City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. you you do do you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for watching.

All righty. Madam Clerk, can you prepare us, please?

Yes, Mayor, you can go ahead whenever you're ready.

Perfect, 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.

Yeah, present.

Council Member Lopez?

Here.

Council Member Pham? Here. Council Member Vazquez? Present. Mayor Pro Tempeñaliza? Mayor Mezcua?

Present.

You have five members present. That is a quorum.

Thank you. Madam Clerk, are there any additions or deletions to the closed session agenda?

No additions or deletions, but noting for the record, a clerical correction was made and posted for item number two, the labor negotiations item, to more accurately reflect that both the full-time and part-time units are part of the item.

Thank you, do any council members need to announce their abstentions on closed session items? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, do we have any speakers for closed session?

We do not have any members of the public present in the chamber for closed session, but let me confirm there is one hand raised on Zoom. Speaker Chaddad, could you unmute and let us know if you're speaking on closed session or the regular agenda?

Hi, I'm talking about Agenda 19. I'm not sure which one that is.

Okay, so those will be heard during public comments during our regular open session, so please hold until that time. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. At this time, we will go into closed session, and then we'll be back out to resume. Thank you.

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Good evening, everybody. I know everybody's excited to see each other, but we need to get this meeting started. Apologize for coming out late. We had a very long and extensive closed session. All right, let's get started. Madam Clerk, ready to begin? Yes, please go ahead, Mayor. 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. 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 chamber, or in front of any entrances and exits. During city council presentations and oaths of office, guests of individuals being recognized are invited to come to the front to take photos. Thank you. Madam Clerk, please conduct the roll call. Council Member Becerra.

Here.

Council Member Hernandez.

Present.

Council Member Lopez. Here. Council Member Phan. Here. Council Member Vasquez.

Present.

Mayor Pro Tempagnoloza.

Present.

Mayor Mesquita. 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 nine 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. Following this announcement, the speaker queue will be closing. Thank you.

Thank you. First item on the agenda is the Pledge of Allegiance. Jennifer Wang, if you could come up please and lead us in the pledge.

Will you stand if you can? 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.

Thank you. Thank you, Jennifer, very much. At this time, words of inspiration will be provided by Chaplain Daniel Park. Please come to the podium.

Well, Mayor Valeria Mezcua, the city council members, may the Lord bless you all as you conduct this meeting and care for the city of Santa Ana. As a Christian pastor, I am familiar with the word in Hebrew in the Christian Bible called shalom, which means peace. But it doesn't just mean peace. It means wholeness. An example would be if there was a wall, a brick wall, and if a brick was missing, that wouldn't be shalom. Shalom will be one where you see wholeness in all parts, and that's what I pray we will see, that there will be wholeness in the city of Santana. I pray that the Lord will bless you all, and the Lord would open your eyes and your ears to the cries of the city, the Lord would humble you in moments of correction and rebuke when it's true, and that you would pursue after justice and what is right. So let me pray for you all at this time. Heavenly Father, we come before you at this hour and ask for your blessing upon the city of Santa Ana. We acknowledge those who came before us, the indigenous people who dwelt in the land and cared for it before settlers came to call it Santa Ana. We thank you for their stewardship of this place, and we acknowledge the complex history of the city and of our nation. May you grant us the humility to remember the past with honesty and the wisdom to pursue a more just future. We also pray for the present. We lift up our mayor, our city council members, and all those entrusted with the responsibility of leading the city. Grant them wisdom, your wisdom, discernment, integrity, and courage as they seek to promote justice, preserve shalom, pursue the common good for every resident of those who dwell in the city of Santa Ana. We ask for the many organizations, the community leaders, the volunteers, the educators, their first responders, the nonprofit and religious organizations, and the businesses that labor for the flourishing of the city. Guide their hands in their work, strengthen their resolve, and foster meaningful collaboration among all who seek the welfare of our neighbors. Heavenly Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon this place. May righteousness flourish in our city. We pray especially for those who've been marginalized, overlooked, or burdened by unjust systems. Draw near to them, restore their hope, Remind them of their dignity as been made in the image of our triune God. And may justice be done, truth be upheld, and mercy abound. Above all, we pray that your grace would rest upon every person in the city. May many come to know the good news of the gospel, that though we're sinners, you have loved us, redeemed us in Christ Jesus, and freely offer the gift of everlasting life to all who trust in. And Lord, for those who follow you, May we never long only for heaven while neglecting our calling on earth as well. Teach us to seek that shalom in the here and the now, to pray and to labor for your will to be done and for that shalom to come on earth as it is in heaven. We ask for your grace and mercy upon Santana. May the city become a beacon of hope throughout our county, a place where justice and compassion meet, where neighbors love one another, and where the beauty of beloved community shines as a witness to all. May Santana be that exemplar to our neighboring cities. We ask all these things in the name of our Triune God and all God's people say. Amen. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. Madam Clerk, are there any additions or deletions to the City Council agenda? There are none. Thank you so much. The first presentation is buying. It's a certificate of recognition presented to Jaime Velasco of Mazapan de la Rosa for outstanding contributions to the community. Sir, if you want to come up, please. Thank you, Jennifer, very much. So I'm going to speak in English and Mayor Pro Tem is going to speak in Spanish. Do you want to stand? Okay, good evening everyone. It is a tremendous honor to recognize Mr. Jaime Enrique Miguel Velasco, an extraordinary entrepreneur, visionary leader, and philanthropist whose life work has touched millions of people around the world. Mr. Velasco's story is deeply rooted in the legacy of his parents, Jesus Michael Gonzalez and Elvira Velasco Relon, whose perseverance, faith, and entrepreneurial spirit laid the foundation for what would become one of Mexico's most beloved confectionery companies. Well, we all know what Mazapan candy, right? We all know. After relocating their family to Guadalajara in the early 1940s, they faced tremendous adversity. A devastating fire destroyed their small candy factory in 1944, leaving them only a modest workshop. Rather than giving up, they persevered. From that workshop came innovation, determination, and in 1945, the creation of what would become an international icon, Mazapan de la Rosa. Yes, big round of applause. You all like Monster Fun Candy. We know we do. What began as a simple... What began as a simple peanut confection, born out of necessity when almonds were too costly, has become a beloved treat enjoyed by generations and recognized around the globe. Today, Luces de la Rosa produces more than 550 different confectionery and snack products distributed in over 34 countries. As a seventh of 14 siblings, Jaime Enrique Miguel Velasco embraced the values instilled by his parents, hard work, integrity, humility, and family. For more than 62 consecutive years, he has dedicated himself to growing the family business while preserving the principles on which it was founded. Under his leadership, Dulces de la Rosa has become an internationally recognized company, creating thousands of jobs and strengthening communities through agriculture, manufacturing, commerce, and international trade. The company has also earned three Guinness World Records. That's an applause. That's an applause. Three. Three. including, drum roll please, including the world's largest Mazapan twice, with the most recent record set right here in Santa Ana, yes. Woo, yes. Beyond his extraordinary business achievements, Don Enrique is admired for his generosity, philanthropy, and commitment to helping others. He is a leader who inspires through action, treating employees, colleagues, and community members with dignity, respect, and compassion. Tonight, the city of Santa Ana proudly recognizes Jaime for his remarkable leadership, intrapreneur vision, and lasting contributions to industry, philanthropy, and countless lives he has impacted. Please join me in congratulating him on his well-deserved recognition and thanking him for leaving a legacy that continues to inspire future generations forever. Because here in Santa Ana, we're in the World Guinness World Records now, right? It's the same place.

Muchas gracias, alcaldesa Amezcua. Buenas tardes. ¿Cómo están todos?

Bien.

¿Quién ha probado el mazapán? Come on, levanten las manos, sé que los han comido. Okay, pues muy buenas tardes. Es un enorme honor reconocer al señor Jaime Enrique Velasco, un extraordinario empresario, líder, visionario y filantropo con una trayectoria de vida que ha impactado millones de personas alrededor del mundo. Y la razón por qué no me cierra el saco a veces. Porque esos mazapanes están bien ricos. Y los pulparinos y todo, ¿verdad?

Sí.

La historia del señor Velasco está profundamente en el legado de sus padres. Jesús González y Elvira Velasco Rolón. Que la perseverencia, fe y espíritu emprendedor sentaron las bases de lo que llegaría a convertirse en una de las empresas de dulces más queridas de México y el mundo alrededor. Tras emigrar a su familia a Guadalajara a principios de la década de los cuarentas, enfrentaron enormes adversidades. En 1944, un devastador incendio destruyó su pequeña fábrica de dulces. dejándolos únicamente con un modesto taller. En lugar de rendirse, perseveraron. De ese pequeño taller nacieron la innovación, la determinación, y en el 1945 la creación de lo que llegaría a convertirse a un icono internacional, el mazapán de la rosa. Lo que comenzó como un sencillo dulce de cacahuate criado por necesidad cuando las almendras eran demasiadas costosas, se ha convertido en un producto emblemático disfrutado por generaciones y reconocido en todo el mundo. Hoy, Dulces de la Rosa produce más de 550 diferentes productos de dulces y botanas distribuidos... Además, hubiera practicado el español. Hola, que no estoy viendo a mi mamá ni a mi abuela, porque si no... en más de 34 países. Como el séptimo de 14 hermanos, el señor Jaime Velasco adoptó los valores inculcados por sus padres, el trabajo duro, la integridad, la humildad y la importancia de la familia, preservando al mismo tiempo los principios sobre los cuales fue fundado. Bajo su liderazgo, Dulces de las Rosas se ha convertido en una empresa de reconocimiento internacional, generando miles de empleos y fortaleciendo comunidades a través de la agricultura, la manufactura, el comercio y el intercambio internacional. La empresa también ha obtenido tres récords Guinness, incluyendo aquí en Santana, hace dos años, el mazapán más grande del mundo. Bravo, bravo. En dos ocasiones, siendo el record más reciente establecido aquí mismo en Santana, demostrando el fuerte vínculo de la empresa con nuestra comunidad aquí en Santana. Más allá de sus extraordinarios logros empresariales, Don Enrique es admirado por su generosidad, su labor filantrópica y su compromiso de ayudar a los demás. Es un líder que inspira con el ejemplo tratando a sus empleados, a sus colegas y miembros de la comunidad con dignidad, respeto y compasión. Esta noche, la ciudad de Santana, aquí con la alcaldesa Mezcua y el vicealcalde aquí, David, y mis colegas acá atrás de nosotros, Reconoce con orgullo al señor Jaime Enrique Velasco por su extraordinario liderazgo, su visión empresarial y sus duraderas contribuciones a la industria, a la filantropía y a las innumerables vidas que ha impactado. Les pido que me acompañen para felicitar a Don Enrique por este merecido reconocimiento y agradecerle por dejar un legado que seguirá inspirando a las futuras generaciones por muchos años más. Felicidades, señor Velasco. Muchas gracias por estar aquí con nosotros.

So we're going to give this to you. This is for you and your family. A certificate of recognition. You're going to say in Spanish and English. Okay. For you and your family. Thank you very much. If you want to say something. Yes, of course. Yes, please.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

Quiero agradecerles profundamente a toda la gran civilización que tenemos aquí en Santana. Es un ejemplo mundial. Veníamos platicando de que Santana ahorita está más bonita que en ningún lado. Y eso es... y eso es gracias a nuestras autoridades que están cerca de los este humanos yo la verdad es estoy acostumbrado a trabajar con un equipo el equipo tiene que ser como en el fútbol no un pase y te lo devuelvo y así ustedes son un ejemplo y ustedes son algo que me han hecho sentir muy bonito no voy a llorar aquí porque lloro muy triste y ahorita es cosa muy hermosa muchísimas gracias que Dios los bendiga

Señor Velasco, ¿podríamos hacer el pulparino más grande del mundo pronto? ¿Sí? Lo hacemos, ¿eh?

Do you want to join us?

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay. Okay. right here right here

Thank you. Wow. Wow. Thank you.

Thank you, everyone. The next presentation is Councilmember Lopez presenting to the 2026 Lays World Cup Soccer Tournament for Outstanding Teamwork and Community Pride. Please come up. The Lays, 2026 Lays World Cup. Councilmember Lopez.

Hi, so if the students are here, . Okay, good afternoon, buenas tardes. My office is really thrilled to be recognizing an outstanding group of young athletes whose hard work, determination, and sportsmanship have made our entire community really proud.

As you leave, can you please keep it down, please? Thank you so much.

This year, 192 young people between the ages of 14 and 18 answered the call to participate in the 2026 Lays World Cup soccer tournament, a free six-week competition that brought the excitement of the FIFA World Cup directly to our neighborhood. Open to all the youth regardless of school, neighborhood, or skill level, the tournament welcomed aspiring athletes from across Santa Ana to compete, connect, and grow through the beautiful game. What made this tournament unique was that it mirrored the structure of the FIFA World Cup itself. With weeks of group stage competition, accumulating an exciting knockout tournament. Every match showcased determination, teamwork, and sportsmanship. Santa Ana was selected as the only US host site because of our community's deep passion for football, making it the perfect place to celebrate the FIFA World Cup while creating meaningful opportunities for local youth. Thanks to the support of Common Goal, participation was completely free with uniforms, equipment, and officials all provided so that every participant could focus on enjoying the game. But perhaps the greatest achievement wasn't measured on the scoreboard. From this talented group of students, athletes, eight of them earned the extraordinary opportunity to represent not only the city of Santa Ana, but also the United States in an international youth tournament alongside teams from Portugal and Italy. So please give them a round of applause. They also attended a 2026 FIFA World Cup match at the Los Angeles Stadium, experiencing firsthand the excitement of the world's biggest sporting event. The tournament also brought families and our community together. Every match was open to the public. to giving parents, siblings, friends, neighbors, giving them the opportunity to cheer on these incredible young athletes week after week. Their support helped create an atmosphere that reflected the pride and the unity that so many of us saw in our public streets and that ultimately makes Santa Ana such a special place. To each of the students we recognize tonight, thank you for representing Santa Ana with integrity and so much heart. Whether you were named player of the match, advanced to the international tournament, or gave your very best every time you stepped into the field, each of you demonstrated leadership, resilience, and a genuine love for the game, and I thank you. Please join me in congratulating these outstanding young athletes, they're not all here, for their remarkable accomplishments and for serving as exceptional ambassadors for our city. So on behalf of my office, the entire council and city, congratulations. We cannot wait to see what you achieve next.

So we would like to hear from one of you. Whatever you want to share.

I think I speak for all my peers saying thank you Santa Ana for this wonderful opportunity. We got to not only meet people from Europe, but we also got to collaborate alongside people from our own community that we've never met. I think this was a great experience and thank you very much.

I want to thank the city for this opportunity and hopefully it's not the last for not only myself but for others around the community. This opportunity doesn't come for much, for many, and hopefully we keep investing in the city parks and lights, maybe more soccer fields publicly. And hopefully we can also invest in the campesino lights. They are, it would help a lot for us to keep playing at night. Thank you.

I'd like to thank the city as well. I feel like there's not many opportunities out there that are coming around for things like this. Despite everything, I feel like This was a great opportunity just for everybody just to experience this. And I feel like we all owe it to the city, but we also owe it to ourselves for trying and just, I guess, being ourselves and loving the sport. I think if there's more opportunities like this, I think places like Santa Ana, Los Angeles will have more people trying to be involved in certain things like this. And it's, I guess, just the start of something happening in the U.S., I guess.

Thank you. Thank you to my parents for being there and taking me to the games. Also, yeah, thank you for everybody. Amazing.

And thank you to our Parks and Rec department as well. We're going to take a picture now.

All right, next up is Council Member Fan. She is going to recognize M and Ocean Youth Crossover Band from Taiwan for outstanding contributions to the community. Come on up, please.

Hi, good evening, everyone. So tonight we are honoring MNOcean Youth Crossover Band, a group of 15 Taiwanese high school students, well, student musicians. They can't all be high schoolers. These might be the smartest but littlest high schoolers I've ever seen. from ages nine to 16 or thereabouts, who spent part of their summer performing for seniors here in Orange County, including those at the Santa Ana Senior Center. Their goal for this tour is to share a special intergenerational culture exchange experience, including live performances featuring singing, rock band music, strings, and dance, especially Taiwanese cultural presentations and conversations with the seniors. Once they're over 15, they don't talk to me, but I still have some luck with these ones. The M in their name stands for mountain, representing the mountains of Taiwan. Ocean represents the Pacific Ocean beside their homeland. Together, their name M and Ocean symbolizes the connection between Taiwan's mountains and ocean, bridging their aspirations to bring music from Taiwan to the world. The MNOcean Youth Crossover Band was founded in 2021 and began with four children who shared a passion for music. Today, the group has grown to 17 talented young performers, combining live band music, singing, violin, et cetera. Over the past five years, they have participated in more than 40 public performances throughout Taiwan, including at government events, cultural festivals, charity performances, and educational programs. Any night markets? Did you perform at night markets? That was my best, like the best part of Taiwan, eating at the night markets. Through music, dance, and interactive activities, they bring joy, build friendships, and create meaningful intergenerational cultural exchanges. So please join me in congratulating these talented young students and their instructors on their amazing performances. Thank you, Eman Ocean. Thank you.

Hello, everyone. My name is Coco, and we are MNOcean Youth Crossover Band, and today we brought some gifts for you. So this is a phone speaker that's made from woods from Taiwan, and there are your names on it, and there's some Taiwan patterns. So hope you'll like it.

I love gifts. Yay, Aaron. I love gifts. It's one of my love languages, so please remember, everyone. But also, I think because they've been performing for all of our seniors and sharing this cultural exchange, we did ask that they perform one song for us, if that's okay. I don't know any Taiwanese, though, so please excuse me. Well, okay, we'll see. If you're good, then we'll do the second song, all right? Okay, so we have to see if they're good first, all right? Okay, let me get out of the way.

Okay, so, okay.

Okay, good evening, Mayor Valerie Amezcua. Hello, and good evening, every council member, distinguished guests, and everyone. My name is Xiangwei Lin, and you can call me Coco. I come from Taiwan, and I'm the vocal of M&Ocean Youth Crossover Band. So before we start, I want to tell you something. So this is my first time speaking in an American City Council meeting, so if I look a little nervous, please give me a round of applause. Thank you, thank you so much. That helped a lot. Okay, thank you so much for inviting us MNOcean Youth Crossover Band to Santa Ana and receiving this recognition really is a huge honor for all of us. We came here all the way from Taiwan with music and singing and dancing and a lot of excitement and also a little bit of jet lag too. But every smile we receive here makes us feel like home, because our band believes something very simple. People become friends before countries become friends. Today, there are still many wars and conflicts that's happening around the world, and many of them are because that people doesn't really know each other. So when people meet, we laugh together, we sing together, we eat together, and people become friends. We stop being strangers. This is why we perform. This is why we travel. This is why we believe that friendship is one of the most important things in the world. We may be young, and we may not be able to stop every war in this world, but we can choose kindness, we can choose to understand, and we can choose friendship. Maybe that is how peace begins. There's a song that says just what we want to say. Maybe you heard it before. Heal the world.

Make it a better place for you and for me and the entire human race There are people dying if you care not for the living Make a better place for you and for me

Thank you. Okay, I know maybe Michael Jackson sings much better than us. We just love Michael Jackson. We love America. Okay. Thank you, Mayor Valerie Amesqua and Santa Ana City Council and Asian American Senior Citizen Service Center and everyone who welcomes us with such kindness. We came here all the way from Taiwan as travelers, but now I think we can leave with new friends. Thank you so much. And now we will perform two songs, and we hope you'll like it. The first song is a traditional Taiwanese song that's really famous in Taiwan. And the second song is a very famous baseball cheer song in Taiwan. We hope you'll enjoy the show. Thank you.

. . . Satsang with Mooji I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do. Tien kien kwa min u rang dai, kui mang ka kwa mai. Kue nyong cho kwan si gong ta tai. Nong cho wan si gong da tai Ho ho pen zai

Thank you so much. And let's welcome our baseball cheer songs. Thank you. Of course.

Thank you for asking.

Are we doing one more song? Yeah? One more song, okay.

Ah! Ah! Thank you. See you next time. Thank you. Thank you. Team China, fighting!

Thank you so much. Can we give the kids one more round of applause? And I'll turn this back to the mayor. Thank you.

Good job, thank you so very much. Thank you, thank you. Next up when we clear the area, Councilman Hernandez. One second. Councilman Hernandez will be recognizing July 12th as 714 Unity Day, Black and Brown in the OC. Deborah Burke and Tisha Hutchins, Utah, please come up.

Thank you. If we can please put our hands together for Ms. Tisha Hutchins and Deborah Burke. Come on over. All right. Well, first and foremost, what a wonderful day today is. Today we are celebrating a historic proclamation, and that is declaring 714 Unity Day. This is an important day because many of us in Orange County know that 714 is a very important number to us. It was once our area code here for us in Santa Ana. Many of us grew up with those numbers being very significant. Today I have the great honor to recognize two leaders from our community, Deborah Burke and Tisha Hutchins. What is really important to note today is that we are recognizing July 14th as 714 Unity Day. Black and brown in the OC. This was an event that Ms. Deborah Burke and Tisha Hutchins dreamt to create together. They worked together and they thought this needs to happen here in Santa Ana, our backyard, our community. This is where my family called home. This event has been an impactful event for not only the city but for my office to be able to work with leaders across this community. This event has focused on bringing together diverse communities that have historically been isolated across Orange County. Our goal is to ignite creative collaboration and to strengthen cross-cultural solidarity. As hate incidents target people of color across this country in Orange County, we see violence rising in the areas where we see our immigrant families and our refugee families on the receiving end of brutality. The purpose of this annual July celebration is more crucial than ever. At the heart and the spirit of this day is joy. Joy that is rooted in culture, community, resilience, education, and belonging. This event honors the experiences of black and brown community members while bringing together artists, educators, civic leaders, businesses, community organizations, and entrepreneurs, and more importantly, allies. It brings our allies together to celebrate the richness of our multicultural identities in an inclusive environment. Through music, through dance, through open mic performances, and across cultural dialogue, 714 Unity Day demonstrates the power of collective joy as a revolutionary act of resistance, a signifier of black and brown humanity, and a catalyst for long-lasting community connection. The title Black and Brown in the OC acknowledges the distinct histories, the identities, the struggles, the triumphs, and the joy of black and brown communities, while affirming the power of community, mutual respect, and a shared commitment to justice, equity, representation, and opportunity. We are deeply grateful for the event founders, Deborah Burke and Tisha Hussians, for their advocacy efforts in organizing this event and gathering the black and brown community of Orange County. This proclamation declares July 14th as 714 Unity Day and reaffirms Santa Ana's commitment to advancing equity and opportunity for all. Let's please put our hands together for these wonderful leaders. And without further ado, I will be passing it off to Ms. Deborah Burke.

Thank you.

On behalf of the city of Santa Ana, we'd like to give you this proclamation declaring 714 Unity Day. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Of course, of course. Thank you, Council Member Jonathan. I just want to start by, I want to start at the beginning. Where did Black and Brown Unity Day, 714 Unity Day, originally come from? I'm going to start with my roots. I am the daughter of two amazing people. They're right in the front there. My father, my mother, James and Shelly Burke. They immigrated... They immigrated to Orange County from Guyana, South America, which is a Caribbean nation. And they raised us here in the OC in Santana and in Tustin. And we had a remarkable childhood. But it wasn't without racism. It wasn't without marginalization. I remember when we first moved here, my next-door neighbors moved out so that they wouldn't have to live next to us. It was my first experience of white flight. And from that space, there grew just a passion for community, for diversity, the need to bring people together who didn't look like each other. So that was the beginning. That was welcome to the OC. I became an artist, a filmmaker, a musician, and I wrote my first album. And one of the singles on my album is called The O.C., and it really is about the experience growing up here and how can we create a more inclusive environment for everybody. Now, I believe we're doing that. With 714 Unity Day, We are marking an experience where we can create a new OC. An OC that honors different cultures, different diversities, different heritages, and different histories. An OC that honors our Latin American brothers, our African American brothers, our Asian American brothers, Indian American brothers and sisters, and our immigrant family. And since you guys, you are what makes Orange County, Orange County. Welcome to the OC.

I will be very, very short. I just want to say thank you to Councilman Hernandez, for everyone in the City of Santa Ana. As a nonprofit leader and an organizer here in Orange County, it is with great honor that we accept this proclamation. to continue to bring joy to the city of Santa Ana and to the county of Orange. We want to continue this work, move it forward. Civic engagement is extremely important to me, making sure that people are involved with their city and with their community. So this is an amazing event that we can bring our entire community together in Santa Ana, representing everyone within this community. And I just want to thank everybody, and we'll see you next year. 714 Unity Day.

And we're going to take a picture here, but if we can also just, I just want to say thank you to your parents, Debra, James, and Ms. Shelley Burke. You guys have been an inspiration for me to get to know, to learn your story, for you to be a doctor, for you to be a scientist, and call Santa Ana home. We're tremendously proud, and this is a reflection of your leadership. Thank you.

All right, thank you so very much. Thank you, thank you. We're gonna go on to closed session at this time. Madam City Attorney, do you have anything to report out of closed session? Can you speak into the mic, please?

Good evening. Thank you, Mayor and Council. The City Council met in closed session tonight pursuant to the Brown Act on the matters identified on the agenda. There is no reportable action this evening.

Great. Thank you. Okay. Jennifer, there's something you needed? Jennifer? Okay. Go ahead. We just got to move. Got to be quick. Sorry. Go ahead in the front. Come on in the front really quick. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. They're looking for our names. Thank you so much. Thank you for everything. Thank you. Bye-bye. Council Member Lopez. Jennifer, thank you so very much. Thank you. Bye-bye, sweetie. Okay, now we're on to 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 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 provided as of today by 2.30. We received a total of 15 e-comments, non-agenda topics, six comments, item number 10, one comment, and item number 19, eight comments. 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 that you reside in for the record. When you hear your name, please line up in the center aisle behind the podium. Deborah Vodhanal, Nina Jurek, Kim Fortin.

I'm here from Orange County Center for Contemporary Art.

Can you pull the mic down for me, please, so we can hear you? Thank you. Go ahead.

I'm here from Orange County Center for Contemporary Art with Rob and Rob. We're both on the board members there, and we're here to thank you for giving us money to help support our fall programming. I'll talk about one. The September show is one that I've put together. It's called Four Degrees of Separation. Can I give these to someone to hand out? And this show flips the normal curatorial system on its head. First, we populated the show with artists who are inspired by each other's works. And then we found out what the aesthetic commonality is of the show. As it turned out, I picked two artists. Those two artists picked an artist. Those artists picked an artist. So it was four degrees of separation from the Santa Ana artist. The through line seems to be spiritual reflection intersected with political reality. It's a very exciting show. I hope you can come see it. You helped us with the art shipping. These artists are coming from far away, New York, Texas, Northern California, San Diego. And you also helped us create a brochure that we'll give out for free during the art walk. And now Robin will talk about our October show.

Yes, in October we're having an exhibition called Shaped by Place, and it concerns the issue of how much you are shaped by the environment you're born into or the culture you inherit. We're going to have a... a student from the Orange County School for the Arts that is Tahitian America, as well as we're going to have an artist from Tahiti and an artist from Norway. And we're going to have Tahitian dancers that are from Santa Ana, from a group here. And we hope to have three different workshops that will be free for families and for students. We're going to have Garfield Elementary, as well as guests in the gallery for this exhibition. So we just want to thank you for having funded the type of exhibition that we normally couldn't bring to the community, especially bringing the artists from such faraway places. So thank you very much. Everybody's invited.

Kim Fortin. Oh, I'm sorry. Nina Jurek.

Good evening. My name is Kim Fortune. I'm a professor and researcher at the University of California, Irvine. And since 2022, I've worked with communities in the city's southeastern quadrant to help them characterize the environmental problems they face and to support their vision for environmental justice. And the community's mobilization has seen many successes. Really notably, there are 77 environmental justice policies in the city's general plan update of 2022. It's a huge accomplishment, in part, largely the result of community engagement and community input. Since 2022, the city has been, the communities have been promised that the zoning code update would be the place where those EJ commitments would be realized and made enforceable. We haven't seen that so far. The community has attended public engagement, all the public engagements meetings, there's been no, very little mention of the general plan commitments, much less systematic engagement with it. A draft zoning code was released last night along with maps. As far as we know, there's going to be two more meetings that provide an opportunity for community engagement after waiting on this draft for over a year. And so I just want to close by saying that there are real possibilities that we can learn from other cities to realize those EJ commitments. My research group has documented this and deliberated it with the Cornerstone Neighborhood Association, who you'll hear from shortly. And the community deserves an opportunity to work with the city to understand how those models from other cities can be realized here. It's a real opportunity. Thank you.

Nina Jurek, followed by Yesenia Morojo and Mana Marin.

Good evening, Mayor, council members, city staff. My name is Nina Jurek. I reside in Washington Square, Ward 5. Hello, Councilman. First, I want to thank you. I want to again acknowledge the commitment the city has already made toward creating a park for Washington Square. The funding including in this year's budget was a significant milestone and our neighborhood truly appreciates the work that has brought us this far. However, our work is not finished. The purchase of this property is time sensitive and my neighbors have repeatedly asked where the negotiations currently stand. Has there been progress with the property owner? Are discussions moving forward? Is there anything the residents of Washington Square can do to help? We also know that the funds currently allocated are not enough to complete the purchase. I'd appreciate an update on the city's efforts to secure the additional funding needed. Every month that passes increases the uncertainty and we don't want to lose this once in a generation opportunity. Our neighborhood stands ready to help. We simply need to know how we can be the most effective. And please don't mistake our persistence or impatience. We're invested because we know what this park will mean, not just for Washington Square, but for the future generations of Santa Ana residents. Washington Square has advocated for this park for years because our neighborhood remains one of the most park deficient areas of our city. This is a rare opportunity to preserve open space before it is gone forever. So tonight, I respectfully ask for three things. An update on the status of negotiations with the property owner, an update on efforts to secure the remaining funding needed to purchase the property, and third, guidance on how residents can assist in advocating for those additional funds. Thank you again for the progress that has been made and it has been significant. It's been no small feat by many, many people. We recognize that getting to this point, I just said that taking the efforts of many people, we simply ask that we continue moving forward together so we can cross the finish line and make this park a reality, thank you.

Yesenia Marujo, Mana Marine, Elizabeth Cabanas.

Buenas tardes a todos. Mi nombre es Yesenia Marujo. Soy representante de la asociación del vecindario Cornerstone Village de la ciudad de Santana y exijo justicia en materia de zonificación. He seguido el proceso de actualización del Código de Zonificación de la Ciudad desde que comenzó y hoy quiero expresar mi profunda preocupación por la falta de participación de la comunidad. La semana pasada, en respuesta a un correo electrónico que mandé a City Champion, quien lidera el proceso de actualización del Código de Zonificación de la Ciudad, dijo que la actualización del Código de Zonificación de la Ciudad se finalizará muy rápidamente en los próximos meses. con los planes mínimos para la participación de la comunidad. Hasta ahora, solo nos han informado de dos oportunidades para la participación de la comunidad, el 27 de julio y el 10 de agosto. Esto no es justo. Llevamos esperando ver un borrador de la actualización del código de zonificación desde el menos de septiembre de 2025, cuando se nos permitió un borrador escrito antes de las reuniones de este mes. Este invitamos unirse a nosotros el martes en el ayuntamiento a las 5 p.m. para decidir al ayuntamiento de Santa Ana que queremos justicia urbanística. Y debe haber tiempo para la participación. Solamente quiero comentar que Cornerstone Village y su vecindario, es un vecindario activo y está sólido en la visión del código de zonificación y estamos listos para dar nuestro comentario y se nos haga notar. Muchísimas gracias.

My name is Yesenia Murillo. I'm the representative for the Neighborhood Association of Cornerstone of the City of Santa Ana, and I demand justice in the topic of zoning. I have followed up the process of updating the zoning code in the city ever since it started. I want to express my deep worry of the lack of participation and community engagement last week As an answer to one of my emails that I sent to Siri Champion, who is the person that is leading the update on the zoning code of the city. And she said that the update for the code for the zoning code is almost ready and it's finalized. It should be coming up in the next couple of months. And the plans are minimum. There's no participation from the community. There's no community engagement now. We are just requesting and we're being informed that the opportunities to participate is now on the 27th of July and the 10th of August. That is not just. That is not fair. We have been waiting for a long time for this update, for this information, for the COVID-19. code zoning community at code zoning and Said we've been waiting for this in September of 2025 when that we were promised that we would receive some kind of an update in writing at the last meeting and We have been waiting here since Tuesday and we come here to City Council today at 530 to tell you the city of Santa Ana that we demand justice urban justice and that we require we request and require enough time for community participation this is not the this is this would bring us to have some justice in success and

Buenas tardes a todos. Mi nombre es Maria Marin y represento a la Asociación de Vecinos de Cornerstone, igual que Yesenia Marrujo. Somos una organización activa con una sólida visión comunitaria y estamos listos para aportar comentarios sobre la actualización del código de zonificación, algo que hasta ahora no se nos había permitido. Y desafortunadamente, pues nos están dando muy poco tiempo, como lo mencionó mi compañera, para hacer nuestras aportaciones. uh... cornerstone cmbc algo mejor una consideración especial en la actualización del código de zonificación vivimos junto a la valla de un corredor industrial con una planta industrial a menos de treinta metros de nuestras viviendas de nuestras puertas donde vivimos nuestros hijos van a las escuelas dentro de dicho corredor. Las escuelas están dentro de dicho corredor. Dichas industrias manejan materiales industriales que desafortunadamente afectan en el rubro de la salud. Y nuestros niños, mujeres embarazadas y ancianos es la comunidad más propensa, desafortunadamente más vulnerable. Nos gustaría que pusieran más atención a los reglamentos o regulaciones cuando aprueban la apertura de los negocios y que se respete y pongan la debida atención y que sean conscientes de lo que están aprobando. Desafortunadamente vivimos en una área donde hay muchas industrias y la contaminación ambiental está comprobada que hay químicos que nos afectan. No queremos esperar más de 50 años otra vez para que el código de zonificación se actualice. Nos dan muy poco tiempo para que nuestra comunidad pueda aportar sobre lo que más necesitamos en nuestro vecindario. Ustedes, como nuestros representantes, no sé si realmente conocen nuestros problemas, que desafortunadamente vivimos a diario, porque simplemente ustedes no viven ahí. Tenemos planes para algunos terrenos que colindan con nuestros apartamentos. Sabemos que dicho terreno pertenece al condado, pero nos gustaría y deseamos que lleven a cabo proyectos que beneficien a nuestra comunidad y sobre todo a nuestros niños y jóvenes. Muchas gracias por su atención y esperamos que realmente tomen acción porque sabemos que está en sus manos y que pueden hacer cosas Algo mucho más grande por nuestro vecindario, Cornerstone Village, que desafortunadamente es muy desfavorecido. Muchas gracias.

Good afternoon. I am here just as my partner talking about the community corner village in which we have been promised that there was going to be an update on the zoning commission, that there was going to be some information. There has not been enough engagement. I want to tell you that we live in a corridor where the industry is there being managing material that is very dangerous, is dangerous to our young people, Bear with me one second. With our representatives here, we have been having plans. We have been trying to talk to the city council. We have been waiting for the Corner Store Village. And it's not fair because a lot of these chemicals are dangerous. They're dangerous to the pregnant women, to the young people, to the elderly. And this is a very difficult thing because it's in the same corridor where our children go to school. We cannot imagine how this is going to affect us. You cannot imagine how this is going to affect us, and it's very difficult for us. We are very much in need of some assistance because our neighborhood is a disadvantaged neighborhood, and we have not been giving enough information and enough contribution towards all of this. Thank you.

Next three speakers, Elizabeth Cabanas, followed by Martha Molina and Teodora M.,

Buenas tardes, mi nombre es Elizabeth Cabanas. Estoy aquí porque soy propietaria de una propiedad que está aquí cerca, en la calle Ibanez, y el motivo por el cual estoy recurriendo a ustedes, espero escuchen mi voz, es porque he llamado, buscado ayuda en la policía, en obras públicas, en el departamento de la ciudad, en parking enforcement, y no he recibido la respuesta o el resultado que estoy buscando. Solamente quiero hacer notar que en mi calle, toda la calle desde la Civic Center hasta la Washington, y toda la calle 10 y las calles que cruzan, tienen un anuncio que dice no estacionarse de 2 de la mañana a 6. Es posible porque pase la barredora. Da la gran casualidad que estoy pagando cerca de 14 mil dólares de impuestos y creo que es mi derecho que mi calle permanezca limpia. Pero cuando pase la barredora en mi área, No. No. y la calle permanece completamente sucia todo el tiempo. Anteriormente pasaba diario a la barredora. Ahora pasa creo que una o dos veces por semana. Y creo que pudiera pasar en otras áreas de la ciudad, pero en pleno centro de Santa Ana, a un lado de los edificios federales, creo que no está bien. Les ruego, les suplico, y no sé de qué manera o qué palabras utilizar, porque como les mencioné, no he recibido respuesta de ninguna de esas dependencias. Lo que me han dicho y lo que me ha... . . . . Thank you very much.

Good afternoon. My name is Elizabeth Cabanas. I have a property here on Venice. In the area of the city that I live in, which is Civic Center and the other crossing street, all of the streets near my property, which is on North Venice in Santa Ana, we are having trouble because people are not moving their car. So there is a sign that says that there should be no parking between 2 and 6 a.m. For some reason, maybe because of there's going to be cleaning, there's going to be street cleaning. However, it's not being respected and it's not being enforced. So people from other neighborhoods are coming to my neighborhood to park there and they're not moving their cars. I've called the police department. I've talked to different entities and it doesn't seem like they're able to help me. They've told me that simply they don't have anybody available to give tickets at that time. But they have told me as well that if need be, there is somebody available to give tickets 24 hours a day and that I could check to see if the vehicles are still there, come back, let them know, and they will give them a ticket. But I honestly don't think that that's my job and it's not my responsibility. We used to have our street cleaned once or twice. We used to have our neighborhood cleaned every day, and now it's only coming around once or twice a week. And because the vehicles are there, they're not able to clean the street. The street sweeper is not able to go through. So I've been having to clean the streets on my own, and I honestly don't think that that is my job. And I am asking you, I'm not asking you to tow the vehicles. I'm simply asking you to enforce the sign and give tickets to the vehicles that are not moving. Thank you so much. This is my first time coming to talk to you guys. I hope I used the correct words. Thank you so much.

Martha Molina, followed by Teodora M. and Clemencia Zarco.

Good evening, Madam Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and council members. Thank you so much for item 19. We were not notified about the coordinated reentry center as neighborhoods. And so we were surprised by being invited to a last minute budget meeting at the county. And so all we could do was to try to come up with some way to share that we were very concerned at the fact that we had not been notified. And, you know, we meet with the mayor every month. She has created these monthly meetings with presidents from neighborhoods, so we really appreciate that venue where we're able to, and we're glad you brought this issue to us. Thank you. And the support of Mayor Pro Tempignolosa and Councilman Becerra at meetings with the county and going with us to the county. And I just want to share, and I did send a letter to all of you because all we could do is basically say, you know, go to our neighborhoods and express who was opposed. We have 23 neighborhoods that are opposed to this center. And it's the majority of the neighborhoods that are all active in the city of Santa Ana and under the mayor's leadership. And so, again, we did go to the county. I personally think that we don't have the votes there, so I appreciate the different alternatives that are being discussed today to look at all the different avenues that we need to look at. on this issue. And so I appreciate you bringing that onto the agenda, city manager. We have to do that, unfortunately, because it's only one vote at the county. And again, it was rushed. We were barely afforded the opportunity to speak at the county. It was quite difficult to do that. And so the neighborhoods, just to let you know, it's Floral Park, Morrison Park, West Floral Park, Riverview, Casa de Santiago, Park Santiago, Riverview Glen, Fisher Park, Young Square, Saddleback View, Washington Square, Metro Classic Neighborhood, Bristol Warner, Edna Park, Morning Sunwood, Republic Homes, Meredith Parkwood. Flower Park, Triangle, South Coast Neighborhood, Wilshire Square, Madison Park, and the Zoo District. So we're all opposed to this center. Thank you so much for all your efforts on this.

Teodora M., Clemencia Zarco, and Carl Benninger.

Buenas tardes, mi nombre es Teodora y soy parte de Esperanza Unión de Inquilinos. Lo que hacemos es dar información en ferias de recursos para que los inquilinos sepamos sobre nuestros derechos y venimos para reforzar todo lo que Ciertas personas vienen a decir sobre sus vivienda y en verdad los invitamos a que los concejales juntos caminemos cada distrito para que sepan sobre la situación de vivienda en Santana. También nos gustaría hacer mucho énfasis que cuando un dueño va a rentar su propiedad, entre a la ciudad para revisar que la unidad esté en buenas condiciones y hacer una visita anual porque un inquilino sí o sí sin falta tiene que pagar su renta, sino son echados a la calle sin importar si tienen niños de por medio.

Hola a todos, mi nombre es Itzel y para nosotros estuviéramos como protegiendo la comunidad para como contactar a los todos para que podamos ayudar a la comunidad que sea limpia, que los casas sean limpios y hacerlo lo correcto como ser.

Good afternoon. My name is Isadora. I am here to talk to you about different items and also to support the people that went previously to me in reference to their living situations. And I also wanted to let you know that we facilitate fairs, resource fairs in which we invite people to come in so that they can know their rights. We also like to talk to the city council in reference to possibly maybe having the city come in and review the properties because some of these properties are not being well taken care of. They are not in good condition and it would be great for the city to be able to come in and check them before they are being rent as well as to check them yearly. And also the little girl, her name is Itzel. And she wanted to say that she's very proud of the community and she wants to make sure that everybody gets help so that they can have a clean, they can have a clean, clean house. And that's all.

Clemencia Zarco, followed by Carl Benninger and Desi Reyes.

Buenas noches. Mi nombre es Clemencia Zarco. Y estoy aquí para dar mi testimonio, no solo como residente de Santa Ana, sino como inquilina. En mis apartamentos donde yo vivo por los últimos cinco años, Y siempre hemos pagado la renta a tiempo y cada mes siempre pagando la renta mes con mes. Con tantos cambios de manager por los últimos años, ahora me dicen que debo renta de dos meses del año 2024. Lo cual no entiendo, ya que si debiera desde hace más de dos años, ya me hubieran desalojado. Pero... Al parecer hay varias anomalías en mis apartamentos con los nuevos managers que estamos teniendo. No solo eso, sino también ahora me dicen que les debo de las utilidades que también siempre he estado al corriente. Y hoy también me agregan un adeudo. Estoy aquí para darle a saber a mi concejal, Jonathan Hernandez, que como residente de Santa Ana y del Distrito 5, por favor me ayude y vea qué está pasando en la comunidad. Por falta de información y por nuevos manejadores están en control, se aprovechan de los inquilinos de que no sabemos qué hacer. Le pido por favor que se una a mi situación y encontrar una solución, ya que también estar con esa presión, miedo y represarias que nos quieran desalojar por hablar y decir las injusticias que estamos pasando, mi familia y yo. que con la presión y preocupación de tener a ojos de ellos una deuda de nosotros no tenemos y ellos quieren tomar ventaja. También quiero comentar que las tuberías ya están muy deterioradas y seguido tenemos fugas de agua, que un día se nos cayó el techo de la cocina y aparte del pasillo estaba mucha humedad. Hasta ahora únicamente han puesto unas tablas para cubrir lo que ha pasado. Muchas gracias.

Good afternoon. I am not here only as a Santa Ana resident, but also as a tenant, a tenant that I've been here in the last five years. We have been paying our rent month after month, every single month. And because of changes in management in the apartment building, they are now telling me that I'm two months behind. How can that be? If I was two months behind since 2024, they would have already evicted me. And we don't know why, but there was some anomalies with management. And they're also telling me now that I also owe for services and some other indebtedness that they have me under. And I am here to tell you that Jonathan, my city council member, Jonathan Hernandez, that as a resident of the city of Santa Ana, District 5, please help me. Help me to get through this as I am now struggling with my family. Please, this information is very important because the management doesn't have control of what was happening. There's a lot of differences and I want to let you know to please, my situation is very dire. The solutions that we need at this time, it would be something big. Because as of right now, even the plumbing is very old. It often leaks and is leading to mold in my property, in my apartment. As a matter of fact, we had some of the roof that fell over us in the kitchen and in the hallway. Also, I want to make a comment and to let you know that these things have not been fixed. The mold is still there. And well, this is all of it.

Carl Benninger, Desi Reyes, Victor Mendez.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Carl Benninger from Ward 4. I'm here in support of what you're proposing to do in item 19. It's really sad that a person who sat on this chamber could deny and look the other way. And when we went to the county, I was just amazed of what I heard and what I saw. He didn't come to our defense of Santa Ana. Janet Wynne did and Kathy Foley did. And for Kathy Foley to discover that they already had financed and was looking at a way of taking a loan, that doesn't happen overnight. That means that in advance this was already decided. And Jesse, I hope you do talk about it also because you should have stood up for your ward and for the people in that ward. You know, it may be that this be the best place for it, but if you don't have open discussion, let people know it's coming, then you're keeping them in the dark, exactly what you claim other people do on it. So thank you, Mayor, for bringing this up. Thank you for asking our support. Thank you.

Good afternoon, Mayor, council members, city manager. I'll just make it really brief. I'm here also in support, opposed to the reentry facility. It's not a Backview neighborhood. I mean, I live in Ward 3 also. I just think the way it was done, if it wasn't because the mayor and the city manager blew the whistle on this, nobody knew about it. It was published supposedly in a newspaper, but who reads the paper these days? I don't, I usually read the New York Times, that's pretty much it. But it's really expensive, the register's really expensive right now. But yeah, definitely oppose the reentry, it doesn't belong here, it doesn't belong in a residential neighborhood, it does not belong in Santa Ana. It might be a good facility for the people that get out of jail, but it does not belong in a residential neighborhood, it does not belong in Santa Ana. Thank you very much.

Victor Mendez, followed by Susana Hurtado and Martha Garcia.

Good evening. I just want to begin this by quoting from the Civility Handbook, which is a publication of the Reagan Center on Civility and Democracy. I'm a supporter of the Reagan Center, and I picked this up the other day. It's pretty interesting, actually. Just some remarks. He's talking about humility and the public engagement. Design processes that invite challenge. Just some words for you guys. Model humility and reward curiosity. Publicly credit people whose questions improve outcomes. And the citizens that come here and question you, we're trying to get a better outcome, not to be difficult. Credit them. Create space for dissent. I think we do a pretty good job of that. Anyway, just some words of wisdom. um anyway so i do want to support item 19 uh yes please direct the city manager to look at alternatives and craft an engagement plan for the city um uh you know and um you know one thing i've done though i've identified an alternative site irvine regional park it's not in irvine people are very misunderstanding it it's in orange and there's like a big open space in the corner of that park and i'm being very honest here that's right for this and the whole county will bear the burden and you can create jobs for these these residents there's a lot of things that can happen you know it's patrolled 24 7 by the rangers add another ranger Wagner was asking for where he's going to put it. Well, start with that. It's right on county property. It's open. Who knows what they're using it for? To me, it's just a bunch of dirt and grass. I don't know. But if you're looking for an alternative, there it sits, and it's in an isolated part of the park. Seriously, you put your gate around, people will never know it's there. So I'll pursue that with the city manager and give him more information, but I want to throw that out. Again, Irvine Regional Park in orange, not Irvine. People are scared when they heard the word Irvine. Oh, people are going to come out and protest. Well, yeah, but it's not in Irvine. It's in orange, and it's far away from homes. Anyway, very quickly, on the Measure X, there's no doubt the city's approving deficiencies, and I like what I'm hearing. I'm just arguing for more transparent communications. we got this nice little slick brochure the other day about what's going on and how you're doing good things with taxes and i believe you are i think the city's doing a lot but i think we need something like this to really communicate to the voter what you guys are doing to safeguard the public trust and the dollars that are associated with this extension it would really be helpful so when that voter goes to the poll he's making an important decision this decision is going to cost every resident 275 dollars extra a year I don't have $275 of the means of quality of life for the city. You know, I could vote on it, but help us out. Get some communication on transparency and what you're doing. Thank you.

Susana Hurtado and Martha Garcia.

Buenas tardes, alcaldesa y consejo. Yo soy residente de Santa Ana por 45 años. Estoy aquí esta tarde para levantar mi voz y hablar por mis compañeras de Esperanza Unión de Inquilinos en Santa Ana que viven en el distrito número 2. Las familias se enfrentan condiciones de viviendas inseguras en donde habitan. A pesar de que se pagan rentas muy elevadas, muchos de los residentes siguen viviendo con graves problemas de mantenimiento, incluyendo ratas, cucarachas, moth y otras condiciones que afectan su salud y su calidad de vida diaria. Cuando los residentes reportan algún problema o solicitan una reparación a los managers o dueños de los apartamentos, son ignorados y solo dicen que si no nos gusta o estamos conformes, busquemos otro lugar donde vivir y debido a los requisitos tan exagerados para movernos a otro lugar, . . . . . el pago de una renta mensual alta nos da el derecho a recibir cambio una vivienda digna y segura gracias por su tiempo y escuchar nuestras necesidades como residente de Santa Ana se los agradezco

Good afternoon, Council. I am a resident of Santa Ana for the past 45 years. I am here to raise my voice and also as well as my companions here, the other ladies, the Esperanza, the other companions from Esperanza Union, the residents in Santa Ana, we have been living in District 2. The families and the conditions in which we live in are not very good. It's not habitable. Even though the rents are very, very high, they continue to have major problems of maintenance. There's rats, there's cockroaches, there is humidity and mold. The conditions that we live in is are bad for our health and it's not good for our quality of life. When the residents report any of the problems that we are soliciting repairs for, the managers simply say, well, if you don't like it, you can go live somewhere else and go just find another place to live. But honestly, it's very expensive to move and these conditions are not livable conditions. We are respectfully requesting that the city please help us and please grant us to maybe to have the city check on these properties to make sure that these are good living conditions and that the properties are habitable. We wait and we hope that the apartment complex is able to make some arrangements and to fix some things. We want to work together with the administration to be able to fix all of these violations and make the people that are responsible, which are the owners, We have been negligent and to please go ahead and do the repairs that are necessary. Being that we are paying our monthly rent that is very high, we have the right to have these arrangements and these changes made. Thank you so much for listening. This is a resident from Santa Ana.

Martha? Buenas tardes, mi nombre es Marta Garcia. Vengo a representar y dar el testimonio de una residente del distrito número dos. Viviendo por 23 años en la calle Bishop y entre Shelton y Flower Street, el apartamento está lleno de ratones, tlacuaches, cucarachas y mojo. Mucha basura alrededor del bote principal de basura. El techo del apartamento, totalmente deteriorado. El cin de la cocina y el baño tienen mucha humedad. Las personas que viven en ese edificio no están haciendo comentarios por miedo a la situación de represalias en contra de ellos porque no pueden pagar en otro lado la renta ya que los precios están muy elevados. Su situación médica les está afectando mucho, tanto a ella como a las otras personas que viven en ese edificio. Según los managers, el pedir una reparación, les comentan, si no les parece, dicen, se vayan a vivir a otro lugar, ya que a ella solo le interesa colectar la renta sin importar que la salud está en riesgo y no importándole su propia salud, ya que pareciera ella fuera la dueña del edificio y no tiene ninguna concientización, siendo que ella al igual que nosotros somos inquilinos. Así que esta tarde le pido a mi concejal este Vázquez y al alcalde escuchen mi mensaje y espero no haya represarias por expresar mi consternación y preocupaciones que estoy pasando en mi edificio y que ustedes están para ayudar y a su comunidad, ya que soy parte de ella también. Gracias por su tiempo y consideración.

good afternoon my name is martha garcia i am here representing the testimony of one of the residents of district 2 who have been living there for 23 years off of bishop in shelton and off of howell and the apartment building is deteriorated there's rats there's opossums there's mold there's cockroaches there's a lot of trash outside on the main the main trash can And there has been a lot of humidity and a lot of mold, which is affecting their health and the situation in which she lives in in this building. The manager has we have been requesting repairs to be done, but we are afraid to ask for repairs because they're telling us that If we don't like it, we can just go live somewhere else. And we fear that there is going to be some some some blowback on that. And it's it's risking all of our health. It's very important. It's also her health. The manager, you know, she also lives there. It's also her health. She acts like she's the owner. But honestly, she's. She's just like us. She's just a resident. And this afternoon, I do request my city council, Vasquez, and the mayor to please help us with this situation. Thank you so much for letting me express my frustrations and my worries about my building where I live. And I know that you guys are here to help us and help the community. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Mayor and City Council, that concludes the public speakers that are present. We'll now hear from the Zoom speaker. When unmuted, please announce your name and the ward or neighborhood you reside in within the city for the record. Caller whose number ends in 477, please unmute and make your comments.

Yeah, this is Dale Helvig, 36-year resident of Ward 3. I just wanna thank the county and the city for being proactive on item 10, looking at the RHNA numbers and everything else. Two things I'd like to hope that the city pursues. That is one, ensure that the RHNA numbers meet our needs. In other words, we continue to go in excess of the RHNA numbers. And so we either need to ensure that we only go to RHNA numbers and not exceed it or get credit for it. So when you pursue the changes to this process, it ought to be at least a one-to-one credit for any housing that we develop in excess of the RHNA numbers. If that can't be achieved, then we should freeze any development once the arena numbers are met for that cycle otherwise we're going to be in terrible shape in the years to come so one of those two things meet the arena numbers or get credit for it uh the other item is uh item 19 as other speakers have said i think it's a resolution that needs to be put in place to ensure that the supervisors Take the lead. In other words, Supervisor Sargento takes the lead to support Santa Ana's opposition to the prospect of placing the reentry center in Santa Ana. There are 33 other cities in the county. Let them step up and do their job. Thank you.

Mayor and City Council, that concludes the public speakers this evening.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Mr. City Manager, I believe you'll be making contact with the constituents that came up to talk about the apartment. Is that correct, sir?

Yes. We got the address, and we'll follow up proactively.

This week sometime, please?

Tomorrow.

Great. Thank you so very much. I really appreciate it. At this time, we're going to the consent calendar. Items five through 18 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. At this time, let me go to the items. Councilmember Serra.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'm going to go ahead and abstain on item 12. I abstained on the previously approved density bonus agreement due to a potential financial conflict. So for consistency, I will be abstaining on voting on this item as well. And I'd like to pull items 9 and 15. Thank you. Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'd like to pull item 18, and that'll be it.

Thank you. Council Member Lopez? No items. Thank you. Council Member Vasquez? No items. Thank you. Council Member Fann?

I'd like to recuse myself from item number 14, only regarding the agreement involving Kleinfelder, Inc., as that is a client of my employer, Rattan and Tucker. Thank you. Thank you.

Mayor Pro Tem?

No items to pull, Mayor. I just have some clarifying questions for item 11.

Then you're pulling item 11 for questions? Sure, why not? Okay, perfect. Yes, thank you. I have no items to pull. At this time, I'll make a motion to approve the remainder of the consent calendar.

I'll second, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Councilman Hernandez. Madam Clerk, can we have a roll call, please?

Motion by Mayor Meskwa, seconded by Councilmember Hernandez to approve consent calendar items. Number 5 through 18, with the exceptions of items 9, 11, 15, and 18 that have been pulled for separate discussion and consideration. 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 Mesquite? Yes. So it is seven ayes, no nays, with noted recusals by Councilmember Becerra on item number 12. Councilmember Phan on item number 14. Motion carries.

Thank you. Before we move to the pulled items, Madam Clerk, if the appointed member today is present, I think her name is Jacqueline Guzman. If you'd come up, please to take your oath. And then we'll go to the other items that were pulled. Thank you.

I, Jacqueline Guzman, 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 and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter. Thank you. All right.

All right, Madam Clerk, go ahead with the items. Yes, the first item pulled is item number nine, pulled by Council Member Becerra. Council Member Becerra, go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, and I want to thank the folks that came out tonight to speak about the upcoming zoning code update. I wish they hadn't left, because what I was going to ask staff to do is actually give your presentation on this item. I know it was just a receive and file, but I think it's important for not only the Council, but for the entire community to know the outreach that's going on. I've looked at it, I understand it, but I just want to make sure that everybody hears it because I think there's a lot of work that went into this. And before the presentation begins, I just want to emphasize that I know some folks brought up concerns about environmental justice. The general plan was adopted with the unanimous vote, and one of the biggest, I guess, talked about topics when it came to the general plan amendment approval was environmental justice. And I know that I personally added a couple of amendments that I thought would strengthen the environmental justice aspect of our general plan update. And so I appreciate the folks coming out and reiterating that and making sure that we don't lose sight of the environmental justice aspects in the zoning code. And I think one person very accurately said that the zoning code is meant to be how we enact the aspirational goals of the general plan. And so I'm looking forward to seeing what eventually comes before this council, but I know that the community has had quite a bit of preview and outreach. So I'd like to hear the report on what you guys have done so far.

Yes, thank you, Council Member Becerra. We're gonna have our Director of Planning and Building do a brief presentation. And you said it correctly, one of the reasons why we're doing it this way, presenting as a receiving file or a formal presentation as a draft at the City Council is to ensure that everybody in the city knows. and as you well know if we would pass ordinances legislative actions in this body this is one of the reasons we're bringing this draft to ensure that everybody in the public is aware and it's just this is very distinctive of other items we brought but this ensures our public uh another uh example of us trying to outreach publicly

Thank you, Councilmember. There appears to have been a glitch with uploading the PowerPoint, so I'll give a verbal description and presentation for the benefit of the City Council. So firstly, as Councilmember Becerra shared, the purpose of the zoning code update is to take the broad policies of the general plan and those that apply to land use and zoning, make them into ordinance. The City Council already got a head start on that in many ways by, for example, adopting the noxious uses ordinance in 2012 and then updating the transit zoning code for the first time in 157 years of the city's history to remove the industrial uses from the Logan and Lacey neighborhoods. So there's already been steps taken to advance environmental justice topics at an ordinance level. uh the purpose of the zoning code is to streamline it make it easier for small businesses for residents and also to address for the first time in the city's history that interface that exists between industrial and residential land uses we are one of a handful of cities in the region where people's backyards abut industrial uses and for the first time in the city's history the draft zoning code will have standards that address that interface and obviously that'll get presented in more detail to planning commission and city council in the months ahead As someone who's worked for the city for 15 years, I can share there were plenty of instances where the code was weak and we had to say yes to something that we knew we should have said no to. That's been a longstanding issue in this city's history. But there were also plenty of times as someone who worked the counter for many years that I can say there were plenty of times where we had to say no and we should have been saying yes. for small businesses, for creative businesses, for someone trying to add a bedroom to their house to let their student moving home from college have a place to live for a bit. So I wanna touch on the engagement and outreach that's taken place. So as a framework for the city council, the state's requirement for a project of this magnitude is a one-eighth advertisement, one-eighth page advertisement in a newspaper. We don't have to go out and talk to the community. Jennifer's smiling at me. We don't have to go talk to the community. We don't have to have meetings. It's good practice. But the law says one-eighth page newspaper posting. That is not the city's ethos. We have the Sunshine Ordinance. We have a culture of transparency and community engagement. So we can confirm that for this zoning code update, we've had at least 800,000 touch points of information that have gone out to the community. What is a touch point? It's a confirmed instance that information has reached someone, whether it was a small business owner or a resident or a visitor or someone else who's a stakeholder in the community. Now whether they chose to receive it and respond to the city is beyond the city's control, but 800,000 touch points for this effort. That's an incredible feat that I don't think we've ever succeeded in accomplishing in the city's history. In fact, the outreach strategy was co-crafted by residents and small business owners of this community. And I'll get into those details with the council when we bring forward the item. But it is detailed in the staff report as well, that basically from the onset, rather than the traditional process of going out and saying, yeah, staff says we should do six workshops and then go to planning commission, we invited members of the community, comm link, residents, small business owners, big business owners, to come to the table and say, how can we get the message out? And that's how we've gotten to that 800,000 touchpoints success strategy. We wouldn't have gotten there had we not co-crafted that outreach model. Just to walk through, obviously, as leader of the Planning and Building Agency, I take the statements that were made in the audience very seriously, but I can also confirm that some of the folks that came up and spoke have been contacted. They have been part of specific meetings that we've had with Cornerstone Village, as well as the workshops. The UCI professors have actually attended the zoning code workshops and met directly with myself and staff. to learn about the process and learn about the ej topics and learn about why the industrial residential interface can be problematic and what we could do for the first time in the city's history to address it so um beyond that again through your general plan there's the environmental justice uh action committee that was formed right after 22 2020 2022's adoption of the general plan There's been direction provided by our city manager to meet with every known environmental justice advocacy group in the county and in the city, and we have. We've also, sorry, I have a laundry list here. Like I said, the framework for outreach included those resident and small business stakeholder groups. as well as meeting with Cornerstone Village, like I mentioned, and many other accomplishments, like I said, having these topics for the first time in the city's history addressed through the draft zoning regulations. So where we go from here, study sessions at the Planning Commission, those are open to the public. For a project of this size, we're gonna do two study sessions, and we'll have a study session with city council, and of course, adoption hearings, and anyone who still has questions about this topic, or wants to know more about the zoning code, we will happily meet with them for a one-on-one, as well as a group meeting, because that's simply our jobs. So I hope that answers your question.

Ali, thank you for that. And I'm glad some of the folks came back in. I hope you heard Ali as he talked about some of the outreach that we've done. I would encourage you guys to definitely come to those study sessions. And I appreciate that, Ali, because something of this magnitude should not just come straight to commission and council. There definitely needs to be more public vetting in an arena like this. So thank you for doing that. And I would also ask any of you if you want to talk to any of us, please talk to our staff, schedule meetings with us, reach out to us directly. I'd be happy to hear your concerns. I know a lot of folks that had expressed concerns about EJ in the past have met with me, and that was what helped me formulate some of my proposals that made it into the general plan update. So I appreciate you coming out tonight, and Ali, thank you for giving us that update. Thank you.

Ali, you may want to stay. I see Councilmember Lopez and Mayor Pro Tem looks like he has

Yes, first and foremost, you're a great director, Ali. Thank you. Congratulations, really, to the agency. And I Thank you. y como escucharon están más invitados de mandarlos un correo si quieren sentarse y platicar específicamente de cosas que quieren mirar cuando estamos marchando para traer este plan que es muy importante como entendemos para implementarlo en la comunidad. Esta nada más es la primera acción de recibir la información que el personal ha colectado, pero no significa que estamos diciendo sí, lo aceptamos y lo vamos a implementar. Van a haber más oportunidades, pero muchas gracias por venir.

Great, thank you, Ali. It looks like we're good. We really appreciate it. And when you said 800,000 touch points, that's the first time I believe in the city's history. So we really appreciate all of your hard work. And thank you, Mr. City Manager, for clarifying things.

Mayor, do we need to move the item or is it just receiving file?

Yeah, it's receiving file. We could move the item, though, because it wasn't included in the vote on the consent calendar.

Yeah, so moved.

Second. Is there a prayer to vote? Motion by Councilmember Becerra, seconded by Mayor Mezcua, to receive and file the comprehensive zoning code update, public communications and engagement. Councilmember Becerra?

Yes.

Councilmember Hernandez? Yes. Councilmember Lopez? Yes. Councilmember Phan? Yes. Councilmember Vasquez?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tempagnoloza?

Yes.

Mayor Mezcua? Yes. Vote is seven ayes, no nays, motion carries. The next item that's been pulled is item number 11, pulled by Mayor Pro Tempagnoloza. Go ahead, Mayor Pro Temp.

Thank you, Mayor. I want to thank city staff for this. While I'm overall supportive of the item, I just wanted, same questions that I had previously. I know that I did bring it up when we first had a discussion about expanding this to other artists within the city, not just the two that had been identified at the time. So I wanted to just ask staff if there was plans to, and from what I recall, there was some of a consensus up here to go down that path, but now staff has presented just the two artists like originally discussed. So I want to make sure if there was anything lost in translation or if there was Staff just preferred to go with the two. And I just wanna be mindful as a city that we're not setting precedent of just where the city council selects individual artists and not expand this general policy across the board to every artist in the city that might have a significant mural within our borders. Should there be, you know, an objective citywide preservation program, not just specifically tied to two artists is the question.

So I'll take it early. So the quick question is, yes. So because this item was very specific to two artists, key artists. Again, no disrespect for any other artists in the city, but they're very specific as far as what this kind of plan required. As you may recall, maybe a month or two months, we did adopt the first citywide. Right. Right. So we're working that process so we can ensure that we have a more comprehensive description of all the artists in the murals within the City of Santa Ana. We did contract out with the City Public Works Agency, so we do have information regarding that aspect, so we are looking to be more expansive in that policy, yes.

Okay, and so from what, I mean, I understand that this council request that I'm with specific to the two artists, but when the discussion happened, as it's been done in the past, once the council direction happens and the conversation discussion up here happens, that item, when it comes back at whatever date we set, becomes whatever the council discussed at that time, not necessarily specific to the council requested items. So is that something that we're not following anymore?

No, I think we're being consistent. So the reality is do I get a consensus? So you're right, there was a commentary, I don't know if everybody, more or less said the same thing, Councilmember. So we're not being inconsistent in our practice. We're very specific to those we identified specifically within this area. And so we are looking at the other artists within the whole city component. That's the key objective, right? So I think we're saying the same thing. It just may have not been as clear in this document. So we can expand on that if you want to continue and be back in two weeks and add that.

That'd be great. I think we should definitely focus on all of them. The other thing, just a quick point of clarification for myself, as far as the murals within private properties, specifically, for example, in the exhibit, the El Tapatio restaurant on Pomona Street. Inside. What is the plan there? I mean, does the city staff have a plan? I mean, I don't want to see... US FORCING A PRIVATE PROPERTY OR USING TAXPAYER DOLLARS TO INVEST INTO A PRIVATE PROPERTY THAT MIGHT INCREASE THE PROPERTY VALUE OF A PROPERTY WHEN OTHER PROPERTIES AROUND THE CITY AREN'T GETTING THAT SAME TREATMENT OR I SHOULD SAY LEVEL OF INVESTMENT. IS THERE A PLAN WHEN IT COMES TO THESE PRIVATE PROPERTIES?

Yes, thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. So when it comes to private properties that contain potentially significant resources or eligible resources for listing, first and foremost, to respect property rights, staff would engage with those private property owners to make sure they're aware that they may have this resource on their property. And then to inform them of the city's preservation program, as you mentioned earlier, sort of what options exist for listing, invite them. They could proactively at any time apply to list their murals or their other objects on the properties. But as part of this sort of direction for staff, it was to return with a plan to list these known murals. Before we would even get there, though, first there's a step of identifying, for example, what's the quality? What's the current condition? Has it been modified? Is there a story behind it that kind of lends itself to reaching that threshold for is it even eligible for preservation? A mural may have been originally painted but then modified so many times that it lost its original value beyond repair and restoration. So if it does meet that threshold, then the property owner still has the right to be a part of that process. So it's not an automatic listing. They've become part of the process and if the city still decides to move forward with a proactive listing of their resource, then they are notified. It's good practice to have them be on board, but they are notified and they're given that due process right through the public hearing and through the planning commission to voice whether they support or oppose the action. And then if they are unhappy with the outcome one way or another, they have appeal rights to this body.

Beautiful to hear. Thank you so much, Ali. Thank you, City Manager, for this.

But just to clarify, Councilmember, especially because you mentioned a very specific property. And so the idea, the source of distinction when we talk about private property, the difference between from the public view.

Well, I didn't mention it. It was listed in the staff report.

Right. But you highlighted it in the discussion. Okay. Therefore, I'm bringing it up. So there's a big distinction between outside of the property and inside the property, right? And that's what the director is talking about, right? It's a different application. It's still something we have to review and we have to be very careful because, like you said yourself, there's an enhancement opportunity and those are the property rights within the actual property, within the actual structure, and also being careful and mindful of the artists also.

Awesome, well thank you so much. Again, I'm happy to approve and make a motion to approve the item. I just wanted clarifying questions on that. I definitely am not a fan of seeing items before us that are specific to one person when there is an overarching topic here that we could address. But I'm happy that it's being done, so thank you, Ali, and thank you, City Manager.

Council Member Lopez, you have your make up. Thank you, yeah, I'd love to second that. And you know, I wanna, I think bank staff, because you identified 12 properties, right, from two individuals. And that's a really, I think, healthy number that we're seeking to preserve and protect. not just for people now that appreciate public art in our city, but future generations. And I think that it's really imperative that the city is proud that we host some of the biggest, largest concentrations of chicano public art in southern california it's what i think draws people when we talk about tourism and bringing people into our city it's one of those uh points that people come into the city to specifically look for um and so again thank you for identifying the 12 properties uh known by vasquez and uh seven by okadis um with several already um extended and accessible for evaluation and i also just want to thank you for reaching out to the families It really shows, I think, the care and the thought that is being put into this request that the council ultimately supported and moved forward. And you know, I think that also What I would love to see, what I would love to have my colleagues support is the prioritization of Chicano Gothic at Memorial Park and the concrete relief mural here at City Hall. And so those were named in my original request, of course, members of this council can say no, but that's really what, That was, I think, the heart of my council member requested item. And I would love to see those move first. I believe that the community would also be extremely supportive of this action. And again, I look forward to the feedback and the progress that city staff is going to make. And I want to thank all of my colleagues for helping me advance this item. Thank you.

There's a motion and a second, Madam Clerk?

Motion by Mayor Pro Tempagnolosa, seconded by Council Member Lopez, to approve the recommended action received and file the report for item number 11. Council Member Becerra?

Yes.

Council Member Hernandez?

Yes.

Council Member Lopez? Yes. Council Member Phan? Yes. Council Member Vasquez?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tempagnolosa?

Yes.

Mayor Miswa? Yes. Vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries. The next item pulled is item 15, pulled by Council Member Becerra.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. So this item is to approve a designated subrecipient agreement with Caltrans to receive the raised grant funds for the Santa Ana Boulevard grade separation project. So back in April 2024, I flew to Washington, D.C., and I had the opportunity to meet with various federal government officials, including senior officials with the United States Department of Transportation and members of Senator Alex Padilla's office. And in those meetings, I discussed with them our city's funding priorities. The Santa Ana Boulevard grade separation was at the top of that list. So in June 2024, our city was awarded $25 million through DOT's RAISE grant program. And then our council approved the grant agreement just a few months ago back in May. So I'm looking forward to approving the designated subrecipient agreement so that our public works team can access that $25 million in RAISE grant funding and proceed with the construction activities that are needed for the Santa Ana Boulevard grade separation project. BEFORE I MOVE THE ITEM, THOUGH, I DO WANT TO THANK OUR LOBBYISTS IN D.C., LESLIE POLNER AND HER TEAM. THEY DID AN AMAZING JOB PUTTING ME IN FRONT OF THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO MAKE OUR CITY'S CASE FOR THOSE FUNDS. THEY DID AN AMAZING JOB. THANKFULLY WITH A LITTLE CONVINCING, NOW WE'VE GOT $25 MILLION FOR RUDY TO GET A GRADE SEPARATION DONE, ALTHOUGH I DO KNOW IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN $25 MILLION FOR THE TOTAL PROJECT, BUT IT GOES A LONG WAY TOWARDS IT. SO WITH THAT, I AM HAPPY TO MOVE THE ITEM.

I'll second the motion.

Mr. Prater, vote please. Motion by Councilmember Becerra, seconded by Councilmember Hernandez to approve the recommended action for item number 15, the designated subrecipient agreement with California Department of Transportation to receive raised grant funds for the Santa Ana Boulevard Grade Separation Project. Councilmember Becerra?

Yes.

Councilmember Hernandez? Yes. Council Member Lopez? Yes. Council Member Pham?

Yes.

Council Member Vasquez?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tempino-Losa? Yes. Mayor Meswa? Yes. Vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries. The next item pulled is item 18, pulled by Council Member Hernandez. Council Member Hernandez, it's all yours.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I wanted to pull this item for discussion because when we adopted the annual military equipment back in May of 2022, I brought up some strong concerns that I felt we would see in the city. What we saw continue shortly thereafter when we adopted this equipment was a city that struggled to be in compliance with AB 481. It wasn't until we saw protesters shot due to the ICE raids in front of City Hall that led our city to eventually ensure that the city and our police department was in compliance with Assembly Bill 481. But what we did see that day was rather shocking. This equipment that we obtained was first obtained through a partnership through OWASI, the Urban Area Security Initiative. At the time in 2021, Santa Ana PD did not have a militarized police department. And on September 28th of 2021, my cousin Brandon Lopez was shot and killed by four Anaheim Police Department officers. You may ask yourself, how did Anaheim show up? Santa Ana PD did not have the military equipment, so they called Anaheim. Anaheim PD shows up and they arrive with a Bearcat, commonly known as what we see as a SWAT vehicle. They used a concussion grenade to break a window of Brandon Lopez to force him out of the vehicle. They used tear gas in the vehicle to ensure that this individual is unable to breathe. The concussion grenade stuns any individual who comes into contact with that. Subsequently, he was shot 22 times by four different Anaheim Police Department officers. I was there for over several hours. I saw this scene become more violent when police arrived on scene. When Anaheim PD arrived on scene, it looked like a death march. They arrived with SWAT vehicles, with a fire truck and an ambulance with no emergency lights on. And within minutes, my loved one was killed. In May of 2022, when this item was brought to the council, I challenged it. And I challenged it because I had very serious concerns that when it comes to law enforcement and the use of military equipment, we as a city have to prioritize rebuilding community trust. We have to prioritize de-escalation. We have to prioritize reducing police violence while keeping our community and our officers safe. I'm worried that the data that is in front of us shows us that since May 1st, 2025 to April 30th, 2026, there was a total of 36 incidents where military equipment was deployed. 21 incidents involving SWAT team activation. Police Chief Rodriguez, could you clarify with me on the data that is being presented to us today? How many of these incidents focused on protesters as the individuals who were on the receiving end of some of this military equipment?

Yes, thank you, Council Member, for the question. So out of all the incidents for this reporting year, only seven incidents were due to civil unrest.

Thank you for that clarification, Chief Rodriguez. Of those seven incidents, how many 40-millimeter projectiles were shot in those seven incidents?

I don't have those exact numbers with me, but those were reported under the AB of 481 reports.

Okay. That's pertinent information. Do you have an idea as to... When we do have these calls that there's, for instance, the ICE raids, the protests, what was the legal threshold for Santa Ana PD to decide we need to use military equipment at this point? I'm just interested, and I think the public is interested in learning that. Could you tell us a little bit more as to how Santa Ana PD decides when to utilize military equipment?

Yes, it's based on several factors. Obviously, if there's any direct threats to public safety, to protect other community members or whatnot, but there's got to be a specific threat. It can't be used just indiscriminately. There's got to be a specific individual that we are addressing or group after certain things. things are put in place such as a dispersal order and whatnot.

Thank you, Chief Rodriguez. Since we've adopted this equipment, is the City of Santa Ana in any litigation due to any potential misuse of the equipment?

For this reporting year, there is one, I understand there is one pending litigation case.

Thank you, Chief. The reason I ask these questions for members of the public is because Santa Ana PD is is a part of the city of Santa Ana. It's a police department that serves the public. And right now, our community is in a very dire place where we are seeing immigrants attacked daily. And in very extreme cases, we see them being killed by ICE. In our city, we want a police department that mirrors community rather than mirroring something that is clearly viewing us as the enemy. We don't want police officers to show up to our backyard as if we are subjects that need to be shot at, neutralized, and in very extreme cases, we see people lose their life. Where my concerns come from today is the fact that there is already litigation that the city is in related to this usage of equipment. I want us to focus on repairing community trust, given that last year, from December 2024 to January 1st, 2025, we had an officer that was involved in two shootings in the span of 30 days. This year today, in the last 90 days, we had a 18-year-old young boy who was shot in front of his one-year-old daughter and his baby mama, his wife. Less than a month ago, we had a 15-year-old, Jada Machaka, who was shot and killed in front of his mother in his home. These are my constituents that you guys are supposed to protect. These are our constituents that each of us are supposed to protect. San An is not a battlefield. And so because of those reasons, and because of the studies that suggest that acquiring and deploying military equipment does not decrease local crime rates, but as a matter of fact, It correlates with a higher number of civilian deaths. Because of that concern, Chief, I can't support this item today, and I'll put a motion on the floor to not approve the city's militarized equipment. And that'll conclude my comments. Thank you, Chief.

Thank you, Councilman Hernandez. I'll second that motion. I'm going to make a motion to move the item, except for I have some comments and questions. Go ahead, Madam Clerk. I'm gonna make a motion to remove the item to approve it, but I have some questions and comments for the police department.

And I'll second that.

Thank you, Councilman Becerra. So there's a motion and a sub-motion.

Yes, so did you want to ask your questions?

Yeah, let me ask my questions before we go. Okay, so Chief, how long have you been the Chief, sir?

Appointed in December of 2024, so about a year and a half.

So when you became the Chief, Was one of the first things that you did was find that this report had not been filed prior to you becoming the chief?

That's correct.

And so how long did it take you when you were the interim chief or you were put in this position that you moved this annual military equipment use report forward?

I remember a day after my appointment is when I moved it forward.

So just for clarification purposes, again, as we like to say up here, so people watching and listening. So you were appointed the chief. a day later, is that what you just said? You noticed that this was not done, and you directed your staff to conduct the annual military equipment use?

That's correct.

Okay, and then we did, you did one report, correct?

Yes.

And then the council gave you some direction, you know, do it in the community at a time where community members can attend, provide coffee, whatnot, whatnot, and that did occur, is that correct?

Yes, it did.

And how many people do you know roughly attended, or if there's a commander here that can answer that question? Commander Sorensen, please.

Commander Sorensen.

Thank you, sir, for coming up. Commander Sorensen, you did a community meeting, is that correct? Yes, ma'am. Thank you, sir. And how many people attended?

15 to 20. I didn't take an exact number.

And what time, sir, did you have this meeting, and what did you provide at the meeting?

It was 6 o'clock, and we did it at the Southwest Senior Center.

6 p.m. and you did it at the South Coast Community Senior Center?

Yes.

And did the police department put this out publicly to notify the community?

Yes. Okay, thank you.

So I don't know if you want to stay there. So, Chief, there was a comment about Anaheim PD so that we can possibly educate the community and the council. If another agency comes into our city, let me just start over. Commander Hernandez, with no disrespect, my condolences to the family. When the call came out from Anaheim PD, was it their case initially? Was it their call?

Yes.

Did Santa Ana PD receive a call from Anaheim PD to assist?

I can't remember the details of how we were informed. I was actually out of pocket or out of the city that day. But I do understand that it did start with Anaheim PD. They came into our city. There was a request for assistance. I don't know if it was a phone call or, you know, through radio. or if it was communicated via the police radio, and that's how SAN and PD get involved. I know since they were the lead agency, they had, in essence, the lead, and they wanted to continue to address the situation. But we did have the same equipment they had.

You had the exact same equipment. So that was going to be my next question. So we did have the equipment at that time?

Yes.

Okay.

So Madam City Attorney, if I step out, please wave at me and pull the red card. Okay. So, yeah, pull the red card like soccer. That's the only thing I know about soccer. Okay. So, okay, so Anaheim comes in, I just want to clarify things, because this item is not about that situation, but because sometimes things are set up here and they're inaccurate, and it makes our police department look bad, and whether it's our police department, our parks, our public works, our city manager, any of our staff, I try to clarify it. So, Anaheim PD came into our city, and then Santa Ana PD assisted, as requested, is that correct?

Yeah, so we initially had the incident contained and then waited for Anaheim to arrive, and then they took over the incident as they were the lead agency, and then we stayed on the perimeter.

Okay, so I'm going to stop there because I'm, Madam City Attorney, are we still in litigation, ma'am? I don't want to go any further with litigation.

No, and I think it's important to note that the city, litigation against the city was successfully resolved with a complete defense. We were not held liable for that. I do understand that there was a settlement with the city of Anaheim, if I recall correctly.

So let me repeat what you said right now, and correct me if I'm wrong, because I want to make sure that everybody can hear it. So there was litigation, but the city of Santa Ana was not held responsible at any time. It was the city of Anaheim, is that correct? And that would happen because the city of Santa Ana did not do anything that they found us guilty of, is that correct? Correct. Okay, so I just want to clarify that. All right, so that's it on that issue. Let me go back to the military report. So, Mr. City Manager, you always answer this question when I ask. Couple years ago, how many officer-involved shootings did we have on a regular? Double digits, correct? No, no, you're 13, but before we've had like 13, 14. Last year we had two?

Homicides or officer-involved shootings? Officer-involved shooting. I think we were averaging for the last five years, and if you can correct me, two a year.

Yes, we've been averaging about two a year. I think probably previous five years, we were having about 10 or so. Not all of them. Some of them did include dogs.

Dogs. He said that like dogs. You don't want to say that. Okay. So five years ago, we were in, we're at 10.

Correct.

and now we're at two a year. And two too many, right? I agree, two too many, but we're at two. Any loss of life is definitely sad, but we're at two. So Commander Sorensen, this military equipment that you provided the report on, and thank you so much, and Chief, I don't know if you wanna answer, or is Commander Sorensen up here? So what I see here, it says that you had 36 incidents that you had to deploy, 36 different incidents. And then also you were at 11 community events. So 21 of those 36 incidents were, they involved SWAT, is that accurate?

That's correct.

And why would SWAT use this military equipment, sir?

We use the equipment for protection. It allows us to get closer to where we can communicate with subjects inside. Ideally, everything we get to as far as the SWAT team going, we want it to resolve with nobody getting hurt, to include the suspect we're dealing with. I'm happy to say over the past 23 years that I've been on the SWAT team, we've only had one officer-involved shooting involving the SWAT team and the military equipment that we've had since the inception of the SWAT team, quite frankly.

And you've been part of SWAT how long, sir?

23 years.

And you've had one incident?

Correct.

That's correct. Okay. So I'm going to ask for an example. So I remember reading something that was sent to the council, to myself and the council, about there was a call out and you guys spent several hours trying to get the person out without... shooting, harming, protecting the community, and protecting officers, is that correct?

That's correct. Depending on which situation you're talking about.

Well, we've had many. We've had many, so I'm going to just use this as an example. So do you deploy the military equipment just in case?

Yes.

Depending on the circumstances.

Depending on the circumstances will depend on what equipment gets rolled to a specific call-out.

So you used an example in here that during an incident, the suspects were believed to be either armed or in a position of tactical advantage or both. And when you use this military equipment in a situation like that, it is once again, I wanna be really clear and tell me if I'm wrong, it is to protect the community and the officers, is that correct?

That's correct.

And how does it do that, sir? And I sound very basic because I want people to understand that are watching because sometimes they hear things or they read on social media, they get that 30-second clip like, oh, my God, Santa and PD is using military equipment. And no, there's no war on the streets. Crime has decreased, I believe, Chief. You reported in our city we have had a decrease in crime. Is that correct?

That was correct, yes.

Yeah, and you know, so I just want to be clear on that. So sir, if you can just use that example. They're believed to be either armed or in a position of tactical advantage or both. So what would you do, sir, hypothetically?

So I think I understand your question, but ideally what happens is we roll out there. One of our biggest pieces of equipment is the armored vehicles, and that provides obviously the most amount of protection ballistically. So when we roll out to a call where we suspect that somebody's armed or there's reason to believe that they're armed, the armor, for lack of a better term, is going out there. What that allows us to do is get closer spend a little bit more time trying to talk with the suspect, gain some kind of communication, insert some technology into the structure because we're doing it from behind the protection. A classic example of where the armor was critical was our call out that we had on E 17th Street where we spent 11 hours negotiating with the suspect. had we not been able to get close enough within the armored vehicles to have that conversation and deliver the phones and things like that use the robots to deliver to deliver the phones have the drones overhead so we could see from the command post what was going on the decision making is inhibited at that point because we don't have that real-time view the situational awareness that is a great example and that's actually something that happened in our city you said on east 11th street for 11 hours

11 hours our police department was out there, is that correct?

That's correct, on 17th Street.

On 17th Street, for 11 hours?

Yes, ma'am.

So all the officers that went out there, they stayed out there for 11 hours?

Some, probably a little bit more. 11 hours that the SWAT team was there, so that usually takes about an hour for us to get there.

And there were officers there before SWAT arrived?

Correct.

Okay. So I'm not going to carry this on, but I'm saying this for a reason. So you mentioned drones, robots, phones, and the 11 hours that the officers spent negotiating with this person.

Correct.

And you did that so that you would not have to engage. Is that correct?

Correct.

And was anybody shot, sir?

No.

Was he or she arrested?

Yes.

Successfully?

Yes.

Was any community member hurt?

No.

Okay, so the reason, and thank you. I don't know if anybody else has questions for Commander, you can stay here, but the reason I ask these questions is because this is a report, yes, that is required under AB 481, is that correct, Chief?

Yes.

And Commander Sorensen, why do we do this report?

It's to provide greater transparency about how we use military equipment within the city of Santa Ana.

Okay, so we're providing transparency, which is what our community asks for. And I just have to say, you know, oh, I have one other question, because I see fire in here. So, yes, hello. So if fire gets called and it's a dangerous situation, for example, do you have to go in and clear for it, make sure it's safe before they enter?

Yes.

I'm sorry?

Yes.

Yes, you do. Yeah, I didn't have a question for you, sir. I just wanted to clarify something. So yes, you do, right?

Yes.

So not only do you protect the community, our constituents, businesses, all of us sitting up here, our families, but if fire goes to a call, our amazing fire department, if they go to a call and it's deemed unsafe, Santa Ana Police Department has to go in and make sure that they can enter safely. Is that correct?

That's correct.

And you do that on a regular basis? daily great thank you so chief thank you for this report and i want to just really say again that it's very sad what happened with anaheim police department um but that is not our legacy um you know I have coffees with the mayor every single month. I have the city manager, I have the executive directors, I have the police department, I have the fire department come out, and the two most popular people, besides Rudy, is, so then we'll say three, the three most popular people are fire, police, and Rudy. Because Rudy, they want him to fix their potholes and sidewalks, whatnot, and cut their trees. But police, chief, you're always there, and you're deputy chiefs. And our fire department, Orange County, well, I say our fire department, Orange County Fire is always there. And why are you the most popular? Because I think sometimes up here, maybe things are said that, oh, police is the boogeyman. When in reality, and we're off the topic of military, but I want to be really clear, but in reality, whether it's Rudy with his department or any other department in the city, police, and even fire as a county partner, our community wants that. And so I say that all the time because I've been having coffee with the mayor for four years since I've been sitting up here, and I see some heads of our neighborhood leaders saying yes. Our community has asked, when I have neighborhood leader meetings every single month, who's the most popular in the room? The police department. because our community wants them to respond. They want them to be out there. The majority of them are pleased that there are drones, a very large majority. So there's a quiet, there's a small group that comes here that's super loud, and then there's the large, quiet majority out in the community who says thank you every single day. So I really want to thank you, Chief, for doing this military equipment report. And again, when you became the Chief, You had to clean up what was, and I'm gonna use that term, you had to clean up what was left for you. Because this report was not done before you came on at the time it was supposed to be done. But you immediately made sure it was done. And the first time you did it, we asked you to make some changes, and you did. So Commander Sorensen, thank you so very much. And so the next time you do it, hopefully there'll be more than 15, 20 people there, and you provide good coffee and donuts, or I don't know, or something, but to attract more people. So Chief, I just want to say thank you, and do I want to see... rolling down the street every day? No, I do not. I mean, no, I don't. But when we need them, your example of 11 hours, my goodness. My hat's off to you because I'm sure you were there. I don't know if fire was on standby. They were on standby for 11 hours. You were there, Chief. There's a command center. And then people say, oh, overtime. Well, yes, because for 11 hours, instead of engaging and possibly terminating somebody's life, you were actually able to get this person out. And nobody in the community was injured, is that correct, Chief?

That's correct.

Okay, so this item is about the annual military equipment use, and this is what the report is. And it's been done on time, is that correct, Manager Sorensen? And it's been reported accurately? Yes, ma'am. And so it was given to the Council?

Yes.

And Mr. City Manager, it was in our agenda review, is that correct?

Yes.

And everybody who did a gender review had an opportunity to read it and review it and ask you questions and then up here they'll ask questions as well, is that correct?

Yes, with our assistant city managers. And I think we also presented it before the Police Oversight Commission also for review, correct?

The military equipment policy was presented to the Police Oversight Commission and we made some amendments based off of their recommendations.

I'm sorry, can you say that louder?

The policy 707, which is the military equipment policy, was the director of the Police Oversight Commission made some modifications. We accepted those modifications and updated our policy.

And that's what this council wanted, correct? That's what we voted for. So thank you so very much, Commander Sorensen, Mr. City Manager-in-Chief. Thank you for doing that. So, Councillor Becerra, you have questions, comments?

No, well actually I'll just say this. In looking at the staff report, one statement stuck out to me. It says, each of the 36 field deployments involved incidents where the defined equipment provided the community and our officers with a higher level of safety than would have been possible had the equipment not been utilized. I mean, let's be real, none of us want to see, we love our police, but we don't want to see them deployed. I don't want to look on social media and see a bunch of our officers having to address a situation in our downtown or along one of our major corridors. But when that happens, and I read a statement like this that says, you guys have the equipment necessary to keep our community and yourselves safe. That's important. And there's not a lot of things these days that I agree with the state on when there's these mandates, right? But I do appreciate this mandate to provide transparency to our community about the equipment we have. The community now knows, and PD, and I want to say thank you, Chief, and thank you, Commander Sorensen. You guys have taken that show on the road. You've gone out. You've let people know what's going on. As you just mentioned, you've taken in the input as far as how this policy could be crafted. So I thank you for it. I don't think there's any... Anybody seriously should want to see this go away, right? First of all, this is a state-mandated action to provide this report and adopt it, or adopt the policy. So I appreciate all the comments up here, but I feel like we're ready to move this item. So Madam Mayor, I again support your sub-motion.

Thank you. Council Member Lopez. Yes.

Thank you. I just wanted to start with where we've been. You know, last year, very different position, right? Because we were two years out of compliance with state law, which requires reports, as we all just heard. And so we understood then that that should never happen, which is why we have this on time now and I appreciate it, thank you everybody. And this year's review is really about holding that framework, to me the way that I see it, to its actual purpose. And so I really do encourage members of the public to read the report, to read the number of times that you're describing in there that field incidents happened, the community complaints that were received, which ones were resolved, which ones are outstanding. I think that's always gonna be beneficial for members of the public. And you also addressed some of the concerns that I brought forward last year in terms of accessibility for the public, the location, the time. Can you just remind me if we had a virtual option for the meeting?

We did not.

I think for me, I would love to see that moving forward so that all of our bases are covered because we know that people in our community love to participate virtually. But I do want to acknowledge that the department did not participate in the federal 1033 surplus equipment program and that it has stated that you're not going to, and that is the right posture, Chief. And I want to thank you for that. I want to see that continue. And ultimately, for me, this is a receiving file. This is me receiving information that is required by state law that I am legally obligated to also receive. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Council Member Lopez. Council Member Fan?

Thank you, Mayor. Hi there. So a couple questions. I did ask my chief of staff to attend one of the community meetings on my behalf due to work, and there were a few comments. First, I just wanted to say it was great that we did that. I do agree with Council Member Lopez regarding the online option. I do understand that sometimes we get folks from elsewhere, but you know what? Our council meetings, we get online options, and I think in general when it comes to these community meetings, that should generally be standard. So the first thing is, in looking at the report, I do see that we have a chart regarding how often the equipment was deployed, but we don't have any type of time and date or scenarios or location. Is there a reason for that specifically, or that's just not something we include in the report?

It's just not something we included in the report.

Because I guess there were some comments requesting that to understand, you know, what kind of situations are we using to deploy some of these? So, for example, I see that we deploy 40-millimeter projectiles very often. You know, when would we use that? We have, you know, the Bear Armored Rescue Vehicles. I think some of these include, like, community events, right? Like National Night Out or... any of our kind of events with lots of kids so they can kind of see that. I think that's considered deployment too.

Yes.

So I think that would be helpful for the community to know about, right? And because that's just a way of letting people know what kind of equipment we use. The other item I would like to see regarding the... was regarding the ICE protests, right? There's a lot of conversation regarding deployment of certain equipment during those ICE protests. I know that we have conversations around it and all that other stuff, but I think one of the concerns was what was being deployed, how was it being used? Again, we don't want to share anything that would undermine our tactics, but I think it is important for the community to know what is happening. Because I do agree with the general sentiment that our police department should always be de-escalating whenever possible. And I do believe that that is the department's position, and that's the city's position. I think we saw that when it came to the ICE protests. I think we saw that with, even more recently, the World Cup celebrations, right? There were people out there vandalizing the street, and instead of going in and escalating the situation, we... tracked them down using our police work and arrested these people who weren't from Santa Ana. So I think that that is some of the ways that was really important. And I think in our social media posts, we said, hey, we use these drones. We use local drones. CCTV to find them. I think that that is really important for our community to know and understand. The other thing that I'd love to see, and maybe it's just because it's newer and we have talked about the unmanned vehicle, the drones, excuse me, and how they'd be used, the flight patterns that are going to be put online, all of that data. And I'm sorry, I haven't looked for it yet. I don't know if it's live yet.

It is.

Okay, great.

And if I can stop you just for one second. The only reason the drones aren't listed in here is because we didn't have them at the time by April 30th. So next year's report's going to have all kinds of drone information in it.

Perfect. And I think it might behoove us to consider a separate presentation on the drones just so that we get some updated information before... I think it's important for the city to release information and share proactively rather than wait for other people to frame the narrative for us. Because the concerns that I keep hearing is that it's surveillance, is that we have Starlink in the sky in Santa Ana, you know, sharing information with the cops. And that is not at all what's happening. So I think any information that we release proactively that people can verify would be better, especially in regard to privacy, right? That's something that we discussed a lot with the drones. Other than that, I guess what I'll say is I hope we never have to use this equipment. I think in general, all of our officers hope we don't have to use this equipment, that they never have to be deployed. But what we know is that when it needs to be deployed, that we have it. And my biggest concern is making sure that whether it's our officers, our residents, or our visitors, that we have all the tools we need necessary to ensure that Santa Ana is safe. And so I hope that with this military policy, excuse me, military equipment use policy, that we continue to deescalate, we continue to be transparent, and we continue to do everything necessary to minimize the use of this while making sure that we respond proactively and effectively. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilman Lopez, please.

Yes, I just wanted to say, because it's equally important for me, that to my colleague, Council Member Hernandez, that I'm very deeply sorry for what you, your family, and many neighbors of that neighborhood experienced when your cousin was killed. And I personally cannot imagine what that must still be like, and I recognize the layer of position. So that's all.

Thank you, and Mr. City Manager, I agree with Councilmember Fown, I would hope all of us up here would agree that a separate report from the drones, Chief, would be appreciated, yearly. weekend to start. I'm sorry? Oh, I didn't see your mic. Go ahead, Council Member Vasquez.

Thank you so much. And I want to thank the chief for the work that you put in and the police department. And we've brought down crime in Santa Ana. This is all true. But what I would want to see is the evaluation of each piece of equipment through the police oversight and see which ones we want to bring back and which ones we want to not use anymore. You want to evaluate the use of the public safety with each one. Some of these, I'm not going to paint a broad brush on it, but I would want us to see through the police oversight, evaluate each piece of equipment we have and how we can make better use of our funds. This, what we're going through is like, look at all this money we're spending. We want to continue spending the money. When I speak up on a park on Bristol and people are safe, I hear somebody shot the park. Right? So that's, where are your... Like, where do you want to spend your money at? Do you want to spend it on the parks or do you want to spend it on military equipment? Myself, I want it for children, I want it for families, I want to make sure that when we have safe spaces, we are the safe space, we create the safe spaces. You know, this is what I'm talking about, is that budget and that money. I'm not saying police don't make us safe. Police have been doing good work here in Santa Ana. I applaud the work of our officers, but including in that is continue to and make sure that we put more resources into families. As I've said before, Sheriff Barnes has said that every dollar we spend on criminalizing children, we spend seven on the back end. And that's the way I'm looking at this military equipment to making sure we make efficient use of our resources. And we say, this is what we're gonna prioritize. We're gonna prioritize our families. We're gonna prioritize our children. We're gonna make safe the way we do things as community. Thank you.

Mayor Pro Tem.

Thank you, Mayor Mesk. I just wanted to thank city staff and Commander Sorensen for this presentation and for keeping us on track, Chief, and to my colleague, Councilmember Phan's point in regards to the drones, I definitely support a separate report, and maybe we could also use that report to highlight the massive savings we're seeing as a city by us not using Airship Duke as often as we once did. When I first got on this council, I remember It was every other month there was an appropriation request for additional funding to pay the Orange County sheriffs for their use of that helicopter. And growing up in Santa Ana, for everyone who has, we know that every night There was the ghetto bird circling over your home, waking us up, and at all hours of the night, you know, trying to solve whatever crime was happening at the time. And the former previous chief loved the use of that helicopter throughout. the pandemic in 2019 and to realize as a resident that I don't hear that anymore as much as I used to. But we're still out there enforcing and ensuring the public safety by various other tools that we've now acquired that are, guess what, cost effective as we're looking at a budget deficit in the the millions i think it's important that we try to save as much as we can across the board but without losing track of that public safety aspect that's also important as well as parks and libraries and all these other things so i think that's a good point to highlight councilmember fan in a separate report but also talk about those cost savings and how we're moving forward with these new technologies that might exist out there instead of what we've been using for decades that have cost the city millions of dollars each year. I'll never forget throughout the 2019 and 2020 it was and go back in the records and check. Every three, four months, there was an appropriation request for additional funding, and that's when I started requesting the monthly reports of how much of this helicopter we were using as a city, because it just didn't make sense to me of how expensive it was. But thank you so much to both of you and city manager for this presentation. I'm ready to move the item, Mayor. Yes, we are ready to vote. I just wanted to thank you all for that.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Madam Clerk, we have two questions. Yes.

We have a substitute motion on the floor made by Mayor Meskwa, seconded by Council Member Becerra, to approve the recommended action for item 18, which is to receive and file the Santa Ana Police Department's Annual Military Equipment Use Report for 2025-26 and review and affirm Santa Ana City Ordinance NS3020. Council Member Becerra?

Yes.

Council Member Hernandez?

No.

Council Member Lopez? Yes. Council Member Phan? Yes. Council Member Vasquez?

No.

Mayor Pro Tempagnoloza?

Yes.

Mayor Mezcua? Yes. The vote is five ayes, two nays. Nays by council members Hernandez and Vasquez. Motion carries.

Thank you. We're gonna now end the consent calendar and go into the business calendar. Item 19 is regarding the proposed reentry center at the former youth guidance center site in Santa Ana. Do the council members need the presentation up here? Yes, please. Mr. City Manager, can we have the presentation, please?

We don't have a presentation. I mean, and so, I mean, you saw the attachment. It was a council-related item and the request of the mayor in consultation with the city manager. You have the attachments and the documents, and the reality is, for us, we see the last correspondence from the County of Orange. They didn't care their intention to open a reentry program within the city of Santa Ana. So before city staff enters into any formal response from the administration, we want to get direction from the city council.

Thank you, let me give a bit of information. So first of all, I really want to thank Council Member Becerra, the City Manager of course, Council Member Becerra, Council Member Lopez, Congressman Correa, Senator Umberg, and Assemblyman Avellino-Valencia for submitting letters of opposition. And you know, the City, the County of Orange, after we appeared at the Board of Supervisors meeting, and sharing our concerns as the mayor and Santa Ana residents and asking them to not move forward with this item, the interim CEO sent an email to the city manager and basically sent one email asking to meet And he's saying that there's three projects that were introduced to the Board of Supervisors on October 22nd, 2019. And here's the important part. Have been visited over the years during the county's budget and strategic financial planning plan briefings. So they have voted numerous times on this since 2019, including 2023, 24, 25, and now in 26. The entire Board of Supervisors, all of them. It says, in addition, the Orange County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council has received updates on these justice-involved facilities since 2017. Again, I don't believe there's anything in our history books that show that the city of Santa Ana was involved in any of these discussions. Chief, were you involved in any of the discussions?

No.

Okay. And then there's something else in the email that says Michelle Aguirre had also sent out emails to the city Michelle Geary called me the day before the Board of Supervisors meeting, and I believe she sent out an email to the city manager the day before, about 5 p.m. And so, basically, they are moving forward with their reentry program. They're saying, you know, there was an article with the voice of OC that the county sent in some information about there's nothing happening yet, but $21 million was approved in the budget for the county. to move forward with this. Whether it's testing the soil, if you drive over there today, because I have on many occasions now, you can see there's work being done. So who is being honest and who is being dishonest? But I want to share something with the community, because it's not about just coming into Santa Ana to open this reentry program. And let me share what it is, again, in case you don't know. The facility is being completed in phases, And it's for individuals who will enter through a reception area where they'll be welcomed and linked to a care or case manager who will assess their needs. Housing will be provided for males and females. And the facility will include space for programs, families, reunification, counseling. And these will be males and females that have been released from jail or state prison. They'll be able to come and go. I call it a halfway house. They call it a reentry center. I think all of us that are bright, we're going to call it a halfway house because we know what it is. You can call it any sexy name you want, but it's a halfway house. And Santa Ana already has a shelter that we pay for and a county shelter of 400 beds. And we have every social service agency and parole office in the city and probation department. We have everything that you need here in the city of Santa Ana. So the Orange County CARES Justice Involved facilities at a glance. There are three different sites that the county is going to open. Site A is a juvenile corrections campus that is going to be at 331 The City Drive in Orange. Site B is a workforce reentry center at 561 The City Drive. Site C is at 3030 Hesperian Way in Santa Ana. So I'm reading what they've given out already. Site A is a juvenile corrections campus They will serve 164 people, they'll have community partners. This campus will be designed to create a supportive therapeutic environment that promotes healing, growth and stability for both adjudicated and pre-adjudicated youth. And that will be at the City of Orange, at 331 City Drive. Workforce Reentry Centre B is now at what used to be the Dog Pound, right there by the block. So those are great. They sound like great programs. But Site C, where people will live, now they're saying it's going to serve 81 people, 70 men and 11 women. It's a dedicated 24-7 facility where anyone released from jail or prison or involved in the justice system will get the assistance they need to help continue their reentry journey to become self-sufficient members of the community. It sounds really sexy. It'll be AB 109 offenders. AB 109 offenders are offenders that have been in prison or county jail, lengthy sentences, some not so lengthy, some stay in the state level, some local level. And under AB 109, we look at the last offense they committed so they don't look at their prior record, the entire prior record, they look at the last offense. So we're gonna release them there and it's gonna be housing. And so why did I ask for this item to be placed here? Because I'd like to recommend that we direct the city manager to draft a resolution formally opposing the proposed Orange County coordinated reentry center at the former youth guidance center located in the city of Santa Ana. Direct the city manager to communicate the city's opposition to the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Orange County Executive Officer, and other appropriate agencies, and to advocate for the identification and evaluation of alternative locations elsewhere in Orange County. Direct the city attorney to evaluate and report to the city council regarding any legal remedies available to the city related to the proposed project, including but not limited to applicable land use regulations, procedure requirements, and any other potential legal administrative actions. Why is this so concerning to all of us? It should be to every single one of us because nobody from the county, when we appoint a new city manager, nobody thought it was important to come and speak to him. There's nobody up here who shared about the reentry program either, none of us do. And the only reason we know is because I brought it to the attention because I kind of kept my thumb on it to see how it was going and if they were really gonna open it and they are. Chief, nobody called you, is that correct?

That is correct.

Madam City Attorney, did anybody call you? No. Okay. So it's great they're gonna have programs in Orange and Touchy Feely, but we get the residential one in Santa Ana. And we get the one where they get to come and go. So that, I oppose this because, and like I said, Council Member Lopez, Council Member Becerra, myself, the city manager, Congressman Correa, Assemblyman Evelina Valencia, Senator Umberg, we all submitted letters of opposition, not because we don't believe in rehabilitation, I won't speak for them, but because we cannot continue to allow Santa Ana to be the only city where these sites open. There are 34 cities in this county, We need to make sure the Board of Supervisors understand that we're not the only show in town. If you drive around the county of Orange, you can find, I mean, Victor spoke earlier about land, you can find land. I'd ask the county what they're doing with the Joplin Youth Center, Mr. City Manager. The Joplin Youth Center, ask them what they're doing. Last I knew it was vacant. What are they doing? So, it's vacant, it's in the mountains. Great place to do rehabilitation. but not in the city of Santa Ana. And I appreciate the council members up here that Opposed it and again have submitted formal letters. I appreciate those in the community that have written letters. I've received many, many letters and emails. Thank you to the neighborhood leaders that have come out and addressed this. And it's kind of like the needle exchange. We did it with the needle exchange and we can do it with the reentry program. It is not that we don't believe in rehabilitation. It is not that we don't believe in helping people. It is not that we don't believe that people will change. It is that we have 600 shelter beds in this city, and social services, healthcare agency, parole, probation, you name it, we have it in this city. The jail, the sheriff's department, the DA's office, the courthouses, we have everything here. So when do we say enough is enough? And I've been saying it since I got elected, we are not the stepchild, we're not the dumping ground. We deserve the best quality of life, Just like the offenders that are going to go to the program, they deserve to receive services. I believe that. But not in the city of Santa Ana. So that is my recommendation with bringing this item forward. And I don't know if any council members want to speak on this item. Council Member Lopez?

Yes, thank you. You know, I think it's really important to be clear from the outset that this is not about opposing second opportunities for people, reentry services, you know, reducing recidivism, which in principle I wholeheartedly support. I think it is incredibly important for our community and our society as a whole. I think that the issue here is that this site, as I now know, was selected in 2021. So there's been almost a five-year gap since this commission, this committee that has a chief of police from Guard and Grow, you know, Don Barnes on it, probation on it, other members of our county that have made this decision on our behalf never even consulted with us. And so not only am I going to support this resolution, I want to know how do we get somebody from our professional team to be a part of that committee? Go ahead, Chief.

Yes, just to clarify that and answer that question, thank you, Council Member Lopez. The Chief of Garden Grove was on it before. That was a previous chief many years ago. I recently just got appointed to the commission to take his place, so now I sit on that commission.

And when did you get appointed, Chief?

Just about a month ago.

A month ago?

Yes.

Okay, and when are the meetings?

We just had a meeting. It wasn't agendized. We just had a meeting this past Friday.

Okay. And are those meetings made available to members of the public?

Yes, they are. They're actually run similar to, like, police oversight, where there is available for public comment. There's comment from everybody who sits on the committee. And it's several. As police chief, it's... It's a big city police chief, so it includes Anaheim police, myself, and then small city police chief, which includes city of Tustin police chief, and then probation, and then obviously some nonprofits, and I think board of supervisors, county board of supervisors members, and judges, and yeah, and I think some attorneys.

Got it, understood. Well, I think it would be in the best interest of our city and the community to have questions for us to publicize those meetings whenever they are happening because this is nothing new, right? It is a clear pattern of the county, and again, this was approved in 2021, particularly under Andrew Doe, The way that the city has always been treated, I think, is really the core issue here. I'm making a judgment call without consulting us, without asking us for our opinion, without other partners that we actually work with, provide mutual aid, not taking us into consideration once again. And so I also want to clarify a specific question that has been submitted to my office. These are not general fund dollars. I don't know who is saying that, but that is false information. This council is not using general dollars from our budget to invest in this project or move this project forward. This is state dollars and congressional funding, as we all heard when they discussed this publicly. And so for us it's really important that we make that clear because we were accused of spreading misinformation about a project that information was never shared with us to begin with. And that could have been resolved had a conversation happened to begin with. And again, it's a five-year gap between this election and any real public knowledge, and that in itself, to me here, is a structural issue. And so I think that any key decisions on this project we're made with a committee that's called Community Corrections Partnership, should be publicized to the ability that we can do so, so the members of the public can see what happens, right, in those committees, and to me, you know, this really is, again, as I said, a structural failure in how the county handles sitting decisions of this scale, and Our residents have every right to be upset. Members of the council have every right to be upset because this is not about rehabilitation services. This is again about not being taken into consideration when it impacts the city and moreover really the equitable distribution of services. Because there was three locations, right, three different projects, so why does the city of Santa Ana have to bear that when there's 33 other cities? And this goes back to my main issue that I had here in 2021 when I brought the county jail forward. And I said, why should we be losing money, our tax dollars, and funding a jail that is not operating, that is only costing us? And again, that was a county decision in the middle of a single family home neighborhood that our constituents have to bear the brunt. And I remember another councilwoman, Fan, also raising those issues. And so this really goes back to, again, the way that We are not taking into account being the county seat. And I think that that is really the big issue that we're seeing here from our partners and what we're hearing for our community. And so not only are we going to call on the county to suspend further advancement of the project, but I think that all the information that you receive, city manager, I hope that you will Take the meeting, meet with them. You are the CEO of the city operations. I would love to see all that information flow through your office and to this council. So we're not hearing one thing on this side, another thing on this side, confusing members of the public, being accused of spreading misinformation, which could have all been avoided had a conversation happened. And so I do want to thank the mayor for bringing this forward. I learned about it when you announced it. And I immediately picked up the phone and called and said, what is this project about? And it's why I submitted a letter of opposition. And so for me, this is really, really imperative that we keep the community informed. And I hope that everybody is going to be on board in supporting this resolution. And I hope that you will keep the members of this council advised. And I hope that the chief also provides information, since you've been sitting there for a month now, to let us know what those conversations are going like. I also want to thank the supervisor for sending a letter providing clarity. My understanding is that this is not under construction now, but again, all of those things need to be detailed in writing to us so that we know what we can share factually with the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Lopez. Chief, just to clarify, they invited you to be part of the committee after this item was brought up. Is that correct?

I'm not sure exactly on the timing. I think when they restructured our county chiefs group as far as who's going to sit on what committees, I volunteered to put myself on more committees. And this was one of them. And it just happened to be, I think it was kind of simultaneous.

Could you verify the date for me, please? Yes.

Thank you. Councilman Becerra. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I want to thank you, Mayor Mesquite, for bringing this item to our attention. And I want to also thank the community who came out and not only came out, took your time to speak to us, both tonight and back in June at the mayor's invitation over at the Santa Ana PD headquarters, but also your letters and emails. So I think it's fair to say that there's been a lot of thoughtful dialogue in regards to this issue. Now, it is important that services are provided to individuals that are reentering the community following incarceration. In Santa Ana, we have the jail. We have, and by the way, the county's jail. We have a homeless shelter that, after meaningful dialogue, the county still said, yeah, that's great, we don't care, we're still going to put a shelter in your city. And one that is many hundreds of beds that does not exist anywhere else but San Ant. So even though we had that meaningful dialogue, we still got that facility. I want to thank the mayor also too for bringing up Joplin, because I think talking about where this potential center should be located, it's not just about it not being in Santa Ana. And it's not fair to just say, because I don't want us to be guilty like other cities that say, not in my backyard. But at the same time, let's be fair and say, where is it the most appropriate? Is it appropriate near residents? Is it appropriate near businesses? I hope to goodness we all can say no. Joplin is like almost an hour walk away from the nearest residence. And I say Joplin as an example, just to kind of give the idea that I think Mr. Mendez came to the podium and talked about, I think it was like Irvine Park in Orange. Again, somewhere where it is not near residents or businesses, okay? With that being said, Mayor Mesquite, if you would indulge me, can you just ask me if I support this facility in Santa Ana?

Do you support this facility in Santa Ana?

No. Great. It was that easy, right? I just, you asked the question, I said, no. So I had to endure, along with many members of the community, our supervisor giving us 40 minutes of dialogue for me to at the end have to just say, can you just clarify? Do you support this facility being located in Santa Ana? And he said he didn't. And I appreciated that. But then after that, I saw social media videos and then a letter today where he says, during that meeting on June 18th, I reaffirmed my position that I could not support funding the project until there had been meaningful engagement with the city and community. Supervisor Sarmiento has voted twice for this project. Number one. Number two, meaningful engagement. What does that mean? Last time the county did meaningful engagement with our city, we ended up with like almost 500 beds at a shelter off of Yale. So it scares me when I hear meaningful engagement from the county. It does. Look, with all due respect, And I know politics is local, and I'm sure the Board of Supervisors has its own web of politics compared to what the City Council has. But I think for all of those that showed up tonight, and for the seven of us, or at least I hope the seven of us on this dais, we would hope that our supervisor would step up and put something forward that says, hey, I understand there's funding in the budget for this item, but let's just squash it now. Let's squash it now. I have not heard anybody Anybody from this city say that they want this facility at that location? I've not heard anybody. If you want meaningful dialogue, you were, Supervisor Sarmiento, you were at that June meeting You had folks that came to the board of supervisors. You've heard folks here tonight. I don't know what else you need to hear from the community. You've had multiple neighborhood leaders. In fact, I think Ms. Molina brought up the fact that you had a letter of 25 neighborhood leaders from all across the city, from Ward 3 all the way down to beautiful Ward 4, saying that they were opposed to this. So I don't know how much more meaningful engagement is needed. I do want to thank the other supervisors who allowed our residents who took the time to show up to the board supervisors meeting to speak, because it is my understanding that there was a little bit of pushback as far as letting them speak, and that is not right. If you truly want meaningful engagement, then you should have shown that right then and there when you had the opportunity and let them speak. So I am going to be very enthusiastic in supporting this item tonight. And I want to emphasize the third point, which is that we're going to ask our city attorney to look into all the legal means necessary. We have fought before, this community, and I see folks in the audience that have been there with us, when we fought things that have come to us, the proposed needle distribution program, MHA continuing to operate and just have such a negative impact on Memorial Park and Delhi. So I see all of you and it gets me pumped up because I know we can fight and win, and I want you to know that we're gonna have your back And whatever we have to do to fight this, you're damn right we're going to fight it. So, Mayor, thank you for bringing this forward, and I am happy to support this.

Thank you very much. Council Member Friend?

Thank you, Mayor. I did receive the letter from Supervisor Sarmiento, and I want to say thank you to everybody who's spoken on this issue and raised concerns about it. But I just want to make sure I have my facts straight. Currently, at the county, there is no reentry center that has been approved, correct?

So we received the Supervisor Sarmiento's letter today indicating that's the case. But I also point out, and this is one of the reasons why we rushed to schedule this at this city council meeting, you saw the letter sent by the interim CEO July 10, and indicating their intention. And more importantly, if you look to the exhibit, the A, B, and C component. This is status of bill that anticipated completion in early fiscal year 2027-2028. So I do think that, you know, from my personal perspective as a city manager, I do see an alignment here from both Supervisor Sargento, our city council, Councilmember, excuse me, Congressman Lucorrea, state senators, and the assembly in our district opposing this. So that's the incongruence aspect, right? And so that's part of it. Because remember, part of the request is this sense of having to meet and discuss. There's no point to meeting and discuss if, one, the county has made a determination. And again, we just received this literally July 10th. indicating that's the case. And I'm just reading from the letter, indicating the opportunity to share this information, and then point it out to the attachment on the flyer, June 18, and also July 10. But I also, you know, acknowledge the supervisors come in and say that it hasn't been approved. So I think those are two inconsistencies, one from the supervisor in indicating not approval, and then the receiving from the CEO, the letter that we attached to the exhibit.

Got it. And may I also just add one thing, Council Member? Sure. If you don't mind. I do think that one of the things we need to look into very deeply is the environmental review that was done for this project. I have had the opportunity, once this item was agendized, to take a very quick look at what was done through the initial study, the notices that were given, and the ultimate mitigated negative deck. They mention impacted cities. and nowhere did they mention the City of Santa Ana. I think we need to look into whether we received notice, whether we were given the opportunity to comment, and what's more is whether the document itself is defective, because if in fact the project did include a site here, it wasn't analyzed in those documents. So I just want to let you know that if the Council moves us forward, we will look into those issues.

Thank you. So I do see the letter from the CEO dated June 22nd, and the supervisor's letter dated today mentioned the June 23rd board meeting did not approve any reentry center and that the budget did not include any funding for this reentry center.

That is correct. And that's one of the reasons why I also pointed out to the July 10, 2026 meeting from interim county CEO, Mr. Rustenberg. And then also point out to the attached flyer that he's intending to share with our office indicating status build-out.

Because I understand that there has been planning and discussions on the staff level. I mean, that's very similar to for example, our public works department or our parks department that might have staff-led parks or building, but of course, ultimately, they have to come to city council for approval of design plans, et cetera, as well as funding, correct?

Correct.

Okay. I guess I wanted to say that because we're, I think we're all on the same page of wanting to make sure that the city of Santa Ana is at the table regarding anything the county does that relates to us. But I also want to make sure that, you know, we don't I guess I just want us to lower the temperature a little bit. We can have a conversation with the county. We have a supervisor, let's talk to him. It seems like, at least based on his letter, we're all on the same page. And whatever happened in the past, we need to move on from that, and we're gonna demand that they continue to have that conversation with us. Now, I do agree to an extent regarding Council Member Becerra's point that, you know, what does taking public input mean? If taking input means just listening, but not, or just hearing people, giving them the place to vent, but not actually taking that into account, not making that meaningful input, that would be a problem for us. Right, so I hope that we can continue using all the tools in our toolbox as our city attorney mentioned, whether it's CEQA or any other concerns to ensure that if there's any future proposed center, whatever that involves Santa Ana, that we have a seat at the table.

If I may, Council Member, I want to say it again. I think for the first time in a long time, and I've been working in the city over 30 years, I do think we have an alignment, right, both from the mayor and the city council. Again, Congressman Luke Correa, State Senator Umberg, State Assemblyperson Avelino Valencia, and County Supervisor for our district opposing. So if it pleases and it's the will of the City Council majority, hopefully unanimous, I'll include that in my resolution that you have probably the public representatives of our city in alignment opposing a reentry of that purpose in our city.

And I guess before I finish up, I want to say that I am not opposed to the idea of a reentry center. I am not opposed to institutions or structures to help people rehabilitate and reenter society once they've paid their dues. I've worked with those who've been convicted of both minor and major crimes, and many people who have turned their lives around. We all deserve that opportunity. However, it is not our fault that we can't trust the county when they have in fact failed to provide the funding necessary, the security necessary, and the staffing necessary to take care of Yale, take care of the business around Yale, and take care of the residents who live around Yale. So those will be in the back of our minds as we continue to follow along on this project. And I look forward to working with everyone here to ensure that the city of Santa Ana has a seat at the table. Thank you. Thank you. Mayor Pro Temp.

Thank you, Mayor Esquan. Thank you, city staff, for bringing this forward. And Mayor, for your ringing the alarm bells on this. That's definitely something that is a never-ending and reoccurring episode that we see here in Santa Ana with the County of Orange and their continued support. that's dumping, literal dumping on our city and our residents of all those social services and these types of programs that exist out there. And I want to thank Council Member Becerra for bringing up all the previous instances where we've fought tooth and nail these different issues with the County of Orange, whether it was the Orange County Needle Exchange Program that wasn't an Orange County Needle Exchange Program, it was a Santa Ana NEIL EXCHANGE PROGRAM AND WE FOUGHT THAT AND WE WON AND WE BLOCKED IT AND WE CAME TOGETHER TO BLOCK THOSE PROGRAMS FROM OPERATING IN THE CITY. COLD WEATHER SHELTER, AGAIN, THE COUNTY'S INSISTENCE ON BRINGING EVERYBODY IN THE COUNTY TO THE CITY OF SAN ANA, TO THE DOHAI NEIGHBORHOOD BECAUSE OF US NOT QUESTIONING, NOT BATTING AN EYE, NOT HAVING PEOPLE HERE THAT WERE LOOKING OUT FOR OUR RESIDENTS. MHA. The list goes on and on. Yale Shelter. That is something that, again, we fought tooth and nail. And guess what? The county supervisor at the time said, oh, we want to have dialogue with the city of Santa Ana. And when we all went to those meetings, that dialogue was, hey, city of Santa Ana, we're bringing this to your city. Just wanted to let you know. And I anticipate that this is what's happening again. I, this site might have been identified five years ago, but we've had a county supervisor that has been representing Santa Ana for 15 plus years that has voted on this numerous times. You don't just allocate $21 million to a project from one day to another without knowing that this is coming. I mean, this is something that has been in the works for multiple years. Not just, you know, it didn't fall out of the sky randomly just a couple days ago. So thank you, Mayor Emescu, for helping shed a light on this. It's something that we need to fight. And I respectfully disagree with Councilmember Pham. We should not take down the temperature. The minute we take down the temperature as a city, that's when the county screws us over time and time again. So I would hope that our city staff actually puts up the temperature working with our city attorney and our legal and fight in every means possible to make sure that this facility does not open in our city or anywhere in central Orange County for that matter. Whether it's the city of Orange or the city of Anaheim or Garden Grove, they should also be put on notice with our resolution to join us in this fight. Because every time the county decides to move in this direction, they shove these programs in central Orange County. And it's not just Santa Ana that's bearing the brunt and carrying the burden of these services in our region. So we gotta fight and unite with these other cities to really make sure that the county of Orange offers these services throughout the county, spreads it. We always, always run into this. Whether it's, again, shelter, cold weather shelter, needle exchange program, It's not a, we don't want any of this, don't, it's, let's share it amongst the county. We're not the only city in the county. Santa Ana's not an island. The County of Orange is made up of 34 cities that could also share the brunt of all these services. I drove, like the mayor, I drove up Hesperian Way yesterday, and I did it Sunday night, and I did it last week, and guess what? There's a lot of vehicles parked underneath that overpass, You could tell they're up to no good. You could tell there's people riding up on bikes to these cars that are parked on those streets. I don't know what they're doing, but when they're out there at midnight and doing these things, you know, that's a problem. And I anticipate that these problems are going to increase. And it happened yesterday. It was 6.30 p.m. Drove up there and guess what? There were cars parked there camping, and you could tell that they were up to no good. So I would hope that we hammer down on what we need to do legally to fight this from opening in our city. You know, put it in South County. put it at the north end of town. But I mean, this is something that is just a reoccurring episode and story that we've seen before. So no, I don't want to put down the temperature. I want to actually beef up and make sure that we could fight this and not allow it to open in our city. So with that, Mayor, I will make a motion to approve this resolution.

I'll second. Thank you. Councilman Hearn, go ahead, finish. I apologize.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just wanted to make sure we could include those other cities and reach out to them and see if they could join us in these resolutions and bring a resolution of their own that this should not exist in Central Orange County. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Pritchard. Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I want to thank my colleagues and members of the public who have used their First Amendment right to voice your opinion. Your opinion on this subject is very important. It's critical. I am in agreement with my colleagues that any decision that is to be made in Santa Ana should be made with Santa Ana in mind. When we exclude dialogue, and we lack the opportunities to, when we exclude that dialogue, we lack the opportunity to truly establish a partnership. When we look at reducing recidivism, reentry is very effective. But the effectiveness comes with partnership. I want to thank Supervisor Sarmiento who has consistently maintained that the county should not move forward with funding this project and has encouraged the county to have meaningful engagement with Santa Ana. I believe that this provides us an opportunity to work closer with the county. It provides us an opportunity for corrective action and for the county to truly not only engage in this dialogue, meaningful dialogue with us, but for them to work with us. I wholeheartedly disagree when it comes to unilaterally placing a reentry center in a residential neighborhood. I live in a neighborhood that is much more peaceful today than it was 20 years ago. But I would be very upset if the county came and said I'm going to put a reentry center behind your house. I would want that engagement with my community and I would want it over years. And I'd hope that if there is consensus and there's a pushback to that, that the county listens. And what I think furthermore is important is that the topic that we are truly fighting against is not providing services or getting to the root cause of why people end up in jail. We don't want these neighborhoods to feel more dangerous. So what I believe is, This creates the opportunity for the city of Santa Ana to do is correct this issue. We need to name why the county would unilaterally make these decisions for us. Well, the reality is children get shot in Santa Ana, not in Irvine. That's a very difficult reality for all of us to face. One that hurts every single one of us. We contribute a higher percentage of inmates to juvenile halls, jails, and prisons than most cities in Orange County. We have more gangs in Santa Ana than any other city in Orange County. And also because this is the county seat. Every single one of us who lives in Santa Ana has seen people in the struggle. Now, when we leave City Hall today, no matter which direction you go, you are going to see families who deserve to have a dignified place of living in our city. And for whatever reasons, the neighborhoods that live closest to the jail here in Santa Ana, Flower Park, Willard, Articia Pilar, downtown Santa Ana, when inmates are released at 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. in the morning, and they have nowhere to go because there are no services that we can provide, we see an increase in homelessness. We see an increase in loitering and in people coming into our neighborhoods. Comprehensive reentry programs prevent crime by drastically reducing recidivism rates. The county, I want to give them their benefit that we do need in Santa Ana reentry services because the city of Santa Ana cannot afford to pay for that. But reentry services can help us reduce repeat offenses by up to 62% compared to those without support. And that is from the National Institute of Justice. Reentry is a crime prevention tool. I think the only two electeds up here that can speak to that are myself and Mayor Mezcua. Mayor Mezcua was a probation officer. I worked for the county as a reentry worker. I worked specifically with young adults aged 18 to 24. I would ask the county that if you are to look to bring reentry services to the city of Santa Ana, that there should be no decision made without Santa Ana's input. And that input should be made here at this dais. And that input should come from our community. There needs to be robust community discussions with the city and the county present. Any re-entry services should be at the guise of Santa Ana saying, you know what, we want that in our city. And I'm telling you, and I agree with Council Member Phan, if we want this city to be safer, we need intervention and prevention. We need reentry. This intervention of reentry consists of three components. Number one, pre-release jail in-reach services. That means before somebody is released from jail, they are contacted and they are prepped eventually for release. Number two is enhanced treatment efforts, additional clinical assessments, immediate initiation of medications as indicated. That's number two. THOSE ARE THRESHOLDS THAT WE SIMPLY CANNOT WAIVER. AND THE THIRD IS IMMEDIATE INTERIM HOUSING UPON RELEASE FROM JAIL IN ANTICIPATION OF PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING. THAT IS NOT A DECISION THAT THE COUNTY SHOULD UNILATERALLY MAKE. IF THE CITY OF SAN ANA WANTS TO SEE A REENTRY CENTER BE BROUGHT HERE, THERE SHOULD BE A DIALOGUE. THERE HAS NOT BEEN ONE. SO THE COUNTY OF ORANGE, I WOULD HOPE AND I WOULD IMPLORE that you take this opportunity to work with our neighbors, with every single one of my colleagues here, and that no decisions should be made without Santa Ana's input. We do need reentry services, but there should be a collaboration. And I don't believe it should be in our neighborhoods that are already impacted. There should be a robust research effort from the county to identify cities like Irvine that have ample space. Cities like Anaheim, the largest city in Orange County. These are cities that can do more. Santa Ana, of course, we're the county seat. But you better bring loads of data and large numbers of our residents championing that this is what we want. So at this time, I just wanted to echo that reentry services is important to Santa Ana. This isn't a fight against reentry services, but I hope that this creates more dialogue between the county, include us in any decision that you make. Thank you.

Council Member Vasquez. Thank you, I'll be brief. Thank you, staff, city manager for bringing this forward. Thank you for all the work to our council and mayor and I'm gonna be in agreement with you. I support this item. I have visited Yale Center multiple times and they had given us promises, good neighbor policy. The first time we went, it was a hot mess. I went back and it was cleaned up on the outside and I asked the staff what happened. The city took care of it. We cleaned up the good. We were the good neighbors. So that's why I'm in support of bringing this to Santa Ana. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Councilman Vasquez, and I know you sit on the Housing Committee, correct? Did the Supervisor put you on there? Is it the Homeless Committee? Thank you for doing that, and I'm glad that you went out to see Yale, because when it's clean, it's because we do it as a city. So I want to echo, and I'll close with this and we'll vote, I want to echo what Mayor Pro Tem indicated. It's not time to turn the heat down, it's time to turn it up. So we did with the needle exchange. I want to thank my colleagues that were standing there at that time with me, Councilman Becerra, Mayor Pro Tem Penalosa. Every time there's a good fight with the neighborhood leaders, it's the three of us standing there. So I'm really happy to see all of us up here. Hopefully we'll be voting on this item. And like Councilman Hernandez had indicated, rehabilitation is needed and I've supported it for Years, years, years. Longer than Councilman Hernandez has been alive. I think he's the youngest on the council here. And I do believe in it. However, I'll just say, not in Santa Ana. Not in Santa Ana. And I do want to correct something. At the June 23rd Board of Supervisors meeting, because I was there with the neighbors along with Mayor Pro Tem, with the neighborhood leaders and Mayor Pro Tem, is they did approve $21 million in their budget for this project. They didn't talk about what they were going to use it for, but they did. And so, Chief, I'm really glad you're out there at the committee that meets quarterly, because I know they're meeting quarterly. And so, we can't wait to hear from you, the information that you're given and the updates, because it's really important to us as a city. And we're not going to turn the heat down. We're going to turn it up. Madam City Attorney, you get ready to do what you do best. And Mr. City Manager, you do what you do best and let's take a vote and let's rock and roll and let the county know when we say dialogue and transparency and meeting with our community and these leaders that are sitting up here, that's what we mean. That's what we mean. We believe in rehabilitation. I believe all of us do up here, but not on our backs anymore. And we've said it with the needle exchange. We were able to put a stop to that, MHA. You know, Councilman Becerra, Mayor Pro Tem, we're at the Board of Supervisors meeting for that one as well. And so with the neighborhood leaders and put a stop to that one too. So let's get this party rocking and rolling. Let's vote, Madam City Clerk.

Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Penalosa, seconded by Mayor Mesquita to approve the recommended actions for item number 19, direction to the city manager and city attorney regarding the proposed Orange County Coordinated Reentry Facility at the former Youth Guidance Center site in Santa Ana. Council Member Becerra.

Yes.

Council Member Hernandez.

Yes.

Council Member Lopez. Yes. Council Member Phan. Yes. Council Member Vazquez.

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tempanulosa.

Yes.

Mayor Meskwa. Yes. Vote is seven ayes, no nays. Motion carries.

I'd like to thank everybody up here for their support. And thank you to the community that came out tonight and all the neighborhood leaders. Thank you so very much. This is the end of the business call. At this time, we're going to go to closing comments. Mr. City Manager, can we hear your comments at this time, please?

No comments for the city manager, thank you.

That was his comment to me, right? Deputy city manager, you have no comments? All right, no, okay.

Well, we'll welcome everyone on Saturday at 10 a.m. at St. Anita for the ribbon cutting. We're going to be highlighting the pool, basketball courts, new center. There's going to be PAL out there, parks and recreation, so it'll be a lot of fun.

That's what I wanted to hear. All right, comments by the council. Council Member Vasquez, please.

Wow, I'm gonna brag about a resource fair me and my staff are organizing, but I wanna thank all the council members for bringing the resource fair and having an event, Black and Brown Unity. Everybody's been organizing, including the council member, Jessie Lopez, who's having one at Santa Ana High School. I'm having it at Jerome Park, June 23rd at six o'clock. We're gonna have the Santa Ana Teachers Association are gonna be giving backpacks, United Across Borders food boxes and clothes, Suavecitos are gonna have free haircuts, we're gonna have immigrant defenders, Cal Optima, Santa Ana Unified School District, OC Coalition, Latino Health Access, Uplift, families of OC, Corbin Center, the city's coming out with the water department, the library, rent stabilization, other departments I didn't mention, but I want to thank Supervisor Sarmiento for joining us, and the trustees from the school district, Katie Brazier, from Ward 2, Valerie Magdaleno, and Mr. Hector Bustos, and I'll see you on Thursday at six o'clock at Jerome Park.

Great, thank you. Councilman Hernandez.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just want to also echo what our Deputy City Manager brought up, Sylvia Vasquez. Saturday is a groundbreaking day for the Santa Anita Community Center. We'll be opening up. I want to give a big round of applause to Council Member Phan. because that is in your district and coming into the council, you prioritized funding the redevelopment of the Santa Anita Community Center. And given that Ward 5 shares Santa Anita with Ward 1, I want to tell you thank you as a colleague because generations of families have been using Santa Anita Park since the 70s and this new redevelopment will help serve families for generations to come. And that's what the work at the Santa Ana City Council is about. And so we will see residents from the Santa Anita community this Saturday, bright and early. We're looking forward to seeing you. And congratulations as well to the New Hope Library. Congratulations to Council Member Lopez for the Portola Park water splash pads. My daughter and I are really excited to check that out. And so is my niece. So thank you very much. That'll conclude my comments, Madam Mayor. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Phan.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you to everyone, staff, our community. I know we had our movies in the park this past Friday, and it was such a great time. We had volunteers from Los Amigos High School, as usual, thank you. Santa Anita Park, yes. I am so excited. When I was elected in 2020, we were doing everything on Zoom. And the first meeting I had with the Santa Anita Neighborhood Association before I think I was even sworn in or our first council meeting was with Ron Ono, who has now retired. And renovating Santa Anita was, I think, the biggest, the most important thing. So we need to make sure we invite him. But at first, it was just to redo the field. And it was with the commitment of our city staff, of residents, and of everybody who supports parks and community centers in Santa Ana that we were able to work on getting grants to get support from the state, the federal government, to not only redo the field, we were able to completely rebuild the community center, a brand-new pool where I believe former Councilmember Nelida Mendoza learned how to swim, and a new basketball court. And it was such... a long time coming and I truly hope that our families and our community can come out and celebrate, participate in the shooting, the basketball shooting competition. I hear that there's a seven. I mean, in Santa Anita we would win, but, and, I said what I said. And there's a seven on seven soccer tournament, so I will love to see me and Council Member Van Vasquez have our little, you know, I mean, I'm just saying, between the two of us, you know, just have a really great time. There's video proof.

I'll get my soccer team ready.

But with that, I want to also wish everybody a great rest of the week. I think we have some bonus days coming up, and I look forward to some rest. Thank you.

Thank you. Council Member Lopez.

Yes. So per AB 123 the city manager approved my request to attend the local progress national convening which has a firm focus on policies at the local level which is a little bit different than most convenings in my personal opinion. I'm also the co-chair of the women's caucus. co-chairing the Women's Caucus for two years now, and we hosted four events throughout the convening, so it was actually a lot of work to be able to host and pre-plan. All of our previous meetings have been virtual, so it was the first time that I got to be in a room with my co-chair, with the leadership committee of the Women's Caucus, and really get to see other electeds and be with other electeds and carry out our duties as co-chairs. But most importantly, I was in Baltimore. I had the opportunity to meet with the mayor, Brandon Scott, to learn about their community violence intervention program, which has gained a lot of national attention because of how effective it has been. And this is, I think, an area that I'm particularly interested in, not only because I grew up in the city during the 90s, what felt like the peak of violence here, coming home from high school, walking home from the bus stop, you know, going to elementary and intermediate school and high school with a lot of young people that never got to do the things that I got to do, like graduate school. And so, you know, and obviously, most recently our city experiencing the loss of a 15-year-old teenager in our community. And I know that you and I have discussed that privately, city manager, and I've shared with you that it's a really difficult position to be put in when we're being held for that loss. And so one of the things that was discussed with the mayor and his team was really how were they able to accomplish a 42% reduction and homicides involving youth age 15 to 24 and a 21% reduction in youth non-fatal shootings at the neighborhood level. They've had an insane rate of homicides and so the fact that they're able to showcase and talk about these statistics not just you know, on a PowerPoint presentation, but be there and tour and see the investments that they've made locally, I think it's really, really imperative because to me, nobody has to agree, but to me, gun violence is really a public health issue. It impacts all members of our community to one degree or the other. And so the model that they are using, the resources that they've invested in implementing, trained messengers to mediate conflict among other groups folks in the community is proving to be really effective. It's really, I think, a neighborhood stabilization plan that they have. And I think, for me, it's good to understand where our gaps are here in the city. We've invested a lot in enforcement, which is the direction of the council. It's what we wanted to see in different areas. But I do think that we have to start thinking about Where do we invest our limited dollars? Where do we invest potential dollars that our constituents might give this council the ability to have with their ability to vote for a sales tax or to keep the sales tax? And one of the things that I notice we don't have is a heat map. I know we have a report online, but I would love to see a heat map of where these instances are actively occurring, consistently occurring. That is not something that we necessarily need to take on our own. That's something that we can partner with UCI, different educational institutions. I think it's imperative that our communities start to understand the trends of where crime is continuously happening and why. We can enforce all that we want, but if we're not addressing the actual issues in these neighborhoods, we're only going to continue to see the same patterns over and over again. And because we're talking about limited resources, I think it's imperative that we begin to understand, again, where these resources are needed efficiently, effectively, and consistently so that we can also follow in the footsteps of some of these major cities that are seeing investments in youth violence and shootings, because again, it is something that is going to impact all members of our community to one degree or the other. And I think that investing in trauma response is always going to be valuable and we're going to see the return. I understand it's something that we have not done and I believe and I'm learning that there is power in convening. Even if we ourselves cannot lead that work, there is power in convening trusted voices, trusted experts that can guide the city in doing this work. to reduce the amounts of death in our community, to reduce the amount of youth violence in our communities, and to tell the city, this is what works and this is what doesn't work. And I don't think that we've been able to cross that bridge. And so it was really great to not just hear it from him and his team and see the investments. Part of that is that they had over 16,000 vacant lots And they've been able to reduce that down to 11,000. And so part of the work that they've been able to do is use some of that public land to create these centers that are available for families, that are available for the trusted experts that they're investing in. I understand we don't have that opportunity. level of land to that degree, but what are the partnerships that we can bring in? What are the community centers where perhaps there could be a mutual partnership? Because we're often hearing more and more and what we saw with the World Cup finale is that people are looking for places to be at and to be celebrating and to be in safe locations doing all these things as young people. And so touring the youth center was really, I think, eye-opening. And whether it's just city-funded or a public-private partnership, the way that they've explored, I think it's something that deserves to be discussed, considered, and really for us to think about what is that going, how does this work look like in the future? Another thing that we had the opportunity to learn about was really the cost of living that continues to increase, which is often talked about as a national issue, but really it's a local issue. I mean, residents in my district talk to me about the price of their groceries, and residents that live in the city have fought some of the mergers. Because again, right, grocery stores now overwhelmingly their revenue is coming from the data that they're selling about their customers. It's not even the revenue that they're selling of groceries. And so these are all the things that are super imperative for us to understand and be able to connect and bring back home so that we can implement policies that will support and hopefully get institutional buy-in. They share 10 policies at the local level that can be implemented. I'm happy to share that booklet with you so that you and your team can review and figure out what is it that you can do under your jurisdiction. And I think most importantly, when I think about the economics of our city, I think it's really imperative for me to say that economics is is ultimately about people and the purpose of economic policy should be to help people live good lives. And so again, it was really informative. I hope that all of my colleagues keep an open mind and they themselves get to experience something like this because oftentimes we sit here and we think there's nothing else for me to learn, but there's so much more out there that other jurisdictions are doing and implementing that are being effective. And so I will like to move on to closing comments now. As families begin to prepare for the new school year, I want to invite our community to our back-to-school backpack giveaway. We'll be providing backpacks, school supplies, and valuable resources to SAUD students. I want to thank the district for their partnership, and the event is going to be held Thursday, July 30th from 4 to 6 p.m. at Santa Ana High School. I also want to thank everybody, city staff, that worked early Saturday morning to put together a really fantastic event. We have seen such massive use that, You know, we've also received the comments that it's not working and we're troubleshooting in real time. And I do want to thank the city manager, our public works director, you, Sylvia. We've been on the phone every single day, right? And I know you've been on site checking the splash pad, reporting back that it's up and running. And I just want to thank all the members of our community that have been really patient. We're troubleshooting issues in real time because of the demand that you've seen on site. And I do want to clarify that the splash pad is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily from June through August, and on weekends in May and September. And again, fantastic job, team. I'd like to finish my comments by honoring the memory of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, Joan Sebastian Guerrero, and all those whose lives have recently been lost by a very violent agency. I don't have to tell you, I hope that you know, Lorenzo was a 52-year-old. He had lived in this country for 35 years. He was the father of three sons and was close to obtaining legal status. Joan was just 26 years old, a delivery driver who was authorized to work in the United States. They were fathers, they were sons, community members, neighbors, and their families deserve justice 100%. And I know that we're seeing a ramp, this ramp, you know, immigration enforcement in our communities because of the federal funding that has kicked in that was ultimately taken from a lot of social services that many Americans depend on. And so, you know, I just want to again vocalize that my office is here to provide and be a resource to our families. We have a Know Your Rights website. and I encourage anyone to get involved and to ensure that they're doing their part in keeping our families together and advocating to end all policies and practices that separate families, that criminalize our residents because of the color of their skin or because of the language that they speak. Thank you, everybody, have a good night.

Thank you, and I really want to thank the council members that are staying for closing comments. Again, it's such a sign of respect, I really appreciate it. Council Member Becerra, please.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Per AB 1234, I'd like to disclose that the city paid for my registration fee, not my transport or lodging, to attend the 2026 AAPI LEAD National Summit in LA on July 17th and 18th. I will spare you the dissertation on how it went. Monthly community office hours on Saturday, August 1st. So this Saturday, let's celebrate Santa Anita. And then next Saturday, August 1st, at Eugene Grissett Park on MacArthur, next to Greenville Elementary, I'll be hosting my monthly community office hours, as I do every month, as I've done since I first got elected to the city council. And with that, good night, everybody. Thank you, Council Member Sarah. Mayor Pro Tem, please.

Thank you, Mayor Mezcua. I just wanted to also thank city staff for that wonderful event on Saturday at Portola Park for that splash pad. Years in the making, so excited to finally have it open. Thank you, everybody involved and excited for this Saturday's grand opening at Santa Anita. I did have just a... and this is maybe a question that you could answer later, Mr. City Manager and Madam City Attorney, in an email, but I want to get clarity on any guardrails that we have or any vetting that we do when we're approving City Council travel. The only reason I say that is because, you know, most of my colleagues traveled the last couple weeks, and that's fine, but Naleo, an Asian-American Pacific Islander, conference are all 501c3s, which are nonprofits that are not political in any way, shape, or form, but anyone that donates to them is a tax write-off and so on. Local Progress Impact Lab is a 501 , which is considered a nonprofit but with a political organization behind it and able to act on campaigning and endorse candidates and whatnot. So I want to make sure that we're careful, city manager, because this isn't the first time where we start approving council member travel. especially when our budget is looking the way it is on what the requirements are, what the eligibility requirements are for council approved travel, because this is not the time where we should be approving travel left and right as we move forward, because again, and I hope the city attorney could, you could work with her and get a memo to us on what is allowed and what isn't, because 501c3s compared to 501c4s have a whole different different things that they could do as organizations. So I hope, City Manager, that you're mindful in the future when you're approving these various travel. With that, I do want to wish my beautiful wife a happy 35th birthday. This Thursday she will be turning 35. No, she's advertising it everywhere. She's excited about it, so I ain't no fool. But she, you know, wish her the best. I love you, honey. I'm so excited to celebrate you. And just wanted to make sure that that birthday was on record. And she's very proud of it. She's been advertising that age everywhere. So happy to say it. She doesn't. She's 22. I'm a one lucky man for sure. I am done. Thank you, Mayor.

All right, well, we don't talk about women's ages, so. All right, per AB 1234, I was at Naleo in Los Angeles. The city paid for my registration. I paid for my own hotel stay. The city did not pay that. Let me say it again, I paid it because I understand the city's budget. and I'd like to save some money here. So it was a great conference and I think all of us up here, when we go to conferences, we're there to learn and to bring back things that we can do differently in the city. I will not go give you a report now because that's not what we do up here. But Mr. City Manager, I appreciate when council members and myself share information with you about what we can do, but we talk about Baltimore compared to the city of Santa Ana, Baltimore's budget is 4.6 billion. Baltimore, Maryland, 4.6 billion. Our budget doesn't even come close to that. But some great ideals, and we can look at them, things that are going on. you know, it's, yeah, you can't, if you're with the mayor on Zoom, you can't compare the two, but great ideas that'll come out of there, I'm sure. But I also agree with Mayor Pro Tem that we need to be very mindful because it is campaign season and it's silly season and we, sometimes things get overlooked and we should not be paying for anybody to go to conferences that are political in nature and then endorsing candidates it sends a wrong message to our community because I can guarantee you there'll be some community member that'll come to the next meeting and say, why are you paying for that? That's my taxpayer money. So just want to be clear on that. Portola Park, the splash pad was absolutely wonderful and I was able to join the kids and get wet and it just made my day and to see all the kids. And yes, thank you, Rudy, and for your staff and Mr. City Manager and Deputy City Manager. For staying on top of that, I know they've been pushing the button, because I've been hearing too, and they broke it, and then we had grass, and then we, it's like that button you're in the hospital, only give them every 15 minutes, don't give them the ability to push it all day long. So, but it's a beautiful, it's a beautiful splash pad, and I'm hoping that we can have more. And I remember when I got elected, the Mayor Pro Tem kept saying, we're gonna have six splash pads, we're gonna have six, and he was able to get one so far, so I'm really pleased with that. So Mayor Pro Tem, keep working on those splash pads. Bring us that money. All right, so Washington Square update, Mr. City Manager, if we can get an email out about that. You don't need to tell me now, please.

No, but I'm going to be clear. No, no, just send an email. No, we're not going to send an email. We said we were going to do it in 90 days. Did we say 90 days? Yes, we did. I don't remember. So July, August, September, consider a presentation in October.

Okay, okay, so in October. Sorry, can I just make a public service announcement to the council members? Is related to yours because I do want to remind the council that earlier today I did send out the 90-day pre-election reminder memo which goes over all of the rules that apply to those of you that are campaigning and to help you avoid any unintentional or intentional unintentional violations of gifts of public funds. I also included some suggestions and rules that apply to your use of your campaign sites, your social media platforms, and not using city seals, et cetera. I will make myself available to any of you that have questions, but please read that. It is a very thorough memo, and that came to you from your three appointees, the city manager, the city clerk, and myself.

No, thank you, Madam City Chair. I appreciate it. I read it. As you know, I read emails that you guys sent out thoroughly, and I understand that. I'm very clear. There are certain things that people can and cannot do, and unless you've been doing them the entire time you've been elected, and I know I'm one of those that have been doing certain things for four years, and so I can continue to do them. All right, so here we go. I'll be quick. August 9th, I'm having the resource fair with the Elks Lodge and many, many, many different organizations. We'll have over 51 booths, four healthcare, mobile units, haircuts, dental, vision, backpacks from 9 to 1 at the Elks Lodge. It's my third annual resource fair. Please sign up using the QR code. Come out and join us. It's always wonderful to be out there. Councillor Becerra and Councillor Penalosa, Mayor Pro Tem Penalosa will be there with me as well. Assemblyman Avalina Valencia and Congressman Correa. So it's going to be a great day. It always is every year that we've had it. City staff will join us. We have about 2,500 backpacks that we'll be giving out. So it's a great day with all the nonprofits that are joining us as well. And I want to thank the committee that's been working really hard on this resource fair. Also, on August 1st, 2026, as promised, I'm having coffee with the mayor at Santa Ana Police Department Community Room. And you ask why Santa Ana Police Department Community Room? Because the police department, the chief will be doing a drone presentation. Is that correct, chief?

Yes.

And would you share a little bit? What will the drone presentation include?

It'll include just our drone capabilities, how it enhances public safety, and also actually experiencing how they respond to calls for service and be able to live stream some live drone video. Okay.

All right, so those of you that are interested in the drone, please come out with Coffee with the Mayor on August 1st, 2026. It's from 10 to noon. And once we reach full capacity and we don't violate the fire marshal numbers inside the room, we'll be closing the doors or leaving them open so the drone can come in. So I'm super excited about Coffee with the Mayor because as promised, we said we would show the drone to the community. And then at my next neighborhood leaders meeting, we'll also be doing a drone presentation there as well for the neighborhood leaders, presidents and vice presidents that attend. And then finally, on July 28th at 10 a.m., we'll be at the Alex Lodge if you want to volunteer. We'll be stuffing backpacks. If we finish on July 28th, we don't have to come back July 29th to finish stuffing them. So if anybody wants to volunteer, please join us. We're going to feed you. I believe Cynthia will tell me we're going to feed you on July 28th if you come out and volunteer and stuff backpacks. So I hope to see Councilman Becerra there and Mayor Pro Tempanolosa and anybody else. We'll be starting at 9 a.m. Oh, Madison will be there as well. We're starting at 10 a.m. Excuse me, I apologize. And it'll be volunteer bases. You won't be starting school yet, Councilmember Vazquez. All right, okay. No, you went there last year. This is my third year. Okay, Mayor, yes. Do it for Linda. All right, so I'll see you guys then. It was a great meeting. Thank you to all the staff and thank you for all the reports and everybody who came out tonight. Good night.