I'm sorry.

Yeah, you got to recuse yourself. I apologize. I'll wait till you're out of the room. Hurry, run, run, run. I'm just kidding. No workers' comp, don't run, please. All right, she's out of the room. So Mr. City Manager, actually council, I pulled this item because I would like to postpone it for two weeks to the next council meeting. I have questions for staff, I have some concerns, so I would like to make a motion and I hope I get the support from the council to move this item to the next meeting. I'm happy to support it. I'll second. Council Member Lopez, thank you for seconding. Let's prepare to vote. And Mr. City Manager, I know I have some questions and concerns. I'd like to meet with you and staff that are working on this project. I know we met during agenda review, but I do have some other concerns. And so I made a motion, seconded by Council Member Lopez. Let's prepare to vote, please.

Mayor, I was going to just quickly suggest, I don't think two weeks is enough. I think we should do 30 days for...

First, there's only one meeting in August. Do you want to take it there?

Yes.

So everybody would have an opportunity to meet with the city manager. Yeah. I'm supportive of amending my motion. Council Member Lopez? I accept. Perfect. First meeting in August, Mr. City Manager, and I believe there's only one meeting in August. Is that correct? That is correct. Yes, that's correct. I'm looking at the city clerk, yes. Thank you. Jennifer, I appreciate that. So we'll move it to the August meeting.

Let's prepare to vote, please. Motion by Mayor Mesquite, seconded by Council Member Lopez to continue item 18 to the city council meeting.

Madam City Clerk, can you do a roll call, please?

Motion to continue item number 18, the density bonus agreement for watermark standpoint mixed-use development to the city council meeting to be held on August 4th. I'm sorry. Council Member Becerra?

Yes.

Council Member Hernandez? Yes. Council Member Lopez? Yes. Council Member Vasquez?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tempano-Losa?

Yes.

Mayor Meskwa? Yes. Vote is six ayes, no nays, with a reported recusal by Council Member Phan. Item will be continued to August 4th.

Thank you very much, Madam Clerk. And Mr. City Manager, I'm sure you'd expect meetings with the Council and myself. Thank you so very much. We really appreciate it. All right, we're now gonna go on to the business calendar at this time. Item number 21 is the designation of a voting delegate and alternates for the 2026 Cal City's Annual Conference. Do you all need a presentation? I do not, I don't think any of us do. I'd like to make a motion. Councilman Becerra as one of the voting delegates, and

I'll second that motion, madam.

Thank you very much. Is there an alternate?

Well, if she will accept it, I'll nominate Council Member Lopez as an alternate.

I'll second that. Council Member Lopez? Yes, that's fine, thank you. Great, let's prepare to vote.

Do we need a second alternate or no?

No, just you and then an alternate. Okay, we're good, but just the two.

So we have nominations for Council Member Becerra to serve as the city's voting delegate and for Council Member Lopez to serve as the alternate to the Cal City's Annual General Assembly on Friday, September 25th, 2026. Council Member Becerra? Yes. Council Member Hernandez? Yes. Council Member Lopez? Yes. Council Member Phan? Yes. Council Member Vasquez? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Penalosa?

Yes.

Mayor Meswa? Yes. Votes seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries. Thank you very much, Madam Clerk.

It's in Anaheim this year, so that's a good thing.

Yes, it's going to be right down the street. It's wonderful. We don't have to fly anywhere. All right. Item number 22 is to consider a ballot measure to remove the sunset on local sales tax. Do we need a presentation, Council? Yeah, I think a presentation. Perfect. All right. Let's have our presentation. The floor is all yours, Kat.

Okay, thank you. Just give me a second here. Sorry about that. Okay. Good evening, Mayor and Councilmembers. I'm here to present information about our local sales tax and ask you to consider a November 2026 ballot measure. Sorry, technical difficulties. Okay, great. The city's voters approved a 1.5% local add-on to our sales tax rate in 2018. Measure X has helped to maintain the right of way and keep our parks clean and safe. It's funded police, fire, and ambulance response. We've used the money to help mitigate the effects of homelessness and to remove graffiti every single day. If no action is taken, the city could lose as much as $30 million of revenue in 2029. I'm sorry, would lose, not could. Okay, so tonight we ask the City Council to place a measure on the ballot to let the voters decide. Should we strive to maintain current service levels or should we reduce spending? We expect economic development to generate additional future tax revenue for services, but that new revenue will be slow in coming and it will not be sufficient to offset the loss of up to $30 million in 2029. By letting the voters decide in 2026, we will have three years to pivot if needed. In December of 2025, we found 63 percent probable or definite support for making the current rate permanent. Less than six weeks ago, with war in the Middle East and high gas prices, we found 61 percent probable or definite support for making the current rate permanent. The full report was an exhibit to the agenda item. The proposed ballot measure would require a simple majority to pass. There are 321 cities and five unincorporated areas in the state that have passed local add-ons to their sales tax rates. That's two-thirds of all cities in California. Here are just a handful of examples closer to home. Due to the demand for public service and cities' limited options for raising revenue, local sales tax add-ons have become increasingly common and permanent. The proposed ballot question would eliminate both the rate reduction and the sunset, making the 1.5% local add-on permanent until ended by voters. The city would maintain resident oversight and local control over the revenue. If City Council approves the staff recommendation tonight, we won't know the ballot letter designation until August 10th, and it's likely to be called something other than Measure X. We had one council member ask a question, and so I added it to the presentation for tonight. It was a good question. So you might remember back on your June 2nd budget public hearing, this was the 10-year general fund outlook that we presented to city council during that meeting. So we're all very familiar with this chart and the widening gap between spending and revenue when the Measure X rate decreases in 2029. What we did is a quick update of this chart if the voters actually approved this proposed ballot measure that's on your agenda item tonight. So, in contrast, here is a version of the same model with that only change being theoretical approval of the proposed ballot measure. Our service levels have increased with the passage of Measure X. So if Measure X were to be made permanent, we should expect to have a fairly small structural gap to address each year, less than 2%. The small gap is driven by our expectation that rising costs will continue to outpace our modest revenue increases. So if I flip back to the previous slide and then forward again, you can see how much of an impact our outlook has if the voters were to approve this proposed measure. So that concludes my presentation and we're ready to answer questions.

Thank you very much. I'll open it up to the council this time and then I'll make my comments when we're about to vote. So any council member comments? Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I know this is a subject that is important to every resident in Santa Ana. This was a decision that was made by a council 10 plus years ago, and this was a decision that was asked of the voters. The voters at that time decided that they wanted to move forward with this self-imposed tax. I think if there is to be a question to be asked, it should be, given to the voters and the voters should decide. So my comments will be that I am supportive of us bringing this ballot measure to the residents and giving them the ability to decide if they would like this to continue or if they would like it to expire. But those would be my comments at this moment, Madam Mayor, thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Hernandez. I don't see any other comments. You gotta raise it, Councilman Vasquez. All right, got it, go ahead.

Thank you, I as well would like to support this item and taking it to the voters of Santa Ana. We have seen how we run the city in the last two years. We've had less money, I believe we've done more. And we've reduced the houseless population. The graffiti is cleaned off the next day. I asked my students, what's wrong with Santa Ana? They're like, there's potholes everywhere, I'm aware. Tell me, and I'll use the app and it'll be gone tomorrow. Just tell me where, and that's part of what Measure X gets us. And you see vacant lots that are clean, that are taken care of, that are used. We get the services that we get and how fast we're building things now. We have built... I believe two parks in my neighborhood, and we have three new parks in the last six years, but we need to keep those up as well as we see a technical library coming in and we need the support to have the programming to support these families and the work that's being done. We really need to beat our chest louder and we need to really say what an amazing job you're doing with the little resources that we do have, but we need to continue these resources to continue some of the work that has been going on that support. So that's what I have. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council Member Becerra.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So Measure X, according to the chart, is 20% of our general fund. So Measure X constitutes 20% of our general fund. Sadly, our hotel visitor's tax is only 2% of the general fund. That 2% absolutely needs to grow. In Anaheim, their hotel visitor's tax is more than their sales tax and property tax combined. So here we are at 2%. Theirs eclipses their property tax and their sales tax combined. Anaheim has over $190 million more in their general fund, and their sales tax is lower than ours. Now, I don't wanna keep this tax. I don't. But I also don't wanna make 20% cuts to public safety, efforts that are addressing the homeless, street repairs, park maintenance, and our youth and senior services. We can ask the voters whether they want to remove the sunset date on Measure X, but we will be right back at this spot if we do not take sustainability and generating revenue seriously. Taxing is not going to be the long-term solution to our structural deficit. I want to thank Assistant City Manager Downs for showing us those slides because what you saw in there is that even with Measure X, we still have a gap. This does not solve our problems, but I would rather try to solve the structural deficit that Assistant City Manager Downs showed in those slides versus the large gap that we saw during our budget presentation. So in the staff report, it says annual local sales tax collection peaked at $86.8 million back in fiscal year 2022-2023 and has been decreasing towards an expected collection of $82.8 million in fiscal year 2025-2026. So we can't continue to rely on that if we don't do something more than just reaching into our residents' pockets and asking them to bail us out. Measure X is not gonna be enough for us to continue to provide even just the current level of services in the future. And people, I mean, city manager and our police chief received emails today, folks complaining about the lack of parking enforcement in their neighborhoods. We need to grow parking enforcement services But again, I know that it's a matter of cost. And we're not going to be able to do that if we don't get serious about economic development and generating revenue. So our residents deserve services that improve over time. So with that, you know, again, I reluctantly, reluctantly will support putting this for the voters to decide whether they want to increase taxes. If they don't, I get it. I would understand. But again, for us up here on the dais, I think it would be irresponsible, especially given the impact it would have to have Measure X sunset and to have to, have to cut 20% services across the board. I don't want to have to do that. But again, at the same time, I reluctantly will put this before the voters, or support to put it before the voters, but we've got to do more. This is not going to be enough. Thank you.

Thank you, I'm gonna make my comments and then we will take a vote. So at this time, I'm gonna just say it is at the will of the voters, bottom line. It was in 2018 and it's gonna come forward again. If it passes, it will be the voters who decide. And so since I've been the mayor, I've talked about in 2029, there'll be a 30 million drop for the city. 30 million, because whoever was sitting up here in 2018 and brought this forward to the voters, you know, they put a timeline on it, 2029 and 2039, which to me is absolutely ridiculous. They should have just put it there forever, right? And said, here we go, so we don't have to come back and do this as this council and me as the mayor, right? So they, here we are shouldering this, which I don't mind. I don't mind. I love serving my city. However, If this goes forward and if this passes, that will not happen again. It will not come up again to the voters. This is just the way it's going to be. And so because we're going to make a decision up here today, however the vote goes, that yes, we'll take it to the voters and let the voters decide because we... As the council mayor, we work for you, but you ultimately decide. Do you like the cult teams? Do you like your graffiti being removed? Do you like your fire department responding? Do you like your potholes filled? Do you like the services that you're seeing? Do you like the new parks? Are we trimming things down? Yes, and we will again next year. And so, All I'm going to say is that we're going to take it. If it passes today, it goes to the voters. If it doesn't pass, then it doesn't go to the voters. And then whoever is sitting here in 2029, the first 30 million, and whoever, I hope, Mr. City Manager, you'll still be sitting here and your team, because the conversation will be then, where do we cut and who do we cut? So when you call 911, it may take 10 minutes. When you call fire, it may take 15 minutes. When you call about that pothole, it may take five days, six days, 10 days. And again, on the flip side, maybe we will never be there, I don't know. I'm simply saying that I truly believe that it should be the voters of the city of Santa Ana to make this decision. Not for the mayor and the city council, not for the city manager, but for the voters of this city. Because if you haven't noticed the changes, then you don't live here and you're blind because there's been some wonderful changes in this city. And they will continue to happen as long as we have the ability to make it happen. And are we tightening the belt? Yes, we are. And every city is. And, you know, so I just want to say that I am going to support this item and not because we are raising, we're not increasing. I want to be really clear, we're not increasing. We're just going to keep it the way it is. Keep it the way it is. We're not going to ruffle feathers. Just vote yes, no. You want to keep it the way it is because you like seeing what you see in our city. And again, the first drop is $30 million in 2029, and the second drop is 2039. Is that correct, Kat? and that's about 65 million. So I don't know how, and whoever's sitting up here, good luck, because I don't know how you'll keep the lights on, and I don't know how you'll do it as a city. So with that, let's prepare to vote. Madam Clerk, can you do a roll call, please? We need a motion and a second first. I'll make a motion.

I'll second, Madam Mayor.

So sorry, I do have a comment, Mayor. Oh, I asked you earlier, you said no, and I said I was going to speak and then close it out, so go ahead.

Thank you, Councilman Hernandez, for seconding my motion. Go ahead. Yes, no, thank you. I really appreciate all the work that has gone into this, and this is the second time that we discuss this. And in 2018, as that year has been brought up many times, and you know, The desire to place blame on people up here right is something that I strongly disagree with because I was not on this dais in 2018. And Santa Ana voters, many of us, many people that are on this dais that voted in 2018 have said time and time again from this dais that they didn't vote for this in 2018. And so, you know, Santa Ana voters were told that this tax was temporary, and I understand the difficult conversation and the difficult reality that many cities in Orange County and throughout the state are facing. And so, you know, Measure X included a rate reduction in 2029. It's something that we're going to see. It's something that we're going to feel, something that we cannot, you know, avoid, right, because that's what the voters approved. And so that structure is the deal that we made with our residents. And tonight, you know, I just strongly feel like I can't break that deal with our constituents. And there are many things that this council, I have disagreed with over the years that people have seen me pay a political price for voting no on large unsustainable contracts that we've been openly discussing for many years that the city could not afford. And so I think that, you know, ultimately this will be up to the voters. And it's a difficult choice. And I do want to say to this council, you know, I want to applaud their decision because it's not easy. And I understand that. But my position is going to be consistent with my previous vote, and I will not be supporting this. Thank you.

Thank you. And since we now are back to speaking, I thought we were going to vote. So Council Member Fann.

Thank you, Mayor. I wasn't going to say anything, but I guess I just want to remind everybody, just as all my colleagues have said up here, this is a decision for our voters. And I think at the end of the day, Yes, the previous city council laid forth a proposal that our voters decided on, and we liked the deal at the time. Nobody could have guessed that the pandemic would hit us. Nobody could have guessed that we would be in this exact situation. And now we get to give the voters another opportunity to decide Do you like the additional removal of graffiti? Do you like the additional bus benches? Do you like the additional responses to your clearing up potholes? Do you like the additional funding that we've had for youth programs, senior programs? Do you like these things? And if you do, you get to decide to keep it. You get to decide what you want for your city. And so I don't see it at all as the council trying to renege anything. What we're saying is, Do voters want to invest in the city the way that we've been investing in the city since I've been on this dais? Do voters of ward one, and every ward up here, want to see the commitment to making our city cleaner and safer and more vibrant and... a place where we can be really proud of. And if that is what voters want, they get to choose. And so I look forward to talking about this and hearing from our residents, because at the end of the day, our voters are the ones who said, we want the promise of more park programs and library programs and safety. And they will decide whether they want to keep that going. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor Mezcua. You know, it's unfortunate that we have to even have this discussion. I just want to state for the record that not a single one of us up here on the city council today was present when this first came before us almost 10 years ago in 2018. It was an entirely different council, seven members up here that are not here today that left us with this poor bag of goods. I... You know, I have trouble with this just because I understand the number of services that we've been able to provide with this additional sales tax that's here today. However, one thing that this city and the city council, a lot of my colleagues up here have failed to realize is also the mismanagement of funding and dollars goes hand in hand. We could sit here and talk about contractual agreements that we've made with our different bargaining groups, and that's something that we needed to do to retain and attract talent to this agency. One thing that we could also acknowledge is that there's been poor fiscal management on behalf of many members of the city council. Just less than a year ago, We had Councilwoman Lopez spend $20,000 of your tax dollars to go to a training in Boston. We have a number of members of the city council spending nearly half a million dollars on political aids that we weren't spending on just three years ago. So all these little things, when you add them up, they become a dent in this budget. And that's something that, you know, we can't just walk the walk, we gotta, we can't just talk the talk, but we gotta walk the walk when it comes to authorizing expenditures and deciding how we're gonna spend the Santa Ana taxpayer dollar. So with that, Mayor, I think that there's a lot of growth for for both the city council and the city staff to make on what kind of expenses we're allowed to make with our tax dollars because there's a lot of waste. If it wasn't just a couple less than two years ago, Public Works was asking for 25% contingencies on every Public Works project. And for years, I was the only one bringing the alarm of that, of how wasteful that department was when it came to those contingencies. Nobody else up here was saying anything to Mayor Mesquite came along and she was like, hey, yeah, we should look at this. That has been those little things. It doesn't just it's not just isolated to the police department or public works. It's citywide. I've seen the waste from department to department of how much money we're just throwing out there and misspending. And it needs to stop. We can't just continue to raise our sales tax and churn to the voters every time that we're in financial trouble. So with that, Mayor, those are my comments. I'm going to be voting no.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. We have your no recorded. I just want to clarify that we're not raising the taxes. We are keeping them exactly. It'll go out to the voters. If it passes that, it'll say exactly the same. So I just want to be clear on that. I do appreciate your comments, you know, about wasteful spending. But I also want to be clear as the mayor and that I've been sitting here for four years. The last two years, I have seen such a difference. You know, you kind of, we have staff that are lifting the covers, and oh my goodness, the cockroaches run out, and all of a sudden you see a problem, and we're trying to fix it. And, you know, whether it's Bristol, or whether it's parking, or there's a lot of things going on. I mean, for example, we've given over 44,000 traffic citations just in the first six months of this year. I mean, so the police department has, so there are things happening What I have said is I don't think we do enough, I don't think we do a good job telling our story. We let everybody else tell our story. And so I know you've hired some, spent a little bit of money on some PR. But you're right, we should continue to look for the waste. And so we sit up here and there's some people who sit up here and one minute you're a victim and one minute you're an advocate. Well, you can't be both. You can't be both. You can't sit up here and say we're wasteful and we're being this, we're being that, and then the next minute, yeah, you're flying off to Harvard. It just doesn't work that way. So I do travel as the mayor, I've gone to Sacramento multiple times to ask to speak to represent the city, so I'm not wasting money. I have gone to the US Conference of Mayors, I do go there, I represent this city, and the first time I went, they said, Mayor, we haven't had Santa Ana here in years representing, you're the first mayor in years. So again, let's look at the wasteful spending, and I know our city manager is looking at spending and how we, what we're doing with every dollar. And so I do appreciate that. So when the accusations are thrown that this council voted, I don't think any of us, thank you for making that known because I think another council member was going to correct that. None of us were sitting up here. None of us. Maybe somebody was. I don't believe so. So with that, we are going to do a roll call. This is over. I'd like to call the vote right now. Madam City Clerk, please call the vote.

yes mayor and city council and if i may prior to calling the vote the second resolution before you tonight does authorize written arguments related to this measure so you do have the opportunity to select a member or members of your body to write arguments either in favor or against this measure if you would so choose to do so if you do not care to specifically authorize authors for those arguments we will default to the elections code there's a specific order for

I'll make a recommendation that councilman found right in support of this, please.

I volunteer as tribute. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, wonderful. So bear with me, please. This is a motion by Mayor Mezcua, seconded by Council Member Hernandez, to approve two resolutions, a resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Ana giving notice of a general municipal election to be held in the City of Santa Ana on November 3rd, 2026, and calling for the placement on the ballot of a measure for submission to the qualified voters of a proposed ordinance amending the local general transactions and use tax to remove the rate reduction and the sunset provision. And a resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Ana authorizing written arguments for the ballot measure submitted for the November 3rd, 2026 general municipal election regarding amending the local general transactions and use tax to remove the rate reduction and the sunset provision with Council Member Phan authorized to author the argument in favor. Council Member Becerra?

Yes.

Council Member Hernandez?

Yes.

Council Member Lopez? No. Council Member Phan? Yes. Council Member Vazquez?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa?

No.

Mayor Mezcua? Yes. Voters five ayes, two nays. Nays by Mayor Pro Tempeñalosa and Council Member Lopez. Motion carries.

Thank you and I want to thank the Council for this very healthy discussion. It's hard to be up here and you make some hard decisions so I want to thank all of you for making whatever decision you made tonight. All right, we're gonna end the business calendar. At this time, we're gonna go to the council member requested items. Requested item number 23 was brought forward by Mayor Pro Tem Panelosa. Sir, the floor is yours.

ITEM 23 IS PRETTY SIMPLE. IT'S DISCUSSING CONSIDER DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO REPLACE THE CURRENT RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMIT STICKER SYSTEM WITH A HANGING PLACARD SYSTEM OR ADDING TO, NOT REPLACING ENTIRELY, DEPENDING ON WHAT STAFF COULD BRING BACK. I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF STUDIES HAPPENING. A PLACARD SYSTEM THAT WOULD BE DISPLAYED FROM THE VEHICLE'S REVIEW MIRROR, take on necessary actions to implement the transition. I know that so the reason and I want to just inform my colleagues a little bit of how we got here in the public as well with context and I appreciate the resident that came to speak about this because I share her concerns I felt like whatever she said at the podium is what I said to the city manager last week during our one-on-one MEETING OVER THE AGENDA. AND WHEN I FIRST TRIED TO BRING THIS ITEM FORWARD ABOUT, LET'S JUST SAY IT WAS BEFORE THE GLOBAL PANDEMIC, PUBLIC WORKS TOLD ME, OH, NO, NO, NO, COUNCILMEMBER PENALOZA, PLEASE DON'T BRING THIS FORWARD. WE'RE WORKING ON A PARKING STUDY. I WAS LIKE, OKAY, THAT MAKES SENSE. I'LL SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR THIS PARKING STUDY TO COME. But as, you know, tell us all this time with when anything comes with a project that is under various departments in the city, it is now six plus years later and we still have not seen the results of this parking study or an update. And I know our public works director, our director, OUR CURRENT PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR IS WORKING VERY HARD TO GET THAT TO US EVENTUALLY OR GET US AN UPDATE, BUT I THOUGHT THE PREVIOUS PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTORS THAT FOR YEARS WE DIDN'T SEE ANY OF THIS COME FORWARD, RIGHT? SO THIS ALSO, JUST FOR CONTEXT, THE REASON WHY THIS IS BROUGHT FORWARD, I'VE HEARD FROM MANY RESIDENTS THROUGHOUT THIS CITY ABOUT JUST THE CONCERN ABOUT THE STICKER. FIRST OF ALL, THE PARKING STICKERS. Just from aesthetic purposes, nobody wants to put a sticker on their car. A lot of people like to just have a plain, clean car, and a lot of people spend a lot of money on their vehicles. They hate the idea of putting a sticker on their bumper. The other thing is that these parking permits are very identifiable to the public. There's a lot of creeps out there. There's a lot of concerns from residents that have also been brought up to me and saying, hey, if I'm at a shopping center and I'm being stalked by somebody, guess what? Just by them seeing my parking permit on my bumper, they know which neighborhood, which parking district I live in. That really narrows down the city, the neighborhood in the city of which they live in. People are crazy out there. There's a lot of people that could cause harm or have nefarious reasons to, intentions to try to stalk somebody. And that was one of the other reasons where I was like, okay, this might be something to ponder, contemplate, look at with public works or our parking permits to see how we could avoid the idea of having a permanent sticker on someone's vehicle that could make them a target that could, you know, whatever might happen by somebody knowing where someone lives through their parking permit. So it's something that I know that the city of Orange uses both. They use the placard that hangs on your rearview mirror, and they also use the permit, the sticker that's affixed to someone's bumper. And I know the city of Los Angeles also uses parking placards. It would make it easier as well for residents, in my opinion, to swap them whenever they sell transfer a vehicle and I understand that there's a study currently going on or an RFP through public works for changing the way that these permits are issued entirely I don't know city manager if that's something that because this is just a council discussion item that we could briefly touch on but it you know that also just brought up a some issues with concerns i know that it'd be tied the the rfp that's currently out there with public works would be tied the parking permits would be tied to their license plate right um what happens if in a neighborhood there's five cars parked bumper to bumper how does a parking enforcement officer uh EFFICIENTLY ENFORCE OR CHECK OR VERIFY TO SEE IF THESE CARS BELONG IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD. SO THERE'S A LOT OF QUESTIONS THAT OPEN UP WITH THAT CONVERSATION WHICH I KNOW WE'RE NOT HAVING RIGHT NOW BUT THIS IS JUST SOMETHING THAT I THINK IT'S A GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL OF US HERE ON THE CITY COUNCIL TO JUST KIND OF NOT NECESSARILY GO DOWN THIS ROUTE OF PLACARDS BECAUSE I ALSO HEARD FROM RESIDENTS ABOUT CONCERNS, ABOUT people making fake placards and cheating the system, which I understand, but I think it's important that we just get an appropriate timeline from Public Works on when we could get this parking permit study, whatever it is. If it's not happening anymore, then just tell us. If it's coming soon, I mean, I hope that's in the next 45 days. SOON, NOT SIX MONTHS FROM NOW, NOT IN A YEAR. THESE THINGS ARE IMPORTANT, AND I THINK JUST FROM HEARING THE SPEAKER TODAY, IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE NOT THE ONLY ONES UP HERE REALIZING THAT IT'S TAKEN YEARS FOR US TO GET HERE. SO WITH THAT, MAYOR, THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS. I WOULD HOPE THAT THE COUNCIL, NOT NECESSARILY AGREE TO CHANGE THE WAY THE PERMITS ARE ISSUED CURRENTLY BUT THAT WE GET AN APPROPRIATE TIMELINE AND UPDATE FROM PUBLIC WORK SOON ON THIS BUT I WOULD LIKE US TO WHEN THAT DOES HAPPEN THAT STAFF BRINGS BACK ALSO A a update on what this could look like if we were to move, whether it's to license plate enforcement or whether it's through placards that hang on your rear view mirror. Again, it's something that I see a lot of enforcement issues arising from license plates, so that's something to ponder on, but also the stickers permanently affixed to people's vehicles We're brought up a number of times over the years, so that's something I think we should also consider. And that's it. I open it up to my colleagues for any comments or questions.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. So let me just ask a couple questions. So as far as the tickets and car parked against park, I mean, against each other and whatnot, according to the police department, from January 1 of 26 to June 30 of 26, they've given out 44,260 tickets. I think that's great. I mean, I don't know what that amounts to in revenue, but I think it's, I mean... They're doing their job, right? Chief, they get out of their car, they do check the license. Can you share that, please, sir? And the parking permit, license, I mean, whatever they're doing. We've had 44,260 tickets.

Yes, Mayor, thank you. That's correct. Whenever they issue a parking citation, they do get out of their cars. They do have to not just confirm the plate, but the last four or five of the VIN number to ensure that the vehicle is not sub-plated or co-plated. So they do, you know, they're very careful to ensure they issue the citations correctly.

And if they're parked in an area where they do not have a parking permit, do they address that as well, sir?

If they don't have a parking permit, that's correct. They do issue cites.

Okay, and I'm only asking because I want some clarification, Mayor Pro Tem. Mr. City Manager or Deputy City Manager, can you share a little bit about the RFP without, is it closed? If you can't discuss it, just let us know, but I just would like a little bit about.

So we can provide a brief update. Executive Director, Acting Director of Public Works.

And I want to be clear that Rudy Rosas is the Acting Director, Executive Director at this time, and you are not, you were not the Executive Director six, seven years ago.

Mayor, I just want to remind that this is a Council-generated item, and so... I think by asking about an RFP that's not part of the council member request.

That's why I asked, can we ask about that? So thank you. Yeah. So let's stop.

I mean, let's give a very brief answer, but I would say no question. Just answer the, is it out there or not?

I don't want to ask any questions. Just tell us what you can share. No, I got around it. I have lawyers in my family. I know how to do this.

Yes, we have requested proposals. That period is closed. Staff is evaluating, and we can share more when that evaluation is complete. Mayor Pro Temp, couldn't agree with you more on a lot of the questions.

Uh-uh, we're sorry. Thank you for the answer. Thank you, sir, very much for the answer. Is there another, Council Member Lopez?

Yes, no, thank you everybody. I appreciate the item being added to the agenda, but as you've already heard, right, this is something that the council has already given staff direction through the budget process and the citywide parking study discussions that my understanding is we've all been briefed already. My office has been briefed, and so I think it is, that those recommendations come forward so that we can discuss them publicly, which will also include the modernization of our current process. And so whatever format we land on, stickered or otherwise, I want to make sure that it's part of the broader conversation that this council should have and should have soon. There was, because of the concerns of some homeowners being treated differently than others, which is something we've known about for many years now. And so my priority is going to be a system obviously that's digital, easy to use, and that works for everyone. Thank you.

Okay, so I think Mr. City Manager, you have direction, correct? Is that a yes?

Don't lie, Alvaro, you don't have direction. No, no, no. You heard from two people up here. So in all earnest, right, and I think both Mayor Pro Tem's recommendation and suggestion and as Council Member Lopez indicated, it is being here. So we are moving, part of this RFP process is to use technology, right, and be able to be more effective, more efficient, as the chief indicated, right? There's things that have to be done on a very practical approach, getting off the car, and also being efficient and taking advantage of technology. And we've got to balance the universe in that sense. But we're aware that this is a study that's been requested for many, many years, and so we'll just put it out of our checkout list and some of the things that we'll deliver. So we should provide some level of update, you know, It goes well within the next two months.

Can you give us a date or a meeting date, please?

First meeting in October. First meeting in October. Okay, perfect. But at least you get the update and you get that. And so let me be even more deliberate on this aspect. It's not going to be an instant discussion, right? You heard the commentary, right? And you indicated yourself this sense of equity, discussion, and preference, right? There's a reason why single-family R1s and R2s have a certain perspective and what they want and who wants to park in the neighborhood. But there's also apartments that have a different perspective as tenants, right? And they have in the mix these condos, right? the property owners that share kind of the responsibility like apartments do, and so it's gonna be one of those type of discussions, so we wanna be efficient, we wanna be correct, we wanna have a good presentation, but we would deliver at least so you get an item to discuss and deliberate.

Thank you, Mr. City Manager. I mean, we have homes, condos, we have homes with ADUs, we have homes with adult children. Parking is a huge problem in our city, and I think one of the, one of our constituents talked about that, you know, building apartments, as you had indicated, and parking. So, you know, we're gonna, even if you put a door, a hanger on their windshield, it's not gonna fix it. So first meeting in October, I believe we only have one meeting in October.

We're going to shoot for that one, yes.

I think that's the direction. The Council, we're good with the first meeting in October. Whatever we have heard. Thank you very much. Mayor Pro Tem, you're good?

Yeah, that's good.

All right, let's prepare to move on now. Item number 24 was requested by Council Member Lopez. Council Member Lopez, the floor is yours.

So we heard some of the public comment regarding this item about how Southern California Edison rates have more than doubled since 2016. And right now, one in five SE households is behind on their bill by an average of $829. That is not a handful of people falling behind. That is actually a debt crisis that we are now facing and seeing. And so while our residents are already struggling on a day-to-day, as we heard, there's $4.9 billion in profit last year. And so the core problem here is really structural, as I see it. And under the current regulatory model, SCE earns... I think a guaranteed roughly return of 10% on whatever it builds. And so obviously the more that they spend, the more that they profit, and that's really creating an incentive to not just overbuild rather than find, overbuild instead of finding the most, I think, efficient solution. And so my item is pretty clear. I hope that everybody had the opportunity to read it. It's asking you and the city attorney to prepare a resolution supporting a package of state bills called the Utility Affordability and Accountability Legislative Package that would cap some of those profits, require independent audits of wildfire spending before money is approved, increase transparency in how rates are calculated, and really shift some of the infrastructure costs for the large data centers off residential taxpayers and onto the data centers themselves. And so again, these bills are at different stages because everything is moving pretty quickly. And so the legislation like this doesn't necessarily move in a straight line. A couple of the bills in the report that I included are already stalled. so they're not gonna go anywhere. And so, and again, I think this is why it's important that I ask the city manager to work directly with their state lobbyists to track the bills submitted that are still pending, and again, in real time, provide this council with an update, and again, return to the council with the resolution because I think it's incredibly important that our voice is recorded here and that we acknowledge the bigger issue that as we heard really I think eloquently by the public comment that is happening throughout all of our community. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you Council Member Lopez for bringing this forward. I think Mr. City Manager you heard my support the last meeting when they spoke and I asked you to look into this as well. So thank you very much. Council Member Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'm fully supportive of the item, Mr. City Manager. I'd like to see this come back. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Fann.

Thank you, Mayor. This might be a question for Madam City Attorney or Mr. City Manager. I guess, wouldn't any type of rate increase? I guess I'm just trying to see if we can delegate this to staff because, you know, whether it's SCE, SoCalGas, and these utilities, they try to increase rates all the time. And I think it should, it seems to be routine for us to send a letter to signal our disagreement with that. Is that possible? So we don't have to come back to the Council every time?

Yes, it is possible. But it goes to this whole aspect of getting policy direction and policy recommendations so then the staff can act appropriately. Otherwise, it's just Emperor Nunez here doing whatever he wants. So this is one of those things where we have to write. This is one of the things where we have to be careful. So obviously having a discussion at this format, getting our policies to provide policy direction and state policy recommendations is appropriate. there's items that we can raise and like Council Member Lopez, we should be monitoring some of this aspect because it does benefit our constituents and our residents. So that's appropriate action. So I think it's a balancing aspect, Council Member Friend.

Investor-owned utilities under the California Public Utilities Commission have a problem. I'm sorry. Investor-owned public utilities under the California Public Utilities Commission, they have a very strict process for increasing rates. Part of that strict process is going through a rate maker process, and they have to give public agencies notice. We public officials, including the city attorney, receive hundreds of these notices because we receive them as part of it. They're required to send them to us. Oftentimes, we will forward these to staff. Very infrequently do they come and reach the council level. If I'm understanding the council members' request, it's two-part. Do what we normally do, council members. You give us direction to oppose or support legislation. That's one piece. The second piece is to explore how this city council might get involved in that ratepayer decision-making process. And there have been cities that have gone forward and have done that. Sometimes it's costly because we have to hire economists to actually – crunch those rates part of the cpuc has a rate payer advocacy group they are actually the professionals who are supposed to be protecting our rate payers and they go through that process but when we bring the item back city manager we can maybe better explain that process it's very complicated and as i mentioned there have been cities throughout the state that that formally oppose rate increases We'd have to look at each one and you'd have to make a decision. I don't think you want to give us that authority because that's a big policy decision. But we could maybe come back to you and say, what are we doing with those notices? Who's getting them? And are we informing the council about them? Thank you, City Attorney.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. Council Member Vasquez.

Thank you, Mayor. And I come from a household of six and we feel the hurt. We feel the pain and paying those electricity prices is really high. So I'm going to be in support of this item. Thank you.

Thank you. Mayor Pro Tem. Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor Mesquine. Thank you, Councilwoman Lopez, for bringing this item forward. A lot of good bills in this item, in this resolution package that we should support. However, there are a couple in there. I don't want to send staff down a rabbit hole or do work that It's not necessary. There's about three, and I know Councilwoman Lopez mentioned it, but there's three bills specifically that have been killed for a couple months now. I think they were killed in appropriations in early May. AB 1774, which is one of the items listed in there, AB 1677, and AB 2338 recently killed in appropriations in June. So it'd be a moot point to even send our staff to watch these because they're dead for this legislative cycle. And who knows if those members that introduced those bills would even be reelected this fall. So I say we just shelve those and see what comes out of them next year. With that said, the other ones I'm fully in support of. The one that does kind of give me pause a little bit is SB 1359 on there, just because it might be contradictory to one of the resolutions that this city council passed about a year and a half, two years ago, which was a resolution to oppose the rule changes here to phase out gas water heaters. And I know that SB 1359 is, the only issues that I have personally with them is that although it's a good build, because we want to make sure that we could phase out and fully electrify our society and our world. The framework, there aren't any frameworks identified for any alternatives like electrification when it comes to this bill. The bill requires the CPUC to consider whether electrification alternatives could avoid gas infrastructure costs, and that's something that's not done through this bill. So I know that there's numerous entities opposing this bill, and that would be one that I don't necessarily want to oppose it, but I definitely want to make sure that we Support, but watch carefully, just because the way that the bill is written, I know that there's efforts to amend it. So whatever that becomes, whatever that language comes out of these amendments, I don't know what those are yet. So that'd be one that I would hope we work with our lobbyists. I hope we work with T. Townsend and Public Affairs to watch that bill closely. But as far as all the other ones, fully supportive of that. Anytime that we could. Unfortunately, the assembly killed those three bills, which were very important to for the rate payers, I mean, that's something that we always strive to protect, especially here, at least my time on the city council, whether it's gas rates or, I'm sorry, water rates or trash rates, we always, at least myself, have consistently voted against raising those. But that's something that we should be following. I know that this is, when it comes to the gas lines, I always want to take pause because this city, Santa Ana, is in Irvine. There aren't any historic homes in Irvine. Guess what? In Santa Ana, there's a huge amount of residences and buildings that are 100-plus years old with very old infrastructure. Who's going to pay to upgrade all of that infrastructure? I'm not going to rely on the government to pay for it because we all know how that also affects That song and dance goes with unfunded mandates. that end up breaking families and small businesses in the city. And so anytime that we could carefully watch those to make sure that there's a pathway to expand that electric grid, I would really support that. One bill, and I guess this question's more for Councilmember Lopez. I know that you attached exhibit, the exhibit you attached to your council item was a San Diego City Council resolution. as part of this and one of the bills they supported as part of that resolution WAS AB 2493 BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER CAUTI PETRINORIS WHICH WOULD HAVE ACTUALLY HELPED SPEED UP A LOT OF THE ELECTRIFICATION THAT WE OFTEN SEE STALLED IN THIS STATE WHICH IS PART OF THE PROBLEM WHY WE'RE NOT SEEING THESE PROJECTS IN OUR CITY GET COMPLETED BY SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA, EDISON AND ALL THESE OTHER PUBLIC UTILITY COMPANIES. IS THERE A REASON WHY WE LEFT THAT ONE OFF COUNCILMAN LOPEZ?

No, it's fine. You can add it. This is, again, an introductory item. Members of the council can provide their comments. Obviously, the three bills that got solved don't need to come back or be part of that resolution. And if another member of this council wants to introduce something to this legislative packet that is relevant, I'm happy to accept.

Okay, so with that, I'd also like to add, if you accept, Councilwoman Lopez, that we look at AB 2493 and also follow that as well. That was introduced by... Assemblymember Cottey Pichinorris, and actually had, she's the chairwoman of the Utilities and Energy Committee, which would be a good, you know, she's 10 minutes away, definitely be worth our while as city staff to meet with her and see how, with our lobbyists as well, to see how we could work support these good bills. There's a lot of good ones and the only one that gives me pause is that SB 1359, just because of the very old infrastructure in our city and how that would, what that would mean to our residents. I always say that example of, you know, if I were to walk into my mom's house and tell her that she has to cook a pot of pozole or tamales on an electric stove, she's gonna slap me, as well as hundreds of thousands of other residents in Santa Ana and Anaheim. Again, we're not Irvine. Irvine doesn't have historic homes, and we do, and that's a huge thing to consider. So with that, Mayor, those are my comments, but I'm generally supportive of seeing us watching these bills and seeing something come back that we could all vote on.

Thank you. Mr. City Manager, are you clear on direction?

Understood.

Great, thank you. Looking forward to seeing the work that Townsend will be doing on our behalf. Appreciate that. All right, let's move forward now to Mr. City Manager. Do you have any comments you'd like to share with us?

No, I do not.

You do not. Is that no, sir?

That's a no. Okay.

I just want to make sure I heard you correctly. And again, I want to thank the council for staying for the entire closing comments of each council member. It definitely shows a sign of respect and professionalism. So let's start with closing comments from our council members. Council member Vasquez, please.

Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank the Mexican national team for bringing unity and joy to the people of Santa Ana. It was a beautiful run for the team. And I and all of Sanana, we were here for it. You know, we got together. We celebrated in downtown, and we united with our Korean friends, our Arab friends, our Vietnamese friends, our Hawaii friends, and they were all loving it and wearing green and supporting the three. I celebrated every go with you all. And this was a huge contrast from last year. We're being chased in the streets and being down in the streets of Santa Ana when we were told that we didn't belong and somehow we were the boogeyman of the country. And our families were taken in, our parents, children, our aunts. But not in 2026. In 2026, we united, we screamed, we are santaneros. We let the world know that we belong. That being said, the fight for immigration justice continues. Join us, everybody who is out in the street, to fight for it, to continue the fight. This Thursday I'm gonna continue doing office hours. I think I started last year and I appreciated the council members who do their office hours and now this is my fourth. And for the first time I'm going to Jerome Park. I'll be at the little library at four o'clock this Thursday. I invited the library staff to sign up folks to get their library cards. in addition with that, and to enjoy what we have here in Santa Ana. So thank you to the staff for supporting all that, and come and get your library card. I wanna congratulate the mayor on her new news, and I'm not gonna take her thunder, but congratulations, it's a beautiful thing, and I'll let you let the world know. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Vasquez. Council Member Lopez, please.

Yeah, I want to thank the Youth Running Club, the Lightning, the Youth Lightning Running Club. They actually worked with our office today to help us clean Edna Park, and I really appreciate their partnership and their commitment to keeping our parks clean, as my office has worked so hard to do, so much so that the work of my office helped earn the city the designation of a Clean California Community, And so that's something that we're really proud of. I also, I think to echo some of the comments that Council Member Vasquez just mentioned, really want to thank our community for such a joyful, beautiful celebrations that we saw throughout the entire and I wholeheartedly agree that the city of Santa Ana is a city of celebrations, city manager, and I want to thank Travel Santa Ana for really just, I think, embracing who we are as a community, and I honestly think it's very smart, smart of them, very smart marketing, and so, I also just want to thank you and your team. I know that there was a lot of conversations happening about how do we keep people safe? How do we make sure people feel welcome in our community? And how do we ensure that members of our community after such a disastrous year feel like they can be in their public streets celebrating? And so I think that it was a really important World Cup for us to celebrate and rooting for our home country, rooting for other countries. And I encourage people to stay connected because it's obviously what people really want and need and it's what they're asking for. And again, I just want to also thank staff for this council agenda. Good job. I hope that we can continue to have good business in our agendas and You know, hopefully today we can get out of here before 8.30 and happy birthday to our city clerk. This is, you know, our gift to you today. But no, seriously, enjoy it. I hope you're able to spend time with your family and your loved ones. And I hope that you're able to have a great birthday.

Thank you. Council Member Fenn.

Oh, so many updates, hi everyone. So first, actually I'll let this new business, I'll leave it to Council Member Becerra in Ward 4.

Are you not gonna speak then?

Yeah, no, I am. I'm going to take up all my six minutes. First, I'd like to thank city staff for an incredible 4th of July. We had so many people out there. It was super fun. It was such a wonderful event and just so fun to see the community come out. I want to say happy birthday to my council aide, Amanda Tran, whose birthday just passed recently. So happy birthday. We have a couple upcoming events in Ward 1. This Saturday, 7-11 at 10 a.m., we are doing the New Hope Library renovation, reopening, grand reopening. Thank you so much to our city staff and our Public Works Department, Library, Brian, You don't know what it means to me. I grew up in New Hope Library. Jasley, my chief of staff, grew up in New Hope Library. I'm going to start crying because there were so many times my parents could not afford childcare, and so we would go there after school and just stay until it closed. I always had late books. I would forget to return it, but I have so many incredible memories there, and I'm really looking forward to bringing our community out for that. On July 17th, We have Santa Ana movies in the park at Centennial Park. Unfortunately, I will be out of the country, but we will be showing Guardians of the Galaxy. So please come out, have fun. The Ward 1 team will be out there just as we're out there for every Ward 1 event. And finally, to echo everyone's sentiments, I was never into sports ball, but a friend of mine taught me about soccer in the last couple years. Now, I know the rule for offsides and handballs and all this other stuff, and I want to thank all of Santa Ana and everybody who embraced me and let me be a part of cheering on Mexico, El Tri, as well as the Stars and Stripes. I was lucky enough to attend the Iran and Belgium game, and that was really incredible. And I have to say, part of what it means to be American is to also embrace where you're from. and still be 100% American and be 100% Mexican and 100% Persian. And at that game, we had Tarantulas booing the national anthem of Iran, but cheering the players. from Iran. And here we got to see incredible community members come out, whether you were Mexican or not, support that team. And I am so, so proud and so lucky to have experienced every single Mexico game here in downtown Santa Ana, and most of them with Councilmember Vazquez.

If you see Councilmember Phan on the dance floor in downtown Santa Ana, quiero volar. Quiero volar.

Quiero volar. But seriously. Your time is up now? No, I'm not done.

Well, hurry up.

Let's go. Come on. The last thing I'll say about this is I'm very sad that there are no Latin American teams left in the World Cup. I said what I said. There are no Latin American teams left in the World Cup. So we're going to have to cheer on Morocco. And if Morocco gets knocked out, we're going to have to cheer on Norway, right? So we're going to go there.

We're all stressing out. Like, Argentina's still in there.

Argentina is not a Latin American country, my friends.

Are you done? Thank you so much, Councilmember Pham, for your comments. Have a wonderful night, everyone. We're going to move on now. And you forgot to mention the USA played yesterday. They got knocked out, but, you know, USA did play as well. So, all right, Councilmember Hernandez. I think she covered soccer, sir, so we'll just leave that alone. Okay, go ahead.

Yeah, fully concur with my colleagues on soccer.

I think she called it a ball game or something. No, no, no, no, no. Councilmember Pham, you're done. She's got the... Councilman Hernandez, go ahead.

I want to especially shout out the Mexican duck, the duck who wore the jersey. Shout out to him. He brought us a lot of pride. I see you have that duck right there, Mr. Duckworth. But we were really honored to see so many of our residents. Diversity was what was really important for me, seeing the diversity of age. You had people with walkers. You had people in wheelchairs. You had people who didn't even get out of their car, but they were waving the flag. And they were a part of it in one way or another, whether they just drove past or they were at their door and having a big flag out or maybe they were hosting family, but you could hear the joy everywhere. What was really interesting to me was how empty the streets were. You didn't see too many cars driving. And that was... Something I was really proud of was to see how many of my neighbors were tuned in as a family. I want to see more of that. I want to take a moment to thank our city staff for putting today's agenda together. I want to thank the residents who came out. Anytime that you come on out and you share a public comment with us, it is taken very seriously. It is taken into account. And we appreciate your input. And I want to take a moment here with my colleagues to begin celebrating one of our own here. And I'll start by saying, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Jennifer. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Hercules, Hercules, Hercules. We wish you nothing but the best, Jennifer. Thank you for keeping our meeting so balanced and streamlining everything that we do. I hope you have a wonderful Thursday with your family. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Hernandez. Stay right on task. Love it. Council Member Serra.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I believe Council Member Phan was talking about Toro Tea. Toro Tea. Toro Tea. So Toro Tea opened up last week. Ward 4 is blessed. We have a lot of great businesses, a lot of great restaurants. But I got to tell you, in my time on the council, I have not gone to an opening where in a shopping center you had a line that started from one end and went all the way to the other end. Super impressive. Toro Tea had their first store up in Chino Hills, right? Or no, Diamond Bar.

Diamond Bar, and then they opened the second one in Chino Hills.

And then their best one in Santa Ana.

Don't ask for questions and take your time. We're hoping they'll expand.

So, yeah. So, amazing place. If you have a chance, go check it out. I'm going to be hosting my office hours, which I've been doing since I got elected. And I'll be hosting that on Saturday, July 11th at 10 a.m. over at Sandpoint Park. Feel free to stop by. Fourth of July. Nobody up here brought up Fourth of July. We had a great event. I want to thank my colleagues who did show up. All right, right, relax. Fourth of July was great. Thank you, Park staff, for putting that on. Thank you to the community that came out. We had folks, I mean, I was very impressed with the turnout that we had. I'm going to kick you out right now. Red Carter. Yeah, Red Carter.

I called, I said, thank you for Fourth of July. Thank you. Well, you're red carding yourself, so now you gotta go. Please continue, Councilman Becerra. We need to get out.

All right, all right. So with that being said, watching the Mexican soccer team, oh my God, I'm not a typical soccer fan, but I gotta tell you, watching that team was amazing. It wasn't just because it was the Mexico team. They were just amazing. I am disappointed that they didn't go further in the World Cup. But again, they were a team that I think inspired a lot of us and definitely was a lot to do with their play. They did an amazing job. One thing I want to talk about is at a recent community meeting, or community event, excuse me, Supervisor Sarmiento made statements that were false and that were, that dangerously stoked fear in our community. Supervisor Sarmiento stated that members of this council voted to violate our state's laws and provide dated federal immigration officials through our city's automated license plate readers. Senate Bill 34, which was adopted in 2015, regulates automated license plate reader systems, requiring law enforcement to have public privacy policies, limiting data sharing with out of state federal entities, and restricting data retention to authorized purposes. To be very clear, nobody on this council voted to violate state law regarding the provision of data to federal immigration officials. Nobody did. There are plenty of areas of policy where members of this council differ with each other, and it is fair to highlight those differences. There is no need to lie and unnecessarily cause long-term fear for short-term political purposes. Now more than ever, where it's possible, we need to be united in support of our residents and this amazing city. So I hope we can do that. Even as much as we're going to be going into silly season with campaigns, we can and we should be able to stick together. So with that, good night, everybody.

Thank you, Councilman Becerra. Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor Mezcua. I just wanted to thank staff for such a nice event on Saturday at Centennial Park. It was really nice to see everybody out there. And just wanted to also invite community out on August 1st. We're going to be having, my office is going to be having a backpack school supply giveaway at a You know what? I haven't confirmed the park, but it's scheduled. But we will be having that and probably releasing those details this week. But just keep an eye out for it. It is happening on August 1st, just in time for back to school. So with that, Mayor, those are my comments. Again, also heartbroken over Mexico's loss and the USA's loss and Colombia's loss. Everyone's loss. It's been a sad week, but with that, that is it, Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you. I also am sad over Mexico's loss in USA, so we wanted them to both win here. So first of all, let me just share that on August 1st, excuse me, first of all, first of all, first and foremost, on July 4th at 11.11 a.m., my grandson, Logan Ramses Melendez, was born at St. Joseph's Hospital. It was a beautiful day. And we brought him home yesterday and he's healthy and mom and dad are healthy. And so what a truly, what a blessing. And I get to see him every single day. So I am super excited. So if you see me smiling a lot more, you know why. Because there is nothing, nothing more important than your family. and babies, and so, and we grow. I already have a very, very big family, so we just added on to it. So I want to thank my son and my daughter-in-law for blessing me with a very healthy baby boy, and my grandson, Logan. So I'm going to be bringing him to the office with me, Mr. City Manager. Sylvia's offered to babysit, I just want you to know. Okay, so with that, also, so on August 1st, 2026, I'm having coffee with the mayor at the police department community room where Chief Rodriguez will be showing the drones. He will be giving an example. You'll be able to see it on TV, and we have two large TVs there in the community room. Sir, you want to share a little bit about what you'll be doing?

Yes, thank you, Mayor. We will be demonstrating our drone as a first responder program, and the community will be able to see a live feed of our drones, similar to just a demonstration of our capabilities and how it's a resource and it allows us to provide more efficient, effective policing services.

Thank you so much, and I believe on 4th of July, on top of that, the drones, I don't know if we used them on 4th of July, and you don't need to answer. I don't want anything, but I do want to say that I'm looking forward to this drone demonstration so the community can see. So please come out on August 1st at the community room at the police department. I think the max that we can hold is about 100 people in that room. Is that correct, Chief?

Yes, Mayor, that's correct.

Okay, so then once we cap off there, I'm sure the fire department will say no more, and... you won't be able to come in. So come in and take a look at the drones and so that you're not misled and given bad information and maybe a call will go out that the drones will respond to actively and so we'll be able to see what they're doing. Also, I want to talk about the reentry program. I'll give you an update really quick. On June 23rd, several of us attended the Board of Supervisors meeting to speak on this matter and to share how we do not want, the constituents that were there with me, we do not want a reentry program in the City of Santa Ana. I want to thank Supervisor Janet Nguyen for actually making a motion to allowing the residents from Santa Ana and myself as the Mayor speak, Mayor Pro Tem Penalosa was with me as well, to speak on this matter because if she had not made a motion to allow us to speak, it would not have been voted on and we would not have been able to share our position representing the City of Santa Ana because they told us initially it was under one item number when actually it was under a different item number. And we were told it was being pulled when actually, in part of the budget, $21 million was approved to move forward. And right now, I believe, because I drive by on a regular basis, they're doing some soil sampling, which means what happens after soil sampling, we all know, right? Then they start to work even more. What really concerns me is that You know, it is in ward three, and nobody knew about it, nobody shared with us about it. There are other things that may be a priority, but to me as the mayor and to a few of us up here, this is a priority. A reentry program in the city of Santa Ana will cause strain in our police department, will cause strain in our city budget, We do support rehabilitation, but we carry the weight of every program in this city, and I keep saying that, and people will make ugly comments about, oh, you do not support rehabilitation. I've been part of rehabilitation and wraparound service longer than anybody sitting up here, and I could talk about it till I'm blue in the face. So the only councilmembers that have really been, that have showed any support is Councilmember Becerra and Mayor Pro Tem Penalosa to take a position on this. So I would hope that the rest of the council would openly take a position on this, and I'm gonna be bringing this item forward, Mr. City Manager, to the council, because I wanna have a discussion about this reentry program, and I want the community to see publicly, publicly, who is supporting this reentry program sitting up here, and who is not, and what position is we, as a city, what we are going to do as we move forward. If we end up in litigation, if the county can come to the table and say, hey, we're gonna put a stop to this until we meet with the community, meet with you as a city manager. I've asked for a meeting. You've asked for a meeting. There's been no communication. Michelle Aguirre, who was the CEO at that time, who's now retired, said, oh, I reached out to the city manager and the mayor. That was almost at 7 p.m. the day before the Board of Supervisors meeting. So that's another sign of disrespect that it wasn't enough communication We don't matter enough that they could have reached out to us days before at 8 a.m. in the morning. Instead, it was at almost 7 p.m. the night before the Board of Supervisors meeting. And then while we were at the Board of Supervisors meeting, we were getting, certain people were getting text messages that you don't need to stay here. It's not gonna happen. You don't need to stay. You all can leave. Nothing is happening. Nothing is happening. And that was being sent out by Supervisor Sarmiento's staff. Guess what? Something did happen. It did happen. $21 million was approved. It was approved. And the last thing I'll say about the reentry program is Supervisor Sarmiento, it's his night tonight, and I am not trying to play politics. I'm giving you facts. He put out his video about the county budget being approved, and he stated, quote unquote, I want to thank Councilmember Lopez for bringing this to my attention. I want to be clear, this is not about Councilmember Lopez stating anything. This is about Supervisor Sarmiento stating this. He said Councilwoman Lopez brought this forward. That is a bold-faced lie. That is inaccurate. The only person who brought this forward was me, the mayor. So I just want to be really clear. So I'm sure Mr. City Manager, you'll hear from him tomorrow. Oh my goodness, the mayor, what did she say? Oh my goodness, Councillor Becerra, what did he say? I want to be really clear. When he presented the video to the public and stated, thank you, Council Member Lopez, for bringing this to my attention. That is not true. We're playing politics. I don't need to get credit for this, but I'm going to always be factual. And the facts are that nobody brought it to our attention. Nobody. until I said something, and then the ball got rolling. And I don't need a pat on the back, oh, thank you. What I need is I need the county to respond to us, that we do not want this program in our city. That's what I need. That's all I want. That's all I want. Put a halt to it until they sit down at the table with us to say, how can we work together? How much money, county, are you going to give us to pay for our police department? What are you going to do for us because you're taking advantage of us? So I want to be really clear on that. And if Supervisor Sarmiento would like to chat about it or make a correction on his video, I would really appreciate it because we should always be truthful. Share the facts. Let's not play politics. We're going to share the facts. So let me close this meeting in memory of a very special man in my family, in memory of Martin Sonny Morales, Tonight, the city of Santa Ana honors the life and legacy of one of our own, Martin Sonny Morales. I know him as Sonny, and many people in my family know him as Grandpa Sonny. Born in Santa Ana in February 1942 to Felix and Lupe Morales, Sonny was a proud, lifelong resident whose roots ran deep in this community. Raised in the Artesia Pilar neighborhood, Santa Ana was more than his hometown. It was the place that shaped his character, his values, and the life he would dedicate to serving others. As a young boy, Sonny attended St. Joseph's School, and was an active member of the Pilar Catholic Church, where he helped assemble the church's beautiful mosaic at the altar that continues to inspire parishioners today. As an adult, Sonny became known for his remarkable craftsmanship and unwavering work ethic. Through his masonry business, he left a lasting mark on Santa Ana and communities throughout Southern California. His brick and stone work can still be seen throughout the Civic Center area in downtown Santa Ana. And to our family, that's very beautiful. And on the former First American Building on Main Street. He also provided opportunities and mentorship to countless family members and friends through his business. Sonny's commitment to Santa Ana extended beyond his profession. For many years, he coached youth sports at Memorial Park, mentoring generations of young athletes and helped build the park's snack bar, which still stands today serving families in our community. A devoted parishioner at St. Anne's Catholic Church, Sonny lived his faith through quiet acts of kindness, humility, and service. To so many, he was more than a skilled craftsman. He was a mentor, a father figure, and a trusted friend who believed in lifting others up. Above all, Sonny's greatest joy was his family. Together with his beloved wife of 68 years, Sylvia, He built a legacy rooted in faith, love, hard work, and generosity that lives on through his children, his grandchildren, his great-grandchildren, and all whose lives he touched. On behalf of the Santa Ana City Council and the residents of our city, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the Morales family and our sincere gratitude for the life so well lived Sonny Morales helped build this city not only with his hands, but his heart. His legacy will live on in the community he served, the people he mentored, and the family that he loved so deeply. May he rest in eternal peace. May his memory forever be a blessing to the city of Santa Ana and to the Morales family and to my extended family. As the mayor of the city of Santa Ana and this council, our sincere condolences.

Thank you.

This meeting is adjourned.