City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening, everyone. We're going to go ahead and call the April 7th regular meeting to order at 7 p.m. At this time, we have no disclosures pursuant to Government Code 54953.8.3. Roll call on declaration of conflicts, please.

Council Member Bedoya. Council Member Evans.

Present. No conflicts.

Council Member Nygaard. Present. No conflicts. Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie.

Present. No conflicts.

Mayor Areola.

Present. No conflicts. Thank you. We have a quorum. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Please stand and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance.

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.

Now please remain standing for our invocation with Pastor Tim Heinrich from Crossroads Baptist Church.

Join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come to you this evening with grateful hearts, mindful of the Easter holiday that Christians just celebrated. As we reflect on that holiday, we're reminded of the hope, love and victory that came through the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Thank you that you are a God who brings light out of darkness, renewal out of brokenness and life out of death. In a world that often feels uncertain, we are grateful for the steady hope that you provide. Lord, tonight we lift up the City Council, asking you that you would grant each member here wisdom and insight as they make decisions that affect this community. Give them clarity of thought. Give them unity where it is needed, discernment to choose what is right and what is just. Help them to lead with integrity, humility, and a genuine desire to serve the people of this city well. We also pray for all those who serve our community as first responders, our police officers, our firefighters, our paramedics, all those who put themselves in harm's way to protect others. Lord, we ask your hand of protection over them. Guard them physically, strengthen them emotionally, and encourage them in the vital work they do each day. May each one know that they are valued and supported. Father, we ask your blessing upon this city. We pray for peace in our neighborhoods, for strong families and thriving businesses. We pray for opportunities that lead to growth and prosperity. Provide for the needs of every resident and help this community to flourish in ways that honor what is right, what is good, what is true. Lord, as we remember the Easter holiday that we just celebrated, remind us that true renewal begins with the heart. Help us to be people who bring hope, kindness, and compassion into our homes, our workplaces, and into our cities. We commit this meeting to you tonight, Father, and may all that is done and said be guided by wisdom and marked by respect. I ask this because I'm a Christian. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen.

Thank you, Pastor. You may all be seated. Members of the public can participate in tonight's meeting remotely by visiting cityoftracievents.webex.com and using the information provided on the screen. This is also available in writing here at City Hall as well as online. Next up, that brings us to presentations.

Good evening Mayor Medori-Lightwood City Manager Anoush Najjad. Our Public Works Director is going to announce the Employee of the Month.

Good evening Mayor, Council Members and members of the public. My name is Anoush Najjad. I'm the Director of Public Works with the City of Tracy. It is my pleasure TO INTRODUCE THIS MONTH'S EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH, ONE OF OUR BEST IN THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. LARRY GONZALEZ HAS BEEN EMPLOYED BY THE CITY OF TRACY FOR OVER 27 YEARS. HE WORKS IN THE UTILITIES DIVISION. HE HAS WORKED IN THE WATER DISTRIBUTION, WATER METER, SEWER, AND STORM DRAIN GROUPS. LARRY ALSO WORKS ON STANDBY CREW AND IS ON CALL 24-7 DURING HIS STANDBY DUTIES. His coworkers say that he's a very knowledgeable and dependable person and often works at night, on weekends, and on holidays, helping his fellow workers. Outside of work, Larry is very busy with his four kids and five grandkids. Larry also enjoys collecting baseball cards and painting wooden figures. Larry also plays softball as a pitcher. Larry prides himself on customer service, a cornerstone of Public Works Department mission. So I congratulate Larry on this achievement. Thank you very much.

All right, and at this time we have some certificates of appointment and reappointments, so I'll go ahead and ask council to join me. All right, and I'm assured we're getting a new podium soon. All right, this time we have a certificate of appointment for the Environmental Sustainability Commission presented to Brendan Edwards.

As somebody who's only lived here for a couple of years, where did I do what I need to do to make Tracy better? And so I hope to do that through working with all of you lovely people. Thank you.

All right, next up, we have our Measure V Residence Oversight Committee, and we will start with Rosario Arulapan.

Good evening mayor and council members and the public. I'm really honored to be part of this measure. We thanks for the council and the mayor to appointing me again. And with my experience and exposure I have with the community reach, I do my best job and help the community and reach out to the community, whatever we can do. Thank you.

NEXT UP FOR MEASURE V RESIDENCE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE WE HAVE PIO FERNANDO.

THANK YOU DAN. THANK YOU MAYOR AND THANK YOU COMMISSIONER FOR GIVING ME THIS OPPORTUNITY AND I WOULD LOVE TO CONTRIBUTE BACK TO THE COMMUNITY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

Next up from the Measure V Oversight Committee, we have Balaji Kamathri Ramakrishnan.

Thanks for the City Council for this opportunity. With my experience and knowledge, I will obey, I will perform my duty for this, whatever the job they provide and make city better and to reach people and benefits of the people. Yeah, thank you.

A LOT OF APPOINTMENTS TODAY.

NEXT UP FOR OUR PLANNING COMMISSION, WE HAVE MR. NASIR BROYAKE-BOTENG.

Yes, thank you. All right.

Thank you very much. It's a privilege, honor, and also a huge commitment to be able to serve on the planning commission. Really appreciate the city council and the whole community and the planning department for the chance to continue to serve and to make long-term impactful improvements to our planning efforts. Thank you very much.

Next up we have Joey Chavez. And that's for Planning Commission.

THANK YOU AGAIN TO THE MAYOR, THE COUNCIL AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC FOR BEING PRESENT. IT'S AN HONOR TO SERVE ON THIS PLANNING COMMISSION AND AS ONE OF THE YOUNGEST APPOINTEES I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO MAKING SURE THAT TRACY GROWS IN ALIGNMENT WITH OUR GENERATION, GENERATIONS THAT HAVE PASSED AS WELL AS GENERATIONS TO COME. IT'S AN HONOR TO BE PRESENT WITH ALL OF YOU TODAY AND I COULDN'T HAVE THANKED my family, my mentors, and everyone else for their support in this process. Have a great evening. Thank you so much, and God bless.

Next up for the Planning Commission we have Matthew Shrout.

Just like everybody else thank you for letting me be part of this. I was on the Parks Commission before and I just look forward to continue on through the basic city government, I guess, and going upwards and helping the community become great like I know it can be. So thank you.

All right.

AND FOR THE TRACY ARTS COMMISSION, NAILA DUGA.

EXCITED TO BE APPOINTED TO ONE OF THE FINEST COMMISSIONS IN THE CITY.

ALTHOUGH WE HAVE A LOT OF FUN, IT'S ALSO WITHOUT ART AND CULTURE. THE CITY IS JUST A BUNCH OF BUILDINGS IN BLACK AND WHITE. SO VERY EXCITED TO BRING ART AND CULTURE TO THE CITY ONCE AGAIN. THANK YOU.

All right, next up, we have several proclamations. And at this time, we have the Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month Proclamation. I'd like to invite Robert Timdari from our Cultural Arts Division Manager and the Tracy Arts Commission.

Thank you.

Congratulations.

Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month, April 2026. Whereas the arts work to heal, build community, engage youth, advance justice, and create jobs, and whereas arts are not only an impressive and important agent for economic development, but also impact societal issues that include health, corrections, housing, immigration, veterans, transportation, education, Whereas California employs the highest number of people in creative industries, architecture, entertainment, fashion, media, and publishing than any other state in the nation. Whereas California is the fourth largest economy in the world, the creative economy in 2025 for approximately $288 billion, representing 7.5% of the state's GDP and 820,000 direct jobs. WHEREAS BEGINNING IN 2019, THE CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE PROCLAIMED APRIL AS A ARTS, CULTURE, AND CREATIVITY MONTH, AND IN 2021, AN ADDITIONAL RESOLUTION WAS DECLARED TO RECOGNIZE ARTISTS AS SECOND RESPONDERS, WHEREAS EFFORTS MUST CONTINUE TO INCREASE FUNDING FOR THE ARTS, ARTS EDUCATION, AND CULTURAL BEARERS. And whereas in a state as diverse as California, the arts serve to give voice to our many communities, spark individual creativity, foster empathy and understanding, spur civic engagement, and serve as a continual source of personal enrichment, inspiration, and growth. Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Dan Areola, Mayor of the City of Tracy, and on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as Arts, Culture, and Creativity Month in the City of Tracy.

Is that your phone number?

Thank you, Mayor and Council, for this proclamation and the reiteration of the value of the arts and how it enhances the quality of life for the residents of Tracy, San Joaquin County, and the region at large. Arts Month is a reminder of our shared humanity. To meet people as they are and where they are. It's a celebration of what makes us human and asks you to join for communal experiences that build and bind communities together. I promise you this is not a call to arms about saving the arts. It's not an explanation or justification about the value of arts and artists. I believe we all understand the intrinsic value of art and what it does. However, the brass tax comes down to what Mayor Areola said. Seven and a half percent of the California's GDP is from the creative sector. $288 billion over 800,000 jobs just in California. On a national scale, the arts sector contributed over $1 trillion to the GDP. That's over 4%. The entire sector has grown at twice the national average, largely exceeding pre-pandemic levels, and outpaced the total U.S. economy by 3%. Total creative sector contributions to the national GDP is nearly as much as transportation and agriculture. Yet there is no secretary for the arts, but that's a battle for another day. So this Arts Month, we aren't here waxing poetic about the value. We thought we would show you and invite you to participate. You see, this Arts Month, we have over 18 events at the Grand. Our full schedule can be found online. I can tell you that we have free musical performances, a fine art exhibition with the Boys and Girls Club, free classes ranging from ASL to improv, poetry contests and awards, Shakespeare art forums, and open mic nights, and the very first one to be held on our main stage theater this month. And Arts Month is not just about supporting your local historical art center, the Grand Theater. It's about supporting all arts organizations and sharing your love and passion for the artistic world that you help create and inhabit. I believe that everyone is an artist. Given the right medium, you can express and share your individual stories to the world, and I can tell you that we are excited to embrace them wholeheartedly. So come create with us, play with us, dream with us, and allow yourselves to be inspired by the world around you and embrace it this Arts Month. I promise you won't regret it.

All right. Next up, we have National Volunteer Week. And I'd like to invite Diane McKnight, a board member from the Grand Foundation.

Here you go.

NATIONAL VOLUNTEER WEEK, APRIL 19TH TO THE 25TH, 2026. WHEREAS THE CITY OF TRACY RECOGNIZES THE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTIONS OF VOLUNTEERS WHO GENEROUSLY GIVE THEIR TIME AND TALENTS TO STRENGTHEN OUR COMMUNITY, AND WHEREAS RESIDENTS HAVE MANY OPPORTUNITIES TO PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY SERVICE THROUGH LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS AND PROGRAMS, INCLUDING VOLUNTEER INITIATIVES OFFERED BY THE CITY OF TRACY, AND WHEREAS ACROSS THE NATION MILLIONS OF VOLUNTEERS GENEROUSLY DEVOTE THEIR TIME AND ABILITIES EACH DAY TO POSITIVELY IMPACT THE LIVES OF CHILDREN, FAMILIES, ADULTS, AND SENIORS, And whereas National Volunteer Week offers a time to recognize and celebrate the lasting impact of volunteerism and the ability of volunteers to address community needs, build stronger neighborhoods, inspire meaningful change. And whereas each year volunteers of all ages, backgrounds, and experiences step forward to serve others, demonstrating compassion, leadership, and a desire to make a difference in their community. Whereas when volunteers step forward to serve, it rejuvenates our sense of community and pride. By helping others, volunteers also benefit themselves. And whereas volunteers are essential to the growth and strength of our nation and their invaluable contributions of time, talent, and effort enrich communities and will remain vital for generations to come. Now, therefore, be resolved that I, Dan Areola, Mayor of the City of Tracy, on behalf of the City Council, do hereby proclaim April 19th through 25th, 2026 as National Volunteer Week in Tracy and urge our fellow residents to volunteer and make a positive difference in our community.

On behalf of the volunteers at the Grand Theater and Center for the Community Center for the Arts, it's my honor to accept this. It's cliche to say that when you volunteer, you receive more than you give, but that is the truth. At the Grand, I get to learn about the history of the facility. I get to not only see but participate in a lot of amazing events, and I've made wonderful friends with all of the other volunteers and staff members. So I tell people all the time it's the best gig in town. I urge you to volunteer there.

All right, and next we have International Transgender Day Visibility, and I'd like to invite Luke and Brian from Tracy Pride to join us. INTERNATIONAL TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY, MARCH 31, 2026. WHEREAS THE CITY OF TRACY VALUES THE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION OF ALL ITS RESIDENTS, RECOGNIZING THAT A WELCOMING AND SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY STRENGTHENS US ALL, AND WHEREAS INTERNATIONAL TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY, OBSERVED ANNUALLY ON MARCH 31, IS DEDICATED TO CELEBRATING TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS, THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO SOCIETY, AND INCREASING AWARENESSES OF THE CHALLENGES THEY CONTINUE TO FACE. WHEREAS TRANSGENDER INDIVIDUALS IN CITY OF TRACY AND BEYOND CONTRIBUTE TO THE CULTURAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL FABRIC OF OUR COMMUNITY AND DESERVE TO BE RECOGNIZED AND SUPPORTED IN THEIR RIGHT TO LIVE AUTHENTICALLY AND SAFELY. WHEREAS FOSTERING UNDERSTANDING, ACCEPTANCE, AND EQUALITY FOR TRANSGENDER PEOPLE PROMOTES A MORE INCLUSIVE AND UNITED COMMUNITY, ENSURING THAT ALL RESIDENTS FEEL VALUED AND RESPECTED. AND WHEREAS THE CITY OF TRACY IS COMMITTED TO RECOGNIZING AND HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALL INDIVIDUALS, REGARDLESS OF GENDER IDENTITY, AND REAFFIRMS ITS DEDICATION TO DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION, NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT I, DAN AREOLA, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF TRACY, ON BEHALF OF THE CITY COUNCIL, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM MARCH 31, 2026 AS INTERNATIONAL TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY IN TRACY, AND ENCOURAGE ALL RESIDENTS TO CELEBRATE AND SUPPORT OUR TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY MEMBERS.

Thank you, Mayor and Council Members and City of Tracy for the proclamation. I'm proud to accept it on behalf of Tracy Pride. Truthfully, the fact that this needs to be proclaimed just goes to show there's still inequity in our community. If trans people were already met with dignity, safety, and respect they deserve, we wouldn't need to be publicly affirming their humanity. Here we are. So I just want to remind everybody that trans people are part of our community. They're our neighbors, our family, our friends. And they, like all residents of Tracy, deserve to continue to live openly and safely here with dignity and respect. And of course, I have to plug Tracy Pride. Please join us in October, October 11 this year. And thank you.

All right. On one, three, two, one. Cool. Thanks.

All right. Thank you.

I got a note saying that he wasn't.

All right. That was a lot of proclamations today, a lot to celebrate in our community. We'll be back to our regular agenda. At this time, we'll go ahead and move on to the consent calendar. Are there any members of council that would like to pull any items for consent? Staff, are there any items you'd like to pull?

Good evening, Mayor. We don't have any consent items tonight to pull. Thank you.

Do you, members of the public, do we change that rule? No, we still do. Would any members of the public have to pull any consent calendar items?

1J.

1J. Okay, other than 1J, were there any other items to pull? Seeing none in chambers, do we have any online?

No, Mayor, no requests online.

Okay, with that, I will entertain a motion.

Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve the consent calendar minus 1J.

I'll second.

We have a first and a second.

Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Council Member Redoya?

Yes.

Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Mayor Arreola?

Yes.

Thank you.

All right. That brings us to Item 1J, and we'll take a brief staff report.

Good evening, council members. My name is April Quintanilla. I am the city clerk. And item 1J is an item regarding the districting outreach summary report prepared by Tripepe Smith regarding our public outreach during the City of Tracy's 2025-2026 districting process. As you may be familiar, Tripepe Smith was the consultant that we retained to help us support our public outreach efforts. They help with creating content, helping us contact community organizations. Excuse me. and helped us really kind of plan the public outreach. So the report we requested of them was to kind of summarize the highlights of that public outreach process, and we were providing it to the city council for your review and receipt, and it will be published on the city's website for the public to review as well, in addition to it being in our agenda packet. That is essentially the main highlights of the staff report for this item.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Council, do you have any additional questions? Seeing none, we'll go out for a public comment. Sir, would you like to begin? We'll allow four minutes.

Mayor and councilmen, I'm here tonight to comment on item 1J.

Sir, can you speak into the microphone? It's a little difficult to hear you. Thank you.

FROM MY PERSPECTIVE AS A RESIDENT WHO PARTICIPATED FULLY IN THE DISTRICTING PROCESS, I BELIEVE THE PROCESS WAS FUNDAMENTALLY FLAWED. THE INFORMATION THE PUBLIC NEEDED CAME OUT SLOWLY AND IN PIECES WITH NEW DETAILS RELEASED AT EACH COUNCIL MEETING. I DREW AND SUBMITTED MY MAP BASED ON THE VERY FIRST SET OF INFORMATION, JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER RESIDENT WHO SUBMITTED A MAP DID. BY THE TIME THE PUBLIC MAPS WERE REVIEWED, ADDITIONAL INFORMATION HAD BEEN RELEASED ABOUT SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND LANDSCAPE ZONES THAT NONE OF US HAD WHEN WE CREATED OUR SUBMISSIONS. AT THE FOLLOWING MEETING, EVEN MORE INFORMATION CAME OUT, THIS TIME ABOUT DATES WHEN THE NEIGHBORHOODS WERE BUILT. SOME OF THAT INFORMATION WAS CORRECT, YET BY THE TIME IT WAS RELEASED, THE COUNCIL HAD ALREADY NARROWED ITS CHOICES AND WAS MOVING TOWARDS A FINAL PLAN. IF ALL OF THE INFORMATION HAD BEEN AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PROCESSES, THE CHANCES OF IDENTIFYING CORRECTING AREAS WOULD HAVE BEEN FAR GREATER. INSTEAD, IT WASN'T UNTIL THE NIGHT OF THE FINAL VOTE THAT I FINALLY SAW THE EXPLANATION WHY THE NEIGHBORHOOD KNOWN AS GREENLEAF HAD BEEN DIVIDED IN HALF. AT THE CONFIRMING VOTE, I EXPLAINED THE ERROR DIRECTLY TO THE COUNCIL, BUT THE DECISION WAS MADE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH ZONING AS PRESENTED. IN MY VIEW, THE ENTIRE PROCESS WAS RUSHED. EVEN WHEN ERRORS WERE POINTED OUT, THE TIMELINES PREVENTED THEM FROM BEING ADDRESSED. THAT IS NOT HOW A TRANSPARENT, ACCURATE, AND COMMUNITY-DRIVEN PROCESS SHOULD FUNCTION. I URGE THE COUNCIL TO RECOGNIZE THESE FLAWS AND ENSURE THAT FUTURE PROCESSES BEGIN WITH A COMPLETE ACCURATE INFORMATION SO THE PUBLIC CAN PARTICIPATE MEANINGFUL AND MEANINGFULLY AND ERRORS CAN BE CORRECTED BEFORE DECISIONS ARE LOCKED IN. THANK YOU.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU, SIR. DO WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT ON ITEM 1J? NEW SPEAKER IS THIS NOT ON THE AGENDA? NEW SPEAKER NO. THAT'S NEXT. DO WE HAVE ANY ITEMS IN 1J RELATED TO DISTRICTING REPORT? SEEING NONE IN CHAMBERS, DO WE HAVE ANY ONLINE?

No, Mayor, no requests online.

Okay, with that, I'll go ahead and close the public comment period for Item 1J. I'll entertain a motion.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to approve 1J. Second.

We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Council Member Ridley?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Mayor Arreola?

Yes.

Thank you.

All right. Next, that brings us to items from the audience. I will please note that we have recently updated our public comment guidelines. So can I please see hands raised for who would like to speak on items not on any agenda item. This is for a non-agendized item. Okay. Seeing three. Okay. Do we have any online? THREE, WE'LL ALLOW FOUR MINUTES, SO THE TIME IS YOURS. PLEASE PROCEED.

GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL, AUDIENCE, AND CITY STAFF. FORMER PLANNING COMMISSIONER JOE ORKUT, I JUST WANTED TO SAY, PUBLICLY SAY THANK YOU TO THE COUNCIL FOR SUPPORTING THE PLANNING. DEPARTMENT IN TERMS OF ALLOWING ME TO SERVE AND HAVE JUST AN ENJOYABLE TIME SERVING NOT ONLY ON THE PLANNING COMMISSION BUT THE TRACY AIRPORT COMMISSION AND THE TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION PRIOR TO THAT. ENJOYED MY TIME TO LEARN ABOUT THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF THE CITY AND ESPECIALLY TO GET TO GO TO THE PLANNING COMMISSIONER ACADEMIES AND THE PLANNING COMMISSIONER ACTIVITIES THAT THEY HAD TO HELP TRAIN AND EDUCATE ME ON THE ASPECTS OF DESIGN AND THE ELEMENTS OF building communities, and struggling with the community fit piece of how a new development will fit into our community, but then understanding it and seeing the bigger picture and helping the city grow with that aspect. So I just came here tonight to say thank you, and I look forward to the young folks that are too busy to be here to say thanks to them. I look forward to that energy being on the Planning Commission and them hopefully getting that learning and education experience to build and design and make our city just as good. Thanks all the time, thank you for everything.

Thank you Mr. Orkin, thank you for your service. Next speaker.

Hello again, Dan Randall, Mayor, City Council, management, city management, SO REFRESHING, AND I JUST WANT TO KEEP THIS SHORT. PROBABLY WON'T USE MUCH TIME. BUT WANTED TO SAY ALSO THANK YOU, BECAUSE THERE'S A REBUST GROWTH AND OPTIMISM GOING ON IN THIS CITY. AND NEW MAYOR, TWO NEW VIBRANT CITY COUNCILMEN WHO HAVE BROUGHT A LOT OF POSITIVE THINGS TO THIS GROUP AND CHANGED THE DYNAMIC. THANK YOU. IT'S GOOD TO SEE FOR BUSINESS, IT'S GOOD TO SEE FOR THE RESIDENTS. I WANT TO MAKE ONE SMALL REQUEST AND ASK FOR CONSIDERATION, AND THAT IS I DO SEE AND I DO HEAR THAT THERE'S A BIG PIPE AND YOU GUYS ARE PUSHING A LOT OF THINGS IN THAT PIPE AT ONE END, AND IT'S GOING IN, BUT SOME OF IT'S GETTING STUCK WITH THE DEPARTMENTS AND IT'S SLOW COMING OUT. You're probably aware of it. I don't think I'm telling you something you don't already know, but I think it would help if a little discussions with the city manager and maybe some of the department heads to get things done a little quicker at the street level for the residents who live here and need it done. It's not a big issue, but I ask you for your consideration and accept the fact that there are some issues in this area. Again, thank you, and let's keep it going. Thank you, Mr. Randall. Next speaker, please.

Sorry, I didn't get to dress all nice and everything to come meet with you guys. You guys already know I'm pretty frustrated already. It's been like, what, two, three years since I've talked to you guys last time about code enforcement. I think traffic safety has always become an issue. I don't know if you guys realize this, but the residents are pretty pissed right now. They want you guys to do something. This gentleman that just spoke talked about moving things through the pipeline a little bit faster. Arturo, I'm sorry. I've been taking up a lot of your time lately, but it's like a daily occurrence. I'm just trying to drive it home. Midori, I've been after you too, you know, trying to get on your calendar. I know you're super busy and everything, but the reality is at the end of the day, your code enforcement only has two interns. We've talked about this. You don't have a phone number to call anybody. So what do you do when you have blight in your community? You know, you have things that need to be taken care of. YOUR POLICE DEPARTMENT IS BUSY BECAUSE THEIR RESOURCES ARE INUNDATED BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH POLICE OFFICERS THAT SPAN ALL THE DIFFERENT BEATS OF THIS COMMUNITY. SO UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN YOU CALL THEM, THEY'RE ALREADY FRUSTRATED BECAUSE YOU GUYS HAVEN'T ALLOCATED ENOUGH RESOURCES, OKAY? YOU DON'T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY, SATURDAY, AND SUNDAY AT ALL FOR CODE ENFORCEMENT. So I don't understand how you guys have allowed this community to degrade to a point where you can't even contact anyone and you basically get laughed off the stage when you contact a non-emergency number or you leave six, seven, eight different emails that you guys have been CC'd on, right? You guys know this. We've all been CC'd on them. Pictures and all. We've walked the community. We saw the parks. So when is enough enough, right? Like, we're tired of it, and we can wait, and we can wait. And you can make new ordinances, but who's going to enforce them? I didn't come here with a planned speech. Arturo, I told you right before, I was like, I'll just come down here and I'll just talk about it. From a common person, a dad, a family member, a person in your community that cares about everyone else in this room, can you please just get something done for once? Please, just stop making us look crazy when we say traffic enforcement, law enforcement, support them, code enforcement. It's not like a new concept. If you could please just do something to where we can basically deal with issues with light, have someone to contact and not feel like our law enforcement don't have the resources that they need to address issues. I don't know where Seiko Millington is or anyone else in, in line and what they're doing. Cause I've never heard back from any of them, but the reality is I've talked to the police officers that are on the street and And they say that their hands are tied, so can you untie their hands, please? That's it. That's all I want. Thanks. Thank you, sir. Good night.

All right. I believe that was all the speakers. Do we have anything online? All right. Any additional speakers? What was the new guideline?

We have one speaker online. And for all requests submitted after the first speaker is called, they receive 90 seconds. Okay. And I think we do have another member in the audience as well.

Mayor, I believe her hand did go up at the beginning when, I don't know if you saw it or not. Oh, I didn't see it. My apologies.

Four minutes.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members and are staff that I'm very disappointed in. I think it takes longer to get anything done in this town than any place in the world. I can't believe that some things take forever and no one seems to know the answer. Yes, we are short policemen. Why are we short policemen? We have money in the coffers. I pay my taxes. I know my neighbors pay them. So where is the money? Where is it going? Is it going for the $2,000 that you guys get each month? I have no idea, but you haven't bought any long pants yet either. So that's my complaint about, I think we need more time to do things that need to be done now than instead of worrying about tomorrow. Tomorrow is okay, but we can't handle tomorrow when we haven't taken care of today. I think there's a lot of things. One of my biggest gripes in this whole town is the streets. And I want to say, I really think that we are wasting our money and our time, and I don't know whose relative it is that gets to pour this stuff down that soon comes back up. I mean, it's not a street that goes by that doesn't have a hole or something that has been fixed Oh, yeah, they've poured the crap in it and the crap has fallen out. It lasts about three weeks. Now, is that cost effective? No. And whoever over there thinks it is cost effective and is telling you it is, it is not cost effective. Why would you fill a hole that you know that it's going to be empty later on? An empty hole is an empty hole. Fill it properly. Do it right. Don't keep spending my money and everybody else in the city on something that is a waste of time. And I'm very disappointed in that. And I'm also very disappointed that we don't have more police officers. I mean, and the other thing is that I have a third idea that we need to do something about the dogs. We need to do something about the shelter. You can call on a weekend. A dog has been hurt. Who do you have to call? You have to call the non-emergency police thing. Why don't we have somebody working at the shelter that can help us?

No, they're off Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

Call them Tuesday. By then the dog has died and you don't know what to do because you don't have the money to take and get it fixed or whatever needs to be done to the poor thing that's been hit by a car that shouldn't be out there in the first place and that people need to understand that an animal is a, especially a dog and a cat, They are something that you have for up to 18 years and maybe longer. It's like raising a child. If you can't afford it, don't get it. Don't turn it loose and hope that somebody else is going to pick it up. They pick it up all right. It either goes to dog fighting or it gets hit by a car. End of story. Somebody's got to take and pick up the price for it. I mean, I think it's a sad state of affairs when a city this big has a shelter for animals that can't hold the amount that we have. And I think it's a shame that we don't have somebody that we can speak to when something happens. Don't call the non-emergency number because it doesn't do any good. They have their hands full with the police. Thank you.

Thank you, Michelle. All right, do we have any additional speakers?

We do have a speaker online now, Mayor.

Okay.

And we'll set it for 90 seconds. This is for call-in user three. Okay. Please accept the unmute request. Okay. You're unmuted.

Please go ahead. Good evening, Mayor. Mayor Pro Tem, city council, city staff, and members of the audience. My name is Richard Williams. I'm speaking on behalf of the Sarmento family who's been residing in Tracy for over 50 years. I'm sure most of you are already aware that the grant for safer streets for all grant is coming up due May 26. I hope that the city staff will be able to prepare and develop A roadway safety audit in time with the 600,000 dollars funds that were granted in the 2024 for 2020. sorry 2025 grant. Which fell short of what we had requested, which was almost 8Million dollars for the hawk system. Pedestrian crosswalks, which is probably needed to submit for this year's grant for the 2026 so that we can get it approved for those 10 items and hopefully more. There might be some suggestions from the city. As regards to other pedestrian crosswalks that are needed. Eliminate crosswalks I know that the city has worked diligently hard and submitted for the 2023 2024 and 2025 and hopefully we're successful in the 2026. I just wanted to voice my opinion and hopefully the city will keep us updated on its progress. and continue to do the great work that you're trying to do for the city of Tracy.

Sir, your time's elapsed.

Thank you, Mr. Williams. Thank you. All right, do we have any additional speakers? Continue to do the great work that you're trying to do for the city of Tracy.

There are no additional speakers online.

Okay, with that, we'll go ahead and close out items from the audience. We'll go to public hearings. This time we have item 3A, which is the card room ordinance. Staff report, please.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Channel 26, could you please display the PowerPoint?

Okay. This evening we're going to talk to you about a proposed update to our card room ordinance. The City of Tracy, Tracy Municipal Code Chapter 4.04 regulates the establishment of card rooms. Currently, the city allows a maximum of nine tables citywide, and all of these tables are currently committed to the Stars Casino property.

AB 341 was recently passed.

It extended the moratorium on new card rooms, but allowed existing establishments with fewer than 20 tables to incrementally expand and grow. What that means locally is that Stars Casino under this new law is allowed to grow the number of tables that it has. The phasing schedule as prescribed in the state law is described in front of you here. You can basically see over each four year period, we can add two tables and that cumulatively gets bigger and bigger, capping out at a total of 19 tables past 2042. So it's a slow rollout. So in short, staff recommends the City Council introduce this ordinance amending the Tracy Municipal Code to increase the total tables from nine to 19. um which is an increase of 10 and per the phasing schedule contained in the ordinance you also have a resolution that has a sequel finding in it so i'd ask for you to adopt the resolution first and then if it's the council's prerogative to introduce the ordinance regarding card rooms that concludes my presentation thank you mr ebbs do we have any clarifying questions from council seeing none okay

This time we'll go ahead and open the public hearing at 7.48 p.m. We will allow public comment. Do any members of the public like to speak on this item? Can I please see raised hands? Seeing none. Do we have any online?

There are no requests online, Mayor.

Okay. With that, we'll go ahead and close the public comment period at 7.49 p.m. Return to council for further discussion or entertain a motion.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to adopt a resolution determining that the ordinance approving repealing and replacing Chapter 4, Section 4.04.040, number of card tables allowed in city limits of the Tracy Municipal Code is not a project within the meaning of the Section of 15378 of the CEQA guidelines because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the environment. either directly or ultimately. In the event that the ordinance is found to be a project under CEQA, it is subject to the CEQA exemption contained in CEQA Guidelines Section 15061, Subsection B, Subsection 3, because it can be seen with certainty to have no possibility of a significant effect on the environment.

Second. We have a first and second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Council Member Redoya?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Mayor Areola?

Yes.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk, will you please read the title of the proposed ordinance?

Yes, Mayor. Yes, Mayor. One, determining that the project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA guidelines section 15378 and or 15061B3. And two, amending section 4.04.040 of the Tracy Municipal Code relating to card rooms.

Motion to waive reading. First reading by substitution of title and introduce the ordinance.

Second. We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie.

Yes.

Council Member Evans.

Yes.

Council Member Bedoya.

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard. Yes. Mayor Areola.

Yes.

Thank you.

All right. That item passes. Thank you so much. Unfortunately, sir, our public comment period for this item has ended. Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to thank everyone. Thank you, sir. Staff, City Council, for all the hard work. Appreciate it. Thank you, sir. Next up, we have item 3B, which is an amendment to the Bingo Ordinance.

Yes. Mayor and Council, David Nafusi, City Attorney, staff, at this time can request that Council make a motion to move this item to a date certain to April 21st, 2026, and that the item not be heard this evening.

So moved. Second.

We have a first and a second.

Roll call, please.

Council Member Bedoya? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie? Yes. Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Mayor Areola?

Yes. Thank you. All right. That'll be heard at the April 26th, 21st meeting. Next, we have item 3C, which is related to the housing element implementation phase three. Staff report, please. No.

Okay, there we go. Good evening everybody, my name's Brianna Alamia and I'm with the planning department with community and economic development. And I'm here tonight to talk about housing policy implementation phase three. So tonight I'm here to talk about some additional code amendments happening to our zoning ordinance that are required by our adopted housing element. Tonight, we're going to be proposing updating an existing section, the low density residential zone allowed uses. And we're proposing four new code sections related to opportunity site development, cluster development, tiny homes, and manufactured homes. In the low density residential zone, we're proposing to add the following uses. manufactured homes, tiny homes, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes as part of a larger subdivision. The update includes language on how density is calculated to be consistent with all residential zones. We're also proposing adding a new code section to help facilitate the development of large opportunity sites within the housing element. We're adding language to promote the use of existing streamlined development processes and adding incentives and removing constraints to development. We're also proposing adding a new section for cluster development standards. We're doing this to promote integrative site design based on the natural features of an area and to allow for the development of various housing products and densities to occur on a site. We're also proposing tiny homes as a new section to provide needed housing for city residents. Tiny homes will be designed and located to be compatible with neighboring built dwellings. And they'll follow the standards of single family dwellings and additional tiny home specific standards. The last new article we're proposing is about manufactured homes. It provides standards for the permanent installation of manufactured homes on foundations for occupancy as single family dwellings. They shall be designed and located to be compatible with neighboring dwellings and they'll follow the standards of single family dwellings and additional manufactured home specific standards. So tonight staff in the Planning Commission are recommending that City Council take the following actions. Adopt a resolution determining the project is exempt from CEQA and introduce and adopt the ordinance amending Title 10 of Tracy Municipal Code. That concludes my presentation.

Thank you. Council, do we have any clarifying questions? Council Member Evans is hesitant.

Council Member Evans. Thanks Mayor. I'm just not sure I guess for the low density changes, I guess. How exactly does this work, I guess? I guess number one, is this state mandated? Is, you know, if we don't adopt this, are we out of compliance? Is that the...

Yes, this is part of our housing element implementation. For the low density residential zone, we're just requesting to add additional uses like tiny homes, manufactured homes. And then the type of density calculation is the same as the rest of the zones now, just like how we're calculating density being allowed.

Right. And I guess my only concerns is, you know, for addition of these additional, you know, manufactured homes, tiny homes, I guess, is that going to be planned as part of a new development or can that happen in any given area? Yeah.

They can happen in any zone that allows residential units, and they'll follow the same standards as any residential unit.

Okay, and this is what's coming per state mandate, right? There's no...

Yes.

So, okay. I mean, we're just basically reading this off, explaining to the public, and I mean, I guess we could, as a council, say no, but we'd be out of compliance, right? We'd probably find ourselves on the governor's list, yes. That's kind of what I figured. All right. Thanks for the answer. That's what I was looking for.

Thank you, Council Member Evans. Any additional questions from Council? All right. At this time, I will open the public hearing for Item 3C at 7.56 p.m. Do we have any members of the public like to speak on Item 3C? Seeing none, do we have any online?

No requests online, Mayor.

Okay. At this time, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing for Item 3 at 7.56 p.m. I will go ahead and entertain a motion or further discussion from Council.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion to adopt a resolution determining that the ordinance approving an amendment to Chapter 10.08, Article 7, Low Density Residential and adding Chapter 10.10, Article 10, Housing Element, Opportunity Site Development, Chapter 10.10, Article 11, Cluster Development, Chapter 10.10, Article 12, Tiny Homes in Chapter 10.10, Article 13, Manufactured Homes of Title 10, Planning and Zoning of the Tracy Municipal Code is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061, Subsection B, Subsection 3 because it can be seen with certainty to have no possibility of a significant effect on the environment.

I'll second.

We have a first and second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Council Member Redoya?

Yes.

Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Mayor Areola?

Yes.

Thank you.

All right. That concludes item three. Oh, excuse me. Madam Clerk, will you read the title of the proposed ordinance?

Yes, Mayor. Approving an amendment to Chapter 10.08, Article 7, Low Density Residential, and adding Chapter 10.10, Article 10, Housing Element Opportunity, Site Development, Chapter 10.10, Article 11, Cluster Development, Chapter 10.10, Article 12, Tiny Homes. and Chapter 10.10, Article 13, Manufactured Homes of Title X, Planning and Zoning of the Tracy Municipal Code. Project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061B3.

Motion to waive the first reading by substitution of title and introduce the ordinance.

I'll second.

We have a first and second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Amber Crombie.

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard. Yes. Council Member Bedoya.

Yes.

Council Member Evans.

Yes.

Mayor Areola.

Yes.

Thank you.

All right. With that, we've concluded Item 3C. We'll now move on to Item 3D, which is the housing element implementation of Phase 4. Staff report, please.

And that's me again, if I can get the PowerPoint up, please. Great, so again, my name's Brianna, I'm with planning. And tonight, I'm gonna be talking about phase four of housing element implementation. So this proposal is proposing to update one article off street parking requirements within our code and adding a new code section called affordable housing water and wastewater services. So to our existing parking article, we are proposing amendments to parking exceptions that we're gonna include adding parking standards for tiny homes and manufactured homes, and adding parking reductions for density bonus projects, qualifying affordable housing projects, and projects located within a half mile of a major transit stop. All of these are state mandated, and they already exist in state law, so we're just putting them into our code. And we're trying to ensure the sufficient, safe, and convenient parking for traffic flows for the city. The new article we're proposing, also part of our housing element implementation, is affordable housing water and wastewater services. This new code section prioritizes granting water and wastewater services to affordable housing projects, as required by Senate Bill 1087. The City of Tracy's Public Works Department will remain the provider of water, wastewater, and sanitation services within the city limits. So in conclusion, staff and the Planning Commission are recommending that City Council take the following actions. Adopt a resolution determining the project is exempt from CEQA. and introduce and adopt an ordinance amending the off-street parking requirements and adding affordable housing, water, and wastewater services to Tracy's municipal code. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any clarifying questions from council? Seeing none. All right, with that, we'll go ahead and open the public hearing at 8.01 p.m. Do we have any members of the public who would like to speak on item 3D? Seeing none in chambers, do we have any online?

No requests online, Mayor.

Okay, with that, we'll go ahead and close the public comment period at 8.01 p.m. We'll return to council for a motion.

Motion to adopt a resolution determining that the ordinance approving an amendment to Chapter 10.08.3470 of off-street parking requirements exemptions and adding Chapter 10.10, Article 14, affordable housing, water and wastewater, Service of Title 10, Planning and Zoning, OF THE TRACY MUNICIPAL CODE EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT CEQA PURSUANT TO CEQA GUIDELINES SECTION 15061 SUBSECTION B SUBSECTION 3 BECAUSE IT CAN BE SEEN WITH CERTAINTY TO HAVE NO POSSIBILITY OF A SIGNIFICANT EFFECT ON THE ENVIRONMENT.

I'LL SECOND.

We have a first and second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Council Member Bedoya?

Yes.

Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Mayor Areola? Yes.

All right. Madam Clerk, will you please read the title of the proposed ordinance?

Yes, Mayor. Approving an amendment to Chapter 10.08.3470, Off-Street Parking Requirements, Exceptions, and adding Chapter 10.10, Article 14, Affordable Housing, Water, and Wastewater Service of Title 10, Planning and Zoning of the Tracy Municipal Code, exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act CEQA pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061B3.

Motion to waive the first reading by substitution of title and introduce the ordinance.

I'll second.

We have a first and second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie.

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard. Yes. Council Member Douya.

Yes.

Council Member Evans.

Yes.

Mayor Arreola.

Yes.

Thank you.

All right. That completes item 3D. Thank you, Sacramento, for additional state mandates. With that, we will move along to our regular agenda item, and that brings us to item 4A, the renaming of the Tracy Sports Complex, which I think most people are here for. Staff report, please.

Good evening, Mayor, members of council, members of the audience. Brian McDonald, Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Director. This evening, we are here to present to you, to review the top three naming options recommended by the Parks and Community Services Commission, and select one for the naming of the Tracy Sports Complex. Start an overview of what we're gonna talk about this evening, go over the background. Talk about the nominations that we received and then recommendations and next steps. Just quick background, February 2000, the four soccer fields were named after the 1965 Pioneer Soccer Club in honor of those who introduced the sport of soccer to the Tracy community. Shortly thereafter, the park was officially named Tracy Sports Complex. In December 2nd of 2025, Council requested to rename the entire complex after Brent Ives, former Mayor Brent Ives. On December 15th, 2025, per your naming policy, staff initiated the naming process for the sports complex. and it was actually really successful in getting the word out there. We received a total of 33 applications with a total of 15 recommended names. On February 5th, 2026, staff presented those applications to the Parks Commission and per your policy, the commission reviewed and prioritized the top three naming options for recommendation to this body. And I just want to remind everybody here in the audience and at home, we're specifically talking about the entire complex. We are not talking about the soccer fields. I want to reiterate those were already named after the Pioneer Club, which is why I have this graphic up for those of you in the audience and at home to kind of help follow along. The naming requests were for the entire complex. And like I mentioned before, we have 15 different names. We have some few variations of Mayor Brent Ives. And then we've got several, a couple different variations of the Tracy Pioneer folks, as well as some other names here from folks who have had a history and pretty successful past here in Tracy. So the commission, in priority order, is recommending the following. First recommendation is Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. Second recommendation was no name change. Third recommendation, no name change. With that, that concludes my staff report and welcome to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you, Mr. McDonald. So just very quickly, If the council proceeds with no name change, I just want to confirm that the 1965 Pioneer Soccer Club fields will remain as named.

Correct.

And if the council decides to change the name, will the soccer fields still retain the name 1965 Pioneer Soccer Club fields?

Yes. Okay.

Council, do we have any additional questions? Seeing none. All right, with that, we will go out for public comment. Can I please see hands raised for how many people would like to speak on item 4A? One, two, three, four. So I'm seeing four, five. Okay, so with five, that means each speaker would get three minutes. If anyone would like to speak after that, it would be 90 seconds. All right.

How long are you going to give us? A minute and 30 seconds?

THREE MINUTES FOR THESE FIVE SPEAKERS. ALL RIGHT. I'D LIKE TO START. YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES.

GOOD EVENING, CITY COUNCIL. GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS ANDREW HERNANDEZ, THE SON OF HECTOR HERNANDEZ. FIRST OF ALL, WE SHOULDN'T BE RENAMING A PARK THAT'S ALREADY NAMED. But I would like to thank everyone present for taking the time to listen to us during the last council session regarding the renaming of the Tracy Sports Complex. I wish to encourage you all to vote in favor of the naming of the Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. This will provide Tracy with the opportunity to recognize other individual teams and organizations, pioneers in Tracy sports history beyond just soccer who contribute to establishing and developing other athletic disciplines. Tracy has come a long way in many sports since their inception and currently considered a powerhouse both regional and statewide in these disciplines. Let us vote today to recognize those upon whose shoulders today's athletics and teams stand by renaming the sports complex Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. Thank you again and everyone here for the support. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hernandez. Next speaker, please.

I have my partner in crime here. My name is Amanda Iniguez and I'm speaking on behalf of the Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. So we respectfully hope that you will consider the recommendation to rename the Tracy Sports Complex, Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. Naming the complex after a single individual, while meaningful, risks overshadowing the broader and foundational contributions made by the Tracy Soccer Club to our community. The Pioneer Soccer Club holds a unique and historic place in Tracy's history. They established the first men's soccer club in the city, followed by the first boys' and eventually girls' team. These efforts laid the groundwork for what is now the Tracy Youth Soccer League. This legacy represents not just one person, but an entire movement that shaped youth sports in Tracy for generations, past and present. Preserving the name Pioneer would honor the collective contribution and ensure that the important story continues to be recognized. For many families, including those with multiple generations rooted in Tracy, this history is deeply meaningful and deserves to be remembered. With the soccer fields already named the 1965 Soccer Club Fields, it seems both appropriate and consistent to extend that identity to the entire facility by naming it Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. Doing so would unify the space under a name that reflects its origins and enduring impact. Additionally, the individual fields and diamonds within the complex could be named after specific community members who have made a significant contribution to sports in Tracy. This approach would allow for recognition of individuals while preserving the broader pioneer legacy. For example, we have Debbie Nelson. She served as a mentor and a role model and has a big foundation in softball. Paulette Keeney, a founding participant in the Bobby Sock League in 1975. She went on to play through high school and college, then returned to Tracy to coach for over 35 years. Her contributions include coaching T-Ball, Tracy Express Softball, Tracy Little League, and leading the high school, Tracy High School's softball program to multiple championships. Her family remains in sports today. Lawrence Guillen. For nearly four decades of involvement, he coached Tracy Babe Ruth beginning in 1984, served as general manager for Miranchito Saints from 1989 to 1994, was an official scorekeeper at Tracy High School softball, and played in the Tracy Recreational Softball League from 1967 through 1994. His longstanding dedication has had a lasting impact on the community. These individuals are true pioneers whose contributions could be honored through field naming, creating a sports conflict that generally reflects the people who built Tracy's athletic community. Our goal is not to diminish anyone's contributions, but rather to ensure that the foundational history of youth sports in Tracy and the pioneers who made it possible is preserved and celebrated for generations to come.

Thank you, Ms. Niggins. Next speaker, please.

Good evening, City Council.

My name is Pancho Martinez.

We're here to support the renaming of the Pioneer Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex to have that be the new name. Here's why. I'm going to start by recognizing many of the people, the mentors and the coaches that are very instrumental bringing sports to Tracy and their dedication to youth sports. For example, Debbie Nelson, huge foundation, great job what she does for softball. Karen Tracy does a lot of great stuff for the girls. Mr. Lauren Gillian, a great mentor. Another community pillar, his dedication to the sports for nearly eight decades to youth sports. He also did softball from 1967 to 91.

He was involved with Tracy Babe Ruth.

He was a general manager for the Minerant Cheeto Saints. It's a Cal Metskin league. He's a well-respected and beloved coach throughout Tracy. Even all of his grandkids did a great job with sports programs. Paulette Kenzie, she brings a lot to the fields to girls' softball, and they're, I think, in first place right now, ready to be state champions. And a little bit about the Pioneer Soccer Club in 1965. Pioneer Soccer Club, the United Sports here in Tracy, I can't even begin to tell you how many families, great mentors like Hector Hernan, there's Mr. Cardova, Cardota, and Ruben Cardova, who's right here, another great mentor, and Mr. Iniguez, another great mentor, and the Chau family. the abundance family, many more families like the Serato family, even then a lot of stuff. It's not just Metskin history. It's the history of Tracy that they represent many generations of families who still live here and work here and organize and play sports here in Tracy. Many of them Metskins and immigrant families, which created space for communities belonging to the opportunities through the sports. They fought hard to be here. And in 1966, they started an under-18 boys team. And in the early 1970s, they created the first all-girls team. Then it became Tracy Youth Soccer League and has been under the city's umbrella to this day. And baseball, Minner and Chito Saints, Tracy Angels, Sun Valley Creamery, So naming the park to Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex will be a fitting tribute to those who worked tireless to these strong community generations.

And again, all these guys are great leaders.

And most of you guys on city council know that I do a lot of volunteer work. If it wasn't for a lot of these mentors, I wouldn't be doing what they did for me. So hopefully you guys change it through Pioneer Sports Complex.

Thank you, Mr. Martinez. Thank you. Next speaker, please.

Thank you, Mayor and City Council. I won't go too much into it because Amanda and Paunch already said quite a few. But we are here to honor and respect the pioneers. They deserve it. It's their legacy. And like previous speakers, Debbie Nelson, she was a great mentor and she was a great influence with the players and coaches and families throughout Tracy. Lawrence Gillian, I can't even say enough for his history. You have that paperwork there in front of you. You must have all of them. He was a pillar in Tracy for nearly eight decades, excuse me, to serve youth sports. He dedicated his time to softball from 1970 67 to 1991 or 1994, he was involved with a lot of the senior Bay through programs. He was a general manager, so I won't repeat that. Paula Kelly, she was a driving force behind Tracy High Varsity softball team. Her year, she dedicated for softball leagues and it's a founding participation in 1975. Her passion of the sports gave her the Hall of Fame in 2024. I can't say enough for the Sports of 1965 Pioneer Sports Club. They were, and they ignited the sports in Tracy. I can't even begin to tell you how many of the families, Hector Hernandez, the Cordova family, Ruben Cordova, some of them are still the pioneers here, the Chow family, and many more. Again, it was said, it's not just about Mexican history, it's Tracy's history. They created spaces for community belonging and opportunities for sports. They really fought hard, especially in those days, the migrant workers. If it wasn't for them, I don't know where they would be. I have a picture here. Esther Kelly couldn't be here. This was taken in 1957. I didn't have time to blow up, but these were the young men that played baseball. No uniforms, some baseball bats and gloves. And who's in the middle of that is Ray Morales. He served as a city councilor. That was back in 1957. Honored these pioneers, given the respect that they deserve, not just in soccer but baseball and their heritage and the community that came together to support them. They raised a lot of money on their own. I believe one of the Moraleses also said, There's a plaque at Sutter Hospital that they donated money, they contribute money to help build a construction for Sutter Hospital. So it's not just about one person, it's about our community. And I just want you to honor and respect the pioneers. They deserve it. And have them tell their history throughout the generations to come. Please, thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. English. I counted five. Did we have any additional speakers? Okay. Do we have any online?

There are no requests online, Mayor.

Okay. With that, I will go ahead and close the public comment period for item 4A. Return to council for discussion and or motion. Anyone like to start? Council Member Evans.

Certainly. Thank you, Mayor. I guess I just want to say, I think this has just been an interesting process. I got to admit, I didn't know as much about that area of town and that sports complex before this process started. So I want to thank all of you that have come up and voiced your opinions about this and given us a little bit of a history lesson. It's a really important honor. our past and understand our past. And sometimes I feel like we don't have enough of that. We have our historical society, and it's amazing what you can learn going down there. But you learn the most just from talking to people that have been here. I'm a newbie. I've only been here about 30 years. So it's nice hearing from people that have long legs in this community, been around a long time, and have these stories to share. So I just want to say thanks for everybody that shared their stories. Thanks.

Thank you, Council Member Evans. Council Member Nagyard? No.

I'm going to echo much of my colleagues' comments. It really enriches the community when you hear the history. I too have not been as informed of what a sports community Tracy is. It's almost like we need our own hall of fame. Because yeah, I think every single one of the residents that you've mentioned tonight should have a space somewhere to show their contribution to this community. So I think, you know, I do feel that, yes, we should continue to honor the Pioneer Sports space, that we should not, you know, change the name of their soccer fields. I do think, you know, that I am interested in hearing what other colleagues may want to share to the conversation. But I do think that the baseball fields, you know, yes, could be named. But I do think, yes, you bring such a rich history and culture to why those soccer fields were named, and they were there in the beginning of this complex. So I have no objection of, you know, saying that maybe, yes, the complex could take on the name of the Pioneers Complex, keep the soccer fields the Pioneers Soccer Fields, but offer an opportunity for the baseball fields to be named after also some of our you know, amazing leaders in this city. So I would love to hear what my colleagues would also like to add to this.

Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Bedoya.

All right. Thank you. You know, for me, I grew up using the soccer and the baseball fields at the sports complex. I thought it was interesting when we got a request to kind of rename not just that facility, but, you know, a lot of facilities in Tracy. Council's kind of name happy. I think this time I presented an opportunity. I will be supporting Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. And, you know, thank you all for coming out and pressing this. Thank you.

Mayor Pro Tem.

Yeah, thank you. I appreciate the people providing input into this. It's unfortunate when we presented this that there was some misinformation that we were going to take the name away from the soccer. And that was never... Proposed I'm very appreciative of the people who brought soccer to Tracy because my kids grew up playing in it Had a great time. I appreciated coaching in it and Met some lifelong friends. So thank you to the pioneers for bringing soccer to Tracy. I The history is all I always enjoy the history of Tracy. I really miss Sam Matthews because that man was a hit walking history book and But I'm open to whatever the flavor of the council is on this.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. As for my comments, I want to thank everyone for coming out and voicing your opinions. I think it's so important that we continue to make sure that folks in every generation hear about who came before us. And for myself personally, I'm very proud that I'm the first Mexican-American mayor in this city, but that would not have happened but for community members and activists who did the work, such as the pioneers in this generation. I really want to recognize and highlight that that is, and I respect and thank the speakers who say it isn't just about Mexican history, it is Tracy history. I think it's something that's so important that we recognize. It's all about kind of that united history that grows all of us. I do want to highlight and I want to thank Mayor Brent Ives. I was very supportive of naming this after him because this name was not among the original nominations. And the next item we'll be voting to name something after Brent Ives and I hope that this council will be on board with that. But at this time I will be supporting the Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. I just want to thank everyone for coming out voicing not just your opinions but what has gone back for several generations. So thank you for that. At this this time I will be entertaining a motion.

Motion to adopt a resolution considering the top three recommendations from the Parks and Community Service Commission and selecting Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex as the final name of the Tracy Sports Complex. Second. We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Council Member Bedoya?

Yes.

Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Mayor Pertama-Ivercombe?

Yes.

Mayor Areola?

Yes. Thank you. All right. Congratulations to the Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. That brings us to item 4B. Staff report, please.

Thank you, Mayor, members of Council, Brian McDonald, Parks, Recreation, and Community Services Director, Item 4B is during the council items on February 17th, 2026, Mayor Pro Tem Steve Abercrombie requested with support from Mayor Dan Areola that staff bring back an agenda item to name the ball fields at the Tracy Sports Complex after former Mayor Tracy Mayor Brent Ives as an alternative to renaming the entire complex after Mr. Ives. So with that concludes my staff report and here for questions.

Thank you, Mr. McDonald. I just want to clarify, when we received the report last time, what were the top three recommendations?

Are you referring to item 4A?

No, no, when we had previous public input, what were the recommendations?

There wasn't, Mayor, because this is part of our new policy where we can name a section of a complex, not the entire, that's why. Understood. Thank you.

Any additional council questions? Seeing none, this time we'll go out for public comment. Would any members of the public like to speak on item 4B? Seeing one. That would be for, seeing two. This is for naming the ball fields for Mayor Brent Ives. I saw two hands raised. That'll be four minutes per speaker. Please proceed.

Good evening, Mayor, council members and staff. Thank you again for item previously. I'm coming up here because we just spoke about the Pioneer Sports Conflicts. And I don't know if many of you are aware that Tracy High, they play the softball tournaments there, a lot of competitive games at officially Pioneer Sports Conflicts. So with that being said, I would like to suggest, because this wasn't sent out to public for 30 days because you have the discretion to name portions of facilities or parks, but I'd like to recommend Brent Ives for one of the baseball fields, Debbie Nelson, Lawrence Gillian, and Paulette for the reasons that we spoke earlier, the contributions they did, especially All three of them, Debbie, Lawrence, and then to softball and the baseball and the history behind it. And I know previous Brian Ives, I read things about him before when they opened up the sports complex that his contribution or supporting softball. And I read that in different articles three years after the same thing. So it's why I think that one of the fields should be named after Burne-Ives. And I know that's what's on the agenda, but also recommend the other three with that. The four baseball fields, two baseball fields, and the other two are softball when the young women play there. I was just recently there and it was packed with Tracy High students. And one of them spoke really highly of one of the ladies that we spoke about earlier. So please consider that. It's not taking away from Brent Ives, cuz we're still gonna be honoring him on one of the baseball fields. But at the same time, this will make a huge difference when people go say, I'm going to Brent Ives' field, or I'm gonna go to Lawrence Gillian's field, or I'm gonna go to this. It's a proud thing to do, and it will reflect the Pioneer Sports Complex. When people will see that, already 1965 sports soccer club, they have like 20 names. So we don't have to worry about that because that plaque is going to be there hopefully forever as well. So they will be recognized on that platform. So that is the only thing I strongly suggest. If you please consider the other three names with Brent Ives. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. English. Next speaker, please.

Thank you, Genghis. Hey, I just want to piggyback off of Alice. I think if you change that name to one individual, I think that's a slap in the face for our community because that's now Pioneers, right? It's not named after one individual. It's named after a heritage of mentors, our whole group. And I think it'd be great if you could name a softball field after him. But you also have now what's called Pioneers. You should recognize Pioneers. all those people in the Pioneer League, like Mr. Gillian, two great softball community people, Debbie Nelson and Paulette. And you can name Brent Ives as, that'll be four names right there. That's four fields. Still be Pioneer's sports complex. For now, for example, Tracy Sports Complex, right? If you ran the soccer fields, what's it called? Do you guys know what it's called when you rent a soccer field at Sports Complex? I'll take that as a no. So when you rent a field out there, it's called, you rent the field and it's called Tracy Sports Complex. They don't recognize Pioneer Soccer Fields. And city staff will let you know that. So anytime you rent something, so it's going to be another slap in the face if you name that. softball field an individual's name. Because again, it'll be another slap in the face to the Mexican community. And again, they don't get recognized here in Tracy. Like you guys said, there should be a Hall of Fame. Guys that know the history about Pioneer Soccer and all the stuff they did with the soccer and the youth sports and stuff. But again, I think you should not name the softball field. You should name each field an individual name. And yeah, I think Brent Ives could have bill number one as Brent Ives bill, Mr. Gillian bill number two and vice versa. But if you do name the softball fields after individual, I think it's a slap in the face to our community.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Martinez. Do you have any additional speakers? Seeing. We needed to come up to the speaker, please. We would need you to come to the speaker. We can only take comment from the microphone. I believe this is 90 seconds after the original speakers.

That's correct, Mayor.

Okay, I just have a question. I just want to know what did Brett Ives do for this city that everybody thinks that he should have something named after him? I'm not saying that you shouldn't have something named after you and you and you and you and you. I mean, I just want to know what did he do besides be a mayor? Anybody got an answer for me? I don't know. I do not know. I'm asking a question.

This is your time, ma'am, so you can make your comments.

Pardon?

This is your time, so you can go ahead and make your comments.

To make another comment?

This is your time. You can make your comments, ma'am.

Right. I don't have any comment. I just have a question. Okay. Nobody can answer my question?

Ma'am, public comments for you to make a statement. It's not a question and answer session between you and the council.

Well, excuse me. You know... So how do you find out what this gentleman did that was so great? Do you want to tell me? Out there in the hallway or something? I know it's not a question and answer situation, but I'm trying to find out why his name keys were brought up.

Thank you for your comments, Michelle. All right, we'll take, the next speaker would be 90 seconds.

I'M JUST GOING TO TRY TO JUST KIND OF PIGGYBACK ON WHAT ALICE AND PONCH HAD SAID. WITH SAY PAULETTE KEENEY BEING THE FOUNDING PARTICIPANT IN THE BOBBY SOCK LEAGUE STARTING IN 1975 AND BEING CONTRIBUTING OVER 35 YEARS OF HERSELF TO THE YOUTH OF TRACY. ALSO LAWRENCE GUILLEN. Debbie Nelson. These are true pioneers. It's consistent with the 1965 Tracy Pioneer Soccer Club. So this is where all of this is coming from. To keep it a true pioneer theme or however we want to say it, just the pattern of it being pioneers. And like I said, include Brent Ives in that. The other thing too is, you know, Brent Ives did, if you don't guys, don't cut me off. So, Brent Ives has, he's given many contributions. And there's going to be other opportunities to recognize Mr. Ives in ways that do not unintentionally diminish the collective legacy of the Pioneer Soccer Club, such as naming a future park, a facility, or another civic project in his honor.

Thank you, Ms. Anikas. Next speaker, please.

Hello, Mayor and Council. I wasn't expecting to speak, but since This came up about a few things. I'm Eva Villalobos. I've been here for a very long time with my family. A long history, real short. My dad's Louis Villalobos and my grandfather's Louis Jr. My father-in-law is Hector Hernandez. I'm related to this side. The Vasquez Trucking also was part of the soccer. And Brent Ives was a very good family member of the Villalobos family. Sorry, allergies are acting up. We asked... about the pioneers. There's so many pioneers and we really need to focus on who was really the foundation. Brent Ives was part of the softball men's team. He also helped my dad coach with the women's for years and years and years and years. He also did so many. He donated to the Tracy Latin Athletic Club, which I would like to throw into the hat for one of the parks. We've been around for 55 years. We've been low key because family members have moved away, got sick, looking at the time clock. So long story short, Larry Gillian, My dad, the Palominos were all part of the Tracy Latin Athletic Club. The Cardovas, my father-in-law, Hector Hernandez, and a lot of people sitting here have contributed to the foundation. The Tracy Latin Athletic Club didn't only provide for sports and baseball, football, scoreboards. They gave the first uniforms to the West High and also the boxing. So don't forget that. Thank you.

Thank you. Do we have any additional speakers? It would be 90 seconds. All right. Do we have any online?

No requests online, Mayor.

All right. With that, we'll go ahead and close out public comment for Item 4B, return for further discussion and a motion.

I'll start. I had the pleasure of serving with Mayor Ives. I've learned several things about him as I've gone through this process. He definitely is a man. He's a man of Tracy. He's a long resident here. He's provided a lot to our youth and to our community. I don't like it when it starts getting nasty and that's not necessary, right? You can voice your opinion without attacking people. That doesn't benefit anybody. But I was the original one that proposed naming, recognizing Mayor Ives for all of his hard work and dedication to our community, and I still support naming it after Mr. Mayor Brent Ives.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. Council Member Evans.

Thank you, Mayor. So I definitely support naming one of the parks or one of the fields after Mr. Ives, although I did hear the community and I feel like we do have an opportunity to break out multiple parts. And so I guess my hope would be that we could, I feel like this is going to a good place either way, but the intent here is very positive and I'm glad we're doing this, but- I feel like we can sort of, we've got an opportunity to hit all the points here. And I guess my preference would be to determine a list of names for each of the fields, but I'm not clear exactly on what all the names are. And so I heard various names and I wasn't clear if all the lists were the same or if there were a few different names and different ideas. So I'd like to get some clarity on what those names are, but I would prefer that we break it out and give an opportunity to have multiple past leaders and current leaders, whatever it may be, recognized on those fields. So that would be my preference. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Evans. Council Member Nygaard.

So I do support that suggestion that, yes, we're talking about, like many of the residents tonight stated, our early pioneers in these two sports. So I think it would be a great idea to draft a list of these pioneers, one for each of the four baseball fields to have named after our long-time time, you know, historians. And yes, I do want to make sure that we include Brent Ives as one of those four fields. So I do like that suggestion and would support it.

Please, look, I don't mind the idea. I think that's actually a good idea.

But let's keep it pure and keep it pioneers. Take all four fields after pioneers. Why is it

Mr. Ives, would you please come? Can I entertain a motion to suspend the rules to reopen public comment?

I make a motion to suspend the rules and allow Mr. Ives to speak. Second. We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Mayor Areola?

Yes.

Council Member Vidalia?

Sure. Thank you. Council Member Evans? Yes. Thank you.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Thank you.

All right. And so that was to allow the named individual to speak.

I'll take just a short time. Thank you. I appreciate what the pioneers are saying. I think the soccer fields, I voted on the ability for the, on the name of the pioneers back in 2003. Four. I can't remember. It's a long time. But All of that history of that park is something I've been involved in right from the very get-go of the inception of that park. And I think that's why the idea came that, hey, let's name the complex after Brent because he I don't want to puff anything up here, but the idea was mine. The movement, the development, the finishing, the number of trees, the slope on the soccer fields, the height of the backstops, all of that was me and a good park and rec director we had at the time. And so I think that was where the idea came from. However, what's emerged in the meantime is the pioneers have come up with a great idea It's not just about just the soccer field, but the soccer fields are there. But it's also about, if we're going to make it pioneers, Larry Gillian and I played softball together for... 15 years, Louis Villalobos, Larry Lara, Jimmy Lara, all those guys and me played softball together. It was my reason for getting involved in the City of Tracy. All of you got involved for some reason. My reason was softball. My reason, I went to this city manager, I said, why can't we have better softball fields? And so it became my mission to get that field. And so that was a lot of the reason why that became important. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Ives. Okay, with that, I believe we were with Councilmember Nygaard. Did you finish your comments? Okay, thank you, Councilmember Bedoya.

I'd like to hear kind of where council consensus is on this to see if it's going to be decided today or, you know, kind of gone for public process or, you know, semi-public process. You know, original motion makers kind of want to see where you guys are after tonight's discussion.

Yes, and Mayor and Council, just to clarify, the item before you tonight is to name all the fields after Brunei. That's how it was noticed on the Brown Act, and that's consistent with our policy. So no additional changes could be made this evening or no additional additions because we would need to notice it properly under the Brown Act. But you all could, you know, depending on what your decision is, if you were not to name the entirety of that, those fields after Mr. Ives and then give direction for staff, you know, consistent with what Council Members Evans was saying, and to come back and name individual fields, we could set that for a future meeting. Understood. Thank you, Mr. Nafusi.

May I pretend I saw you looking? Understood. All right. Well, thank you. Thank you, everyone, for speaking. That was a lot. I want to thank the mostly respectful conversation. And I want to take a moment to thank Mayor Brent Ives for coming up. I think it's very important that we heard your voice today. I want to acknowledge that I also grew up in the city of Tracy. Mayor Brent Ives is, I believe, the longest serving elected official in the history of the city. He was involved in so many distinct parts of the city, including the sports complex, including the building that we are currently sitting in. And I said it last time, when I think of who is the mayor of Tracy, I don't think of myself, I think of Brent Ives. So I want to take a moment to thank you for your time. I also want to respect the voice of Mr. Ives, and if he would prefer his consideration to be elsewhere, I want to honor and respect that. So with that, I will be seeking what we've heard in public. I will be supporting future naming of individual fields by individual pioneers. And I hope that in any future naming that we will take consideration of Mayor Brent Ives for a future item because I do think he is deserving of something being honored in his name as well in the city.

Mayor, if I may, so what I'm hearing is that you'd like a motion denying staff's recommendation and directing staff to return with an item to rename the four ball fields with four distinct names. And staff would need some direction as to what those four names would be, as we have no indication about what those four names would be. And forgive me, for the record, Arturo Sanchez, Assistant City Manager. And so at this time, if it is the will of the council to provide that direction via motion, they would also need to provide some direction as to how we will ascertain those names. We have no process for doing that in the individual naming of these ball fields currently in your policy.

UNDERSTOOD. I MEAN, GIVEN THAT THERE WERE MORE THAN FOUR PIONEERS AND ONLY FOUR BALL FIELDS, I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE GET PUBLIC INPUT AS TO WHICH SPECIFIC FIELDS WOULD BE NAMED AFTER WHO. SO COULD WE

in our motion have it go through the process, which we did, where it goes to Parks Commission to collect the input and then they provide their recommendation to Council. Is that a possibility?

We could, that is, I mean, but they can, by way of direction, provide an exception to the policy. Excuse me, sorry for having an off Council response. You could But is it limited to just the pioneers? No, no.

I'm just saying recruit names for each individual ball field. Right.

So four ball fields, recruit names to be submitted to the commission, the commission to make recommendations for each ball field. Correct. Yes, you could. Okay.

Do we have any objection from council as to that process? Seeing no objection.

I would just like to get clarification. So we can use a similar process that we use for our other ball fields, get names from the public. Are you asking that they be limited to names that are associated with the pioneers?

Just in general.

I just want to be clear that anyone can submit a name. And then, Mayor and Council, then may I suggest that you go through this process incrementally and then first, you know, as the assistant city manager suggested, make a motion to deny the recommendation of naming all the ball fields, make a motion to suspend the rules such that you make, you know, amend the policy to go through a public process to get names for the four ball fields, I think would be the best way to kind of get that memorialized this evening.

Okay.

Okay. This time I move to deny the Staff's recommendation for resolution approving the naming of the ball fields at Tracy Sports Complex after one Tracy Mayor Brent Ives. Second. We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Arielov?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Council Member Doya?

Yes.

Council Member Evans? Yes. Council Member Nygaard? Yes.

Thank you. This time I move to suspend the rules to allow a related motion. Second. We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Arreola?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Councilman Rudoya?

Yes.

Councilman Ravins?

Yes.

Councilman Renegard? Yes. Thank you.

All right. At this time, I would move that we go through the regular naming process for each of the individual ball fields at the Tracy Pioneer Sports Complex. Second. We have first and second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie? Yes. Excuse me, Mayor Arreola?

Yes.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Council Member Virgilio?

Yes.

Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Thank you.

All right. Thank you, everyone. This is a bit complicated, but we thank you for your time. Thank you to the Ives family for your presence here. And we look forward to continued naming of the individual ball fields. Thanks. This time we'll go to... We'll move to item 4C. It's related to the water expansion project. Could a staff report please? We can go ahead and allow a minute for people to leave.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

All right, I'm gonna go ahead and ask for a staff report to please begin on item 4C. So your microphone is not on.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. For the record, my name is Anush Najjar, Director of Public Works. Tonight, I have an update for you on the recycled water expansion program. The City of Tracy has been working to implement a city-wide recycled water program to reduce potable water use. Recycled water is for the use on irrigation system and is subject to State Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Board regulation under Title 22 permit. As new developments have occurred in the city, projects have either installed purple pipeline or paid impact fees. Purple pipe is specifically used for recycled water distribution. In 2016, the city received the Title 22 permit for the use of recycled water. In 2017 and 2022, $18 million and $20 million respectively were received from Department of Water Resources for expansion of the program. In 2026, the city completed the recycled water program to Legacy Field, which is now operational. This graphic here shows the recycled water master plan. The program is being implemented phase by phase, and hopefully in the future we will have the entire system built. The CIP Project 74168 is the next phase of the expansion project. It includes two main components, a pipeline project along Lammers Road to southern area of the city and construction of a new pump station at the corner of Lammers and Schulte. This map shows the two project location. These projects would deliver recycled water to legacy lakes in particular. In 2022, the city received an additional $20 million grant from Department of Water Resources to implement this project. Two contracts were awarded, one to Mozingo and the other one to Sabu Construction Companies. The agreement had a three-year term ending on March 31, 2026. During the course of construction, the city encountered a number of delays, including obtaining permits from the railroad and PG&E. These added two additional years to the contract duration. As indicated, the grant term expired on March 31, 2026. Currently, the pipeline project is about 90% complete, and the pump station project is about 15% complete. Over the past 18 months, staff has been working with our lobbyists, state legislators, and Department of Water Resources to request a grant extension for the 26-27 state budget. Our lobbyists had initially anticipated that we would get notification by the end of March. However, this has not been confirmed yet. We now have developed three options for council consideration, and we would like to get council's direction on these three options. Option one is to continue the pipeline project, which is 90% complete. We have sufficient funds in the recycled water impact fees to pay for the work. It is expected that expenditure will be about $700,000. However, if the budget extension is not approved, the city cannot seek reimbursement. Option two is to carry both projects through the end of July. We expect a final response to the budget extension by this date. Again, we have sufficient funds that are available in the recycled impact fees program to pay for this work. The expenditure will be approximately $1.6 million. Option three is to complete both projects. This option will require an additional $3.8 million in loan against general funds and the use of existing recycled water balance. In summary, we have three options to proceed with the construction of the project, which is critical component of the citywide recycled water delivery program. At this time, staff is recommending option two, continuing both projects until at least the end of July. At that time, we will return to the council with either a confirmation of approval of the grant extension or a request for general fund loan to complete both projects. If the grant extension is approved, we can seek reimbursement for the expenditures. We will also return to Council at the next appropriate time to seek resolutions for any funding allocation that is required for the project. That concludes my presentation, and I would be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Do we have any additional Council questions?

Council Member Nygaard.

Just to clarify, right now both of these projects are under full construction and contracted, as you said, with those two agencies, correct? Correct. Okay. So if we were to pause one, we could face fines or possible litigation? Is that a possibility?

Yes. We potentially will get claims from the contractor with their mobilization costs and other costs. Okay. Correct.

So, yeah, thank you very much. I just wanted to clarify that.

All right. Thank you. And then just so just to confirm, option two would, the intent would be to proceed for full completion. It just allows a little pause to see if we qualify for the grant reimbursement.

Yes. So option two will take us to the end of July. By July, we will come back to the council and give you a report on the status of the extension of the grant. Or at that point, we request a loan from general funds.

Understood. Thank you. All right. With that, we'll go out for a public comment on item 4C related to the recycled water project. Do we have any members of the audience that would like to speak on this item? Seeing none in chambers, do we have any online?

No requests online, Mayor.

with that we'll go ahead and close out the public comment portion for item 4c we'll return to council for additional discussion and or a motion um my my feeling is i i'm in support of staff recommendation for option two is there anyone who objects to option two okay with that i'll entertain a motion first mayor i'll make a motion to receive an information report

And direct staff to option number two for the Recycled Water Expansion Project Capital Improvement Project 74168 and request that staff return with necessary resolutions, budget adjustments, and or funding requests at the next available City Council meeting.

I'll second.

We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Council Member Loya?

Yes.

Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Mayor Arreola?

Yes.

Thank you.

All right. That takes care of item 4C. Next up, we'll move to item 4D related to water user rates. Staff report, please.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Sarah Castro, Director of Finance. The item before you tonight, we are returning with a request to schedule a public hearing and consider initiating the Prop 218 process regarding our water rates. With us tonight on the phone is our outside legal counsel as well as our rate consultant for any technical questions. And I will turn it over to Stephanie Highstand to give the presentation.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor Arreola, members of the City Council and staff. Thank you for allowing me to present today's agenda item on the proposed water rate adjustments. My name is Stephanie Reyna-Highstand. I'm the Assistant Director of Public Works Utilities Division. Today, I'll walk you through the final draft 2026 water rate study prepared by Black & Veatch, the minor refinements that have been made since the February 17th council direction, why investments are urgently needed, the projected bill impacts, and the Prop 218 process staff is recommending be initiated. Staff will provide a full or have provided a full staff report and complete April 2026 draft final study in your packet for reference, and we will keep this presentation brief for clarity. As a quick recap, on February 17th, 2026, City Council directed staff to proceed with scenario one, the proactive fix-it-before-it-fails financial plan developed in partnership with our consultants Black and Veach. Since that meeting, Black & Veatch has finalized the draft 2026 rate study, dated March 26, 2026. The study fully incorporates City Council's direction and presents a complete five-year financial plan, cost of service analysis, and proposed rates for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. The study is still considered in draft form until approved at a public hearing. There were three clerical errors identified in the draft rate study and the Proposition 218 notice. The Table 3-3 and 5-3 and the Prop 218 notice all showed the commercial rate as $1.92 per unit. The posted and actual current rate is $2.18 a unit. This will be corrected prior to the Proposition notice being mailed and the draft rate study being adopted. All legal requirements are satisfied by the Prop 218 process and based on the recent California Appellate Court decision, a uniform volumetric consumption charge has been established. Two helpful refinements were made during the finalization. First, the requested loan from the general fund for rate stabilization has been reduced from $2 million to $1 million. Second, the revenue adjustment percentages were lowered slightly while still funding every element of the plan. These changes provided a modest reduction in near-term rate pressure for our customers without compromising the long-term health of the utility. This table shows the exact differences between the February draft and the March 26 draft. In fiscal year, the adjustment decreases from 35% to 32%. Fiscal year 2029, it decreases from 7% to 5%. And in fiscal year 31, there's an error on this slide. It should be from 3%, it increases to 5%. The other two years stay the same. These refinements were possible after finalizing expense timing, capital project cash flow, reserve modeling. Importantly, even with these lower percentages, the plan continues to generate sufficient revenue to cover all operating expenses, debt service coverage at 1.2, full funding of the $68.5 million capital program, the phased staffing additions, and all target reserves. This gives the City a balanced approach that protects both the utility's future and our ratepayers. The City Council selected Scenario 1 from our February 17th regular meeting, and it was designed to deliver the strongest long-term stability for our water utility. It fully funds the 68.5 million in rate payer funded capital improvement projects that were identified in the 2023 master plan and actually physical identified project needs by staff. This averages to about 13.7 million dollars per year. These projects include critical items such as the John Jones water treatment plant, upflow clarifier project, and extensive transmission and distribution pipeline replacements. It also includes the phased addition of 29 full-time equivalent positions over five years. The staffing plan will allow the utility staff to move from a reactive break-fix mode to the modern, more proactive asset management and preventative maintenance program. Financially, the plan maintains a minimum 1.2 debt service coverage ratio and funds all prudent reserves. An operating reserve equal to 120 days of cash, a capital replenishment reserve, and a new rate stabilization reserve supported by the $1 million general fund loan. Finally, the proposed rate structure retains meter-sized based fixed changes while moving to a single uniform volumetric consumption charge for all consumer classes. This is a structure that is fully compliant with regulatory requirements. Why this action now? For many years, the City of Tracy's water system has operated with a significant deferred capital maintenance program and staffing levels that were below industry standards. The current utility staffing is roughly half of the recommended American Water Works Association median for a city of our size and of our demand. As a result, many of the essential preventative programs such as systemic valve exercising, unidirectional flushing, meter testing and replacement, and comprehensive asset management through our new CMS have not been performed at the recommended required frequencies. This has left the city in a reactive posture, responding to emergencies rather than preventing them. If the city were to continue on this path, the consequences could be severe. emergency repairs that cost three to five times more than planned work, prolonged service outages, increased non-revenue water losses, reduced fire flow capacity, heightened risk of regulatory violations, and potential impacts to public health. The selected rate plan directly addresses these risks by funding the full capital maintenance program and the 29 new positions needed for these preventative maintenance programs. This investment will extend the life of all of our assets. It will improve system reliability. It will reduce the long-term cost and provide the high-quality, safe drinking water our residents expect and deserve. Let's look at what this means for a typical single-family residential customer. For a home with a three-quarter inch meter that uses 16 units of water per month, this is a common summer usage amount. The current bill is $44.50. Under the proposed fiscal year 2027 rate, that bill would increase to $69.31, an increase of $24.81. While this is a noticeable change, it is important to note that even after the increase, the city will move from having the lowest water rates in the region to mid-range, still competitive with our neighboring communities. The $1 million general fund loan helps to reduce the fiscal year 27 impact. In addition, the city provides a discount through its low income rate assistance program so that qualifying residents, households continue to receive meaningful support. The detailed bill impact table for various usage levels is included in the staff report for your review. Next steps. If the council approves the resolution today, staff will immediately begin the formal Proposition 218 process. What that means is tomorrow, April 8th, the full draft final rate study and the Proposition 218 notice will be posted on the city's website at 2026waterratesatcityoftracy.org. Notices will be mailed to every affected parcel no later than April 17th, 2026, providing the legally required 45-day review and comment period. The public hearing would be scheduled for June 2nd, 2026, at which time you, the city council members, will consider any timely written protests and decide whether to adopt the proposed rate if a majority of protests have not been received. If adopted, the new rates would take effect on July 1st, 2026. Throughout the process, staff will be available to answer questions. We'll make the rate study available to anyone who requests it. A dedicated FAQ page and email address are already live to begin answering resident questions. This plan represents a responsible forward looking investment in our water infrastructure and our operations. It will reverse years of deferred maintenance, improve system reliability, protect the public health, ensure sustainable service for decades to come, while keeping rates as affordable as possible through the refinements made. In summary, staff recommends that the City Council adopt an amended resolution using Scrivener's errors to include, approve the notice of intent to increase the monthly water rate, water user rates, initiate proceedings under Prop 218, schedule a public hearing for June 2nd, and authorize the city manager or designee to take all actions necessary to implement the resolution. Thank you for your time and attention. Staff are happy to answer any questions you may have, and our outside legal counsel and consultants are also available by phone as well.

Thank you. Do we have any counsel questions? Council Member Bedoya.

thank you um i do understand the need to invest in our system i'm just seeing if there's a way to possibly do it where we're not hitting residents so hard in year year one is there any way that year one can like the increase can be reduced for year one and spread over over the other years just because i know you know i know we're doing this because of because it hasn't been done for a few years um to me a jump of a potential jump of a $45 bill to a $70 bill, it's kind of hard, you know, to go from year one to year zero to zero, sorry, year zero to year one. Does staff have any, like, if that was to be lowered and smoothed out, does that, like, hurt us up front a lot? Yeah, thank you.

Council Member Bedoya, I can answer that. The reason for the rate increase being larger up front is because the city has a legal requirement to meet our debt coverage ratio. And in order to meet that ratio in year one, it requires a larger increase. From there on out, you start to see it stabilize and decline, needing less increase in revenue to maintain that ratio.

Not much wiggle room there. Okay. Okay. All right.

All right. Thank you. Any additional questions? Seeing none. I just wanted to confirm, I understand that debt ratio requirements, but I want to confirm when the council evaluated the three options that were before us in February, the difference between the options was around $3. Was that about correct? And that $3 difference allows us to actually catch up in all of the deferred maintenance and get to best practices for water and wastewater. Is that correct?

For water.

For water, excuse me.

Yes.

Understood. Thank you. All right. With that, we will go out for public comment on item 4D. Would anyone like to speak? Can I please see hands so I can see how much time we'll allow? Okay. We'll allow four minutes.

I'll be quick. I'm very much in favor of this. I believe in Not stacking up maintenance. When you have deferred maintenance, you have debt. When you have accidents and you're constantly reacting to problems, it costs you more. Preventative maintenance is the name of the game. I'm in favor. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Hall. Do we have any additional speakers on this item? Seeing none in chambers, do we have any online?

Not online, Mayor. Okay.

Okay. With that, we'll go ahead and close out the public comment portion for item 4D. We'll return to council. Is there any additional discussion? Council Member Evans?

Mayor, the only comment I have is, I guess, to staff. I know you are working on an item to bring back before council to ensure that our city staff is... going to be on a two-year process to ensure that we are continuously reevaluating. Public understands incremental increases, you know, every couple of years or whatever. Costs go up. They don't come down. They don't understand giant, you know, large increases. So I just want to ensure we are in progress to bring that before council. That was approved this evening. Excellent. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

Any additional discussion? The only thing I wanted to also ask was, I just wanted to confirm, can you explain to the public how can they learn more about LERA, our low income rate assistance program?

I can answer that, Mayor. So the city's low-income rate assistance program is open to all customers that also receive PG&E's discount for income-based requirements. They can find more information out about that on the city's website, the finance department page. There are requirements as well as an application of what to submit, and you can email applications to customerservice at cityoftracy.org.

Thank you, Ms. Castro. And just wanted to highlight, I don't think anyone is in support of increasing rates, you know, without reason. I think this is very necessary to meet our deferred maintenance needs. We want to make sure that we're not reactionary. We want to make sure that we don't have any public health crises in this city. I believe that this is the most prudent strategy to do so. This time I will entertain a motion.

Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to adopt a resolution approving a notice of intent to schedule a public hearing to consider adopting increased monthly water usage rates and initiating proceedings under Proposition 218.

I'll second.

We have a first and a second. Roll call, please.

Yes. And, Mayor, I just wanted to clarify the motion is also to include, as amended, the Disgrivener's Error and the City Manager's Authorities.

I apologize, yes, as amended to the percent increase. And do we have a second on that?

I'll second.

Thank you. We have a first and a second as amended. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Abercrombie?

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard? Yes. Council Member Rosalia?

Yes.

Council Member Evans?

Yes.

Mayor Areola? Yes. Thank you.

Mayor, can I make a... Yes. Quick clarification to Council Member Evans' question. I believe I heard you say two years. There are five-year increments that we come back, but that we begin the process so that we can be back every five years for the different utilities. Is it five years? It's five years. Okay. Okay. Thanks.

But, yes, we did capture your call's direction, and that was approved this evening.

Okay. When you say it was approved this evening, what did you mean, I guess?

In consent.

Oh, okay. Gotcha. Yeah.

Thank you. All right, that brings us to item 4E, that is the five-year forecast. Staff report, please.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Sarah Castro, Finance Director. May I have the PowerPoint, please? The item before you tonight is going to review the city's five-year forecast of the general fund. Our five-year forecast is our annual five-year plan. It starts our budget planning process. We presented this item to the Finance Committee last month, and now we are here incorporating recommendations from the committee. The forecast does include our adopted 2025 through 2027 strategic priorities, any past, current, and projected financial conditions, and our known economic conditions. In this presentation, we're going to review the economic outlook, the general fund's fiscal sustainability, our revenue and expenditure trends. We'll get into the forecast, and we'll discuss next steps with fiscal sustainability strategies, as well as the next steps in the budget process. Tracy's local economy remains stable with expanded new job growth. There are over 4,000 businesses in Tracy, with over half of those being small businesses. We maintain a 4.6% unemployment rate that is lower than that of the county and state, with their unemployment rates being 6.3% and 5.1%, respectively. A healthy household median income of $118,000. Our home sales have remained steady. While prices have declined slightly over the prior year, the cities trended higher than our county's median price of $505,000. Tracy does remain much more affordable than our neighboring Bay Area homes, which continues to drive residential home sales. We also continue to work on our adopted economic development strategic plan, which is our 10-year roadmap to maintain and expand our tax base. We plan to do this by bringing new retail amenities, getting resources out to small businesses, and partnering with advanced industries. We are still awaiting some of the legislative changes at the federal and state level. So we have a little bit of unknown impact in the area of tariffs, future grant funding, as well as the state's budget. The state's budget previously showed quite a deficit. We are awaiting the May revised so that we can see those final impacts and know if any are going to impact the city's budget. We'll continue to monitor this and report out with any significant impact. We'll incorporate those changes as well into our proposed budget. Looking at the general funds fiscal sustainability, going back to fiscal year 22, sales tax allocation changed for one of our major e-commerce businesses here in Tracy. That resulted in increased sales tax for the city. Since that time, Council has made investments in one-time capital projects, deferred maintenance, and committed to paying down liabilities. Over those past four fiscal years, that has looked like a total of $53.5 million in fiscal sustainability strategies aimed towards putting the city in a good financial position by managing those long-term debts, tackling deferred maintenance, and really getting ahead of some of our deferred liabilities. And these $53.5 million in strategic strategies strategies for our general fund, those are in addition to increases that we have made in other areas with capital projects, service level increases, and things of that sort. We're going to take a look at our revenue and expenditure trends. Looking at property tax, so new housing units combined with commercial development have really contributed to some steady growth in property tax over the last several years. While new home construction has began to slow, the modest declines that we've been seeing in interest rates have really supported single home family sales. Our property tax revenues do lag by about 12 to 18 months behind the market activity. So that means the sales that occurred last calendar year are what's going to inform our budget for the upcoming fiscal year. So looking at the short term, we're anticipating 4% to 5% growth, approximately about $1.7 million to $2 million range. And outer in that long-term area, we're looking at about slowing down to that 2% growth, which is that annual growth cap with Prop 13, and looking at about $1 to $1.5 million annually increasing in revenue. In looking at our sales tax, the city was recently notified that one of our prominent fulfillment centers plan to go offline in June 2026. During the time that the fulfillment center is down, it plans to convert over to a distribution center. We see an estimated sales tax decline of about $13 million annually with this one fulfillment center's change. At this point, the business has not told the city, it's a little undetermined at this point in time, if the fulfillment will be rerouted to other Tracy fulfillment centers or if it's going to get routed to other cities. So we are anticipating worst case scenario at this point so that we do not overextend ourselves. Staff is going to monitor this. We're going to report back during our mid-year budget. So just kind of as a reminder too with sales tax, The activity that's going to occur in that July, August, September quarter, we're going to see those sales tax receipts following the next quarter. So around that December, January time is when we're going to start to see this decline in revenue and really have a better understanding of what that full impact looks like. As we look at our other general fund revenues, our business license tax is expecting 3% growth in the short term. That looks like about $0.3 million annually. And in the long term, we're anticipating 1% to 2% growth, about $0.1 million annually. Our transient occupancy tax is our hotel tax. In the short term, we're looking at about 10% growth. There are some hotels under construction that we are anticipating to come online within the next year. That should generate about $0.2 million annually. And in the long term, there are additional hotels that are either in the development or construction process that we do see coming online in future years. So that should bring about $0.3 million annually in those outer years. Our cannabis tax is a component of business tax. It is an additional tax on the cannabis industry. In the short term, we're looking at about 3% growth, which equates to $0.2 million annually. And in that long term, a stable 1% to 2% growth, just around $100,000. I'm going to round it that way, instead of $0.1 million. This chart depicts the historical and our forecasted general fund revenues. It goes back to fiscal year 20, all the way before our change in sales tax allocation. So as you can see, our total general fund revenues were just over $16 million during that time. And since that change in fiscal year 22, the city's overall revenues have continued to increase with more than 50% of the general fund's revenue coming from sales tax. Looking at our interest earnings, the city earns interest on all our funds that are invested by the city treasurer. Those funds are then allocated proportionally across city funds. So meaning water, sewer, general fund, all the different city funds that we maintain. In recent years, we've seen much higher interest rates. Those have helped support the city's revenues. We will mention in the forecast we're going to see some expected decline in the short-term interest rates. The city does maintain a strategy of short, medium, and longer-term investments, so we're talking just the shorter-term investments seeing some interest rate decline. When we talk about the interest allocation, a topic that does come up and is worth noting here in the forecast is our Measure V. The interest that's generated from Measure V is included in the general fund's interest allocation. In previous fiscal year, we had discussion with council and based upon direction, staff is reviewing that allocation that is specific to Measure V annually. And during the annual update of Measure V, staff will provide and facilitate discussion regarding that amount of interest and determine if council has any appetite to move that interest allocation from the general fund to the Measure V fund. This discussion will occur annually. There are some significant projects with a fund built up in Measure V that have contributed to the larger amount of interest earnings in that fund. In looking at our expenditure trends, salary and benefits make up the largest portion of the city's expenditure in the general fund. Our labor contracts last year completed four-year approval of a contract. They include 4% cost of living increases annually. Beyond those contracts, we are looking at 1% to 2% growth. And in our non-personnel category, we have accounted for 3% growth for inflation. And in that longer-term forecast, we're looking at 1% to 2% growth. Getting into our forecasts, I want to take a moment to talk about sales tax. There's a topic related to e-commerce that we have had a lot of discussions on in the past and recently. I want to provide an update for those on the latest related to this topic. So the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration studied changing the sales tax allocation method for e-commerce related transactions from point of fulfillment to point of delivery. The study showed that if such a change were to occur, Tracy's allocation would be impacted by 25% or greater, and we estimate that to be in the 25 to $30 million range. After that study was completed, the League of California Cities formed a city manager sales tax working group. This group met for about a year or two, and they were providing input on possible legislation changes specific to this e-commerce study. What could some compromise be? Upon completion of that city manager's working group, the recommendation was made to the Cal City's Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee. That recommendation was to split the allocation 50% based on point of sale and 50% based on point of destination with a plus or minus factor of 10% and a five-year phase-in. That committee then voted to make a recommendation to the Cal City's board. On February 20th, the Cal Cities conducted their board meeting, and the board heard the following recommendation that came from the Revenue and Taxation Policy Committee. It includes these six items that are up on the screen here, which include the 50-50 split of the Bradley Burns sales tax, The revenue and taxation policy committee did change that 10% plus or minus to a 5% flexibility band. They recommended prospective application excluding any revenues from existing sales tax sharing agreements. They wanted a five-year phase-in following CDTFA's implementation. And then they included a new component that had not been discussed with the city manager's working group that came out of this revenue and taxation committee. They included a 20% volatility band that would allow cities to reallocate revenues when a city gained more than 20%. They could give that revenue to a city that would lose more than 20%. And last but not least, that county pool dollars from out-of-state e-commerce transactions could be reallocated from the county pool to those destination cities. At that board meeting, the resolution to change the in-state allocation of e-commerce was rejected, which is a small victory for the city. However, the motion to change the out-of-state sales tax from that county pool to destination cities passed. The city does anticipate that the changes for that recommendation could result in the loss of about three to four million dollars annually, but at this point it is unknown how soon this change will occur. We continue to monitor this and work with Cal Cities to hear the latest updates. I think that it will go to CDTFA from here and we will learn more about when CDTFA plans to make those changes. Now we get into the five-year forecast. So looking from fiscal year 26 to 2031. However, this chart does show historical data in here so that we have some context. So we are looking at this forecast which presents our anticipated revenue, our expenses, and capital. It's based on our current economic conditions, policy direction, and planned initiatives. As I mentioned, we do present this alongside the previous four years of results, as well as our current amended budget. While our sales tax revenue is expected to decline in the upcoming fiscal year, our increases in property tax revenue will partially offset some of that decline. We're looking at a total overall net decrease of about $9.5 million to general fund revenues in fiscal year 27. Our forecasted expenses include the increases in personnel costs, previously approved contractual expenses, planned capital obligations, and our rising costs of non-discretionary expenses such as utilities. The use of Council's fiscal sustainability strategies are not included in this forecast. It is expected that in fiscal year 27, the use of unassigned fund balance to the tune of about $4.6 million is expected to be used to balance the budget. As we look at our reserves now, the city maintains a reserve policy of 30% with 17% for emergency contingency purposes and 13% for economic stability. The city's maintained its reserves along with unassigned fund balance for the past four fiscal years. As reflected in the forecast and as I just mentioned, it is expected that fiscal year 27 will require about 4.7 million in unassigned fund balance to get that budget balanced. And for my numerical people, this chart is similar in representation but represents numerically our general fund reserves historically and forecasted. In looking at our fiscal sustainability strategies, these strategies were established in fiscal year 23. They have been instrumental in maintaining fiscal strength and reducing our future liabilities. Although the strategies were expected to remain in place until fiscal year 28, the projected decrease in sales tax is resulting in removing all but the program and services increase in the upcoming fiscal year. As shown in this chart, several categories remain unspent. During the finance committee meeting last month, staff sought the committee's direction on any fiscal year 27 strategy, I'm sorry, fiscal sustainability strategy funding in the upcoming fiscal year. The committee recommended that staff use a combination of unspent fiscal sustainability strategies and unassigned fund balance to prioritize funding for public safety facilities, which will be presented to council in the next agenda item tonight. The use of this forecast is meant to provide council and the finance committee with potential impacts that can have a long-term impact on the fiscal sustainability of the city's general fund. It provides indicators based on the current trends and impacts as we know today. The next steps in our budget process with finance committee, we have an upcoming meeting on April 13th where we will present some of the preliminary, this says fiscal year 24, but it is fiscal year 27 budget and CIP augmentations. And then on May 18th, we will have a special finance committee meeting in which we will present also fiscal year 27 operating budget to finance committee during that special meeting. Our next steps with city council, staff will be presenting the five-year capital plan on April 21st. And on June 2nd, we will present the proposed fiscal year 27 budget to the city council for adoption. This concludes my presentation. Thank you.

back to council for comments and I'll go ahead and start with the Finance Committee if anyone like to start.

So what we did was because of they wanted us to provide direction we paused doing any action on this one Mr. Mayor and then we asked staff to do the next agenda item and So then we got the full picture, then we went back to this. Just because it does ask us to give direction, but we need to look at what they're asking us direction for. So that's why, just to let you know how on the Finance Committee, how we handled it. That's all I have on that.

Okay. Anything additional, Council Member Evans? No, explained it well. Exactly right. Thank you. Okay. All right. And do we have any additional questions, Mr. Council? I did. So I remember when we implemented the fiscal sustainability strategies I think and I do agree that prior councils have used them effectively but I was a little concerned with the funds unspent in particular related to streets and parks. We heard comments earlier today that people have concerns with related to the quality of their streets and parks. I do believe that we have made efforts to increase that, but of course we can always do better. So can we get some explanation as to why those particular funds are unspent or how we could utilize them more effectively?

Sure. Mayor, I can take a stab at that. This is for deferred streets and we are getting through our two fiscal years past projects. So we're behind on our projects. This was intended to build up a fund so that we could get caught up. Once we are caught up, we finally have our engineers fully staffed in this last fiscal year and are moving through those projects. So it will be another couple years before we would be able to probably program that money. But it would be there in the account so that we could do those projects.

Okay. We may need to come back to that at some point. I think I'd like to see a little more efficiency there, but those are the questions that I had. If there's no additional questions from council, we'll go out for public comment. Can I see hands raised for who would like to speak on this item? Any public comment on this item? Seeing none in chambers, do we have any online?

No requests online, Mayor.

Okay, with that, I'll go ahead and close the public comment portion for item 4E, return to council for further discussion or entertain a motion.

So I would suggest that we follow the practice that we did for finance because it does, the motion does ask for us to provide direction. I think it would be BENEFICIAL FOR COUNCIL TO HEAR WHAT THE FINANCE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDED FOR FUNDING AND THEN WE CAN PROVIDE THAT DIRECTION IF THAT MAKES SENSE, MR. MAYOR.

I'LL GO TO STAFF JUST BECAUSE MY UNDERSTANDING FOR THE NEXT ITEM FOR 4F, IT IS SPECIFICALLY ONLY TO ONE OF THESE STRATEGIES. CAN STAFF PROVIDE SOME CLARIFICATION?

The next item is to discuss public safety facilities and funding of. Based upon the Finance Committee's recommendation, some of these fiscal sustainability strategies are recommended to be reallocated towards funding those public safety facilities.

And when you say And when we say reallocated, do we mean the fiscal sustainability strategies or something apart from those fiscal sustainability strategies?

Including fiscal sustainability strategies, but other items as well. So including other capital projects and unassigned fund balance.

Understood. Okay, so were we to take action on this item, it would be affected by the next item.

POTENTIALLY, YES.

OKAY.

SO, MAYOR, IF I MAY, IF YOU ALL WISH TO, WHAT YOU CAN DO IS YOU CAN MOVE THIS ITEM TO BE HEARD AFTER THE NEXT ITEM, PERHAPS, AND CONSIDER THAT ITEM FIRST AND THEN GO BACK TO THIS ITEM AFTER YOU CONSIDER 4F, MAKE A MOTION TO MOVE ITEM 4E TO BE PAUSED AND THEN CONSIDERED AFTER TO DO IT THAT WAY. I UNDERSTAND THAT SEEMS TO BE CONSISTENT WITH HOW THE FINANCE COMMITTEE considered the items. Okay.

I'll entertain a motion.

Make a motion that we pause 4E and proceed with 4F.

Second. We have a first and a second.

Sorry to clarify. Suspend the rules. Suspend the rules. Excuse me. Make a motion to suspend the rules, pause 4E, and proceed with 4F. Second. We have first and second. Roll call, please.

Mayor Pro Tem Amber Crombie.

Yes.

Council Member Evans.

Yes.

Council Member Villalba.

Yes.

Council Member Nygaard. Yes. Mayor Areola.

Yes.

Thank you.

Okay. So with that, this item will be tabled for just a few minutes until we proceed with item 4F related to public safety facilities. Staff report, please.

Thank you, Mayor. Sarah Castro, Director of Finance. May I have the PowerPoint for this item, please? This item is in regard to public safety facilities and funding for those facilities. For background, the city's growth has increased demand for public safety facilities, which has created the need for some additional public safety facilities so that we can maintain timely police and fire response across expanding neighborhoods. In 2024, Council adopted the Citywide Public Safety Master Plan that established objectives for public safety and strategies to achieve them. Projects that were identified in the Master Plan include the police substation and relocation of Fire Station 97. The funding for public safety facilities comes from public safety development impact fees as well as the city's general fund. Development impact fees are one-time fees that are assessed on new development to help fund infrastructure. The city also conducts a nexus study which identifies the share of new public safety facilities project costs that should legally be funded through impact fees. The remaining costs of the project are then funded through the city's general fund or other sources. In looking at our public safety facility projects, there are three in front of you at the moment. This includes a police substation, the relocation of Fire Station 97, and a renovation at Fire Station 91. These projects total $33.6 million, with $15.3 million expected to be paid by impact fees. There are 4.4 million in other funding sources, which I will speak to when we talk about the projects individually. And the general fund's responsibility is about 13.8 million of that 33.6 million. The police substation is required. Currently, we are at maximum capacity at our police station. This has resulted in operational fragmentation and the continued use of outdated facilities, which includes our former 10th Street site. The city has identified city-owned land on West Schulte Road that would meet the growing needs in the southern portion of the city. It would provide closer access to new residential and commercial development, as well as improve response times by reducing travel distance for the officers. Once a police substation is constructed, a portion of the police department's existing staff would transfer to the substation. New staff would gradually be phased in as the city grows. At this point in time, council has not established a capital project or allocated funding for the police substation. The estimated cost of the substation is $19 million. The general funds contribution would be about $9.5 million and expected contribution from police and police public safety facility impact fees. It currently has a balance of $2.1 million, leaving a shortfall to fully fund the project of about $7.3 million. The relocation of Fire Station 97, this project is needed because Station 97 was built in 1986 as a temporary station in a retrofitted residential structure, and it no longer meets essential facility of safety standards. This 40-year-old station is in fair condition, and it is also 40% the size that the Fire JPA now needs. The master plan supports relocation and construction of Station 97 to a two-acre site in the Valpico area to meet the growing needs of the city. Council has not established a capital project or allocated funding for the relocation of Station 97 or any construction. Land is still currently being evaluated for purchase. We estimate the cost of Fire Station 97's relocation at $12 million, with a general fund contribution expected of $1.6 million. There are other funding sources of $4.4 million. Those other funding sources include about $3.4 million in core fees, and $1 million is essentially a credit for not needing to buy a new fire apparatus, for bringing their own fire apparatus. There's currently no fire public safety impact fees available, which leaves a shortfall in the impact fees of $5.8 million. Fire Station 91 is in need of renovations. This station does not provide adequate accommodations currently for staffing or the permanent assignment of a battalion chief. The initial scope of this project was to add additional bedrooms and do a restroom renovation so that the station could maintain ADA compliance and gender equality. In 2021, $365,000 was allocated to the project. Since that time, the project scope has changed to include an increase to the number of bedrooms to eight, creating private gender neutral restrooms, creation of a new day room and a new ADA accessible restroom, as well as some additional accessibility and system upgrades. This project is not eligible for public safety impact fees, which requires all of the funding to come from the city's general fund. There is currently an established capital project For these renovations, that has a total project budget of $365,000, which creates a shortfall of about $2.2 million. To construct the renovations, a general fund appropriation would be required. The rate of funding varies here because the rate of development each year can vary. It can... not be an even flow of income into those impact fees. So those impact fee funds occur gradually. Since there is an immediate need to complete these projects, in this current fiscal year, the city council appropriated $11 million from the general fund towards the general fund's share of costs to public safety facilities. We have not allocated that to any one specific project yet. Council did state during the budget adoption that they would consider allocating additional funds beyond the general funds responsibility that would loan the public safety impact fee fund through fiscal sustainability strategies so that these projects could be completed sooner and repaid over time as impact fees come into those public safety facility impact fee funds. The current balance of the public safety police impact fees is $2.1 million, and the current balance of public safety fire impact fees is about $252,000. Previously, the police and fire public safety impact fees were all held in one combined fund. During that time, there were some projects completed by fire that expended a greater amount of the balance of fees that resulted in a deficit once those impact fees were split into two funds, one for fire and one for police. For the purpose of planning these facilities, we're going to show the public safety fire impact fee balances zero, and staff will be returning to the finance committee in May with recommendations for addressing and clearing that deficit. In looking at the totality of the projects, again, the total for the three projects is about $33.6 million. Overall, there are $6.9 million in funds currently available, which leaves us with 26.6 to complete the projects. In the current fiscal year, Council allocated $11 million through fiscal sustainability funds that help with that number. That gets us down to about $15.6 million in additional appropriations that would be required in order to fund all three projects. Last month, staff had a special finance committee meeting in which the committee heard this item. The committee provided direction in two different areas, one for immediate action and one for action that could be taken through the adoption of the fiscal year 27 budget. Immediate action that is recommended by the committee TO ESTABLISH A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT FOR A POLICE SUBSTATION AND APPROPRIATE $500,000 FROM THE PUBLIC SAFETY FACILITIES POLICE FUND SO THAT ENVIRONMENTAL AND DESIGN WORK CAN BEGIN. FOR THE FIRE STATION 97 RELOCATION, THE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDS TO ESTABLISH A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECT AND APPROPRIATE $2.5 MILLION FROM THE GENERAL FUND FOR THE PURCHASE OF LAND AND PRE-CONSTRUCTION WORK. AND FOR FIRE STATION 91 RENOVATIONS, The committee recommends to appropriate $2.2 million from the general fund to fully fund this project. In the fiscal year 27 budget, the committee recommends allocation of the remaining funding needed to construct all three projects, which is that $15.6 million number we just looked at on the previous slide. They recommended that staff propose a combination of reallocation of unspent fiscal sustainability funds from prior fiscal years, capital projects, and unassigned fund balance. And again, just as a reminder, the general fund would be loaning those impact fee funds to complete the work now, and those loans would be repaid with interest at the local agency investment fund rate. Based upon the committee's direction, staff has looked at existing capital improvement projects that are either nearing completion, under budget, have not started yet, or have funds available as well as the unspent fiscal sustainability strategies to provide a recommendation to council. The projects here on your screen include $375,000 from project for the multi-purpose reality-based training. This project is expected to be closed out very soon. It is complete and there are $375,000 in unspent funds so this project came in under budget. The city's general plan update through discussions with the community and economic development director. He believes this project will come in under budget and is recommend that we reallocate $500,000 from that project to these facilities. And in looking at our fiscal sustainability strategies, we are recommending $2.5 million be reallocated from the pavement rehabilitation line item, that represents the allocation that was given in the current fiscal year as design work has not began yet on this project. The master plan update for the new Jerusalem airport, we are recommending to reallocate $250,000 from that project that has not yet began to these facilities. And one last fiscal sustainability strategy recommendation is to reallocate 3.7 million from the retiree medical leave. This is the unspent balance of funds. And then that leaves us with about $8.2 million that would be recommended to be funded through the unassigned fund balance to get us to that $15.6 million total. This concludes my presentation. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Castro. Okay, we'll go return to council for questions. Finance Committee, you want to start? Councilmember Evans.

Sure. Thank you, Mayor. I don't have questions, but I think, you know, Mayor Pro Tem and myself, as chair of the Finance Committee, very, very proud of the plan that we put together. We work pretty closely with staff on this. I think we feel pretty strongly this is a really good plan to get some of these public safety items done. We've been talking for a long time about the PD substation. We know that needs to happen. Relocation of Station 97. It's been a temporary facility since the 1980s. We know that project needs to happen as well. And I think the long-term allocation, you know, 26-27 budget allocation, I think that along with the short-term allocations that we're talking here, it's a good, solid plan to get these things done. And so I'm really hopeful we can get this moving forward and make these come to fruition. So thank you. Thank you, Councilmember. Mayor Patem? I just echo.

Okay. Anybody else have any questions? Council Member Nygaard.

So I don't envy your job of being on the Finance Committee. It is, yes, I'm sure... challenging. The only one that I kind of am a little concerned is the repayment, the rehab. You know, we hear it over and over again about how poor our streets are. I would love to see if there's some other place that we can grab that $2.5 million, because I really feel, you know, I've been up here a year, and I think the most common concern coming from our community is, you know, our streets. So just, you know, and I understand that, yes, these projects, yes, safety and PD and fire are such crucial elements. So just I, yeah, would just love to know if there is any other rock we can turn over that, you know, could, you know, possibly have a little other funding instead of taking it from the streets. That's just my only comment.

Thank you, Council Member. Council Member Bedoya?

I was going to ask a similar question, maybe some clarity as to why that's being proposed to be taken out. I think I heard the answer from staff earlier that those specific projects that would be under that line item are either not in design yet or just barely a design. But if we could please get some clarity before I kind of also go down the path of like, you know, why is this being proposed to be removed? But I thought there was some method to it.

Yes, Councilmember, the $2.5 million is recommended because those funds have not began being designed. The engineering staff, I believe, is working on design for the funding that was allocated to them in fiscal year 24-25. Those funds would be used for design, construction, and then in the probably next year or two, they would begin design on using these funds.

Can I ask one more follow-up question? I guess... If they did find out that they did need the funds, sorry, did have the need for more funds, you guys would come back to us?

Correct. Yeah, we also, you know, we provide quarterly budget updates to council. So if there was a need, we have a standing item to bring to council where we have that avenue.

Thank you. And just the way that, you know, Project 73206 might look, no one's saying we're not touching the roads for this next fiscal year. It's just...

Work will continue with the existing funding that is being used.

Gotcha. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Prior councils ago, I think I still had a question that was very in line with Councilmember Nygaard's sentiment is like, you know, we hear the needs. How can we more efficiently use money? Is it a staffing opportunity? Is it a funding opportunity? You know, kind of as we go through more budget reiterations, I think I'm kind of understanding it's a little bit of both, but right now we have enough in design funding that this is being proposed to be used in a different way.

And one other comment. I believe engineering has told us in the past, and if anyone knows otherwise, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe it takes anywhere from two to three years from the time they're given funding in the budget for design to begin and be completed. and then construction can begin. So there's usually a lag time in when the funds are allocated and when they're used. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember. Just want to thank the Finance Committee for their work. I have sat on that committee. It is a difficult committee to sit on. So thank you, gentlemen. And thank you to staff for all your work and especially, you know, digging through, combing through other funds to try and make sure that we are balanced. I am generally in support of this plan. I think that I wanted to make sure that we are prioritizing our public safety facilities, especially we've been talking about our police substation for a number of years. With regards to station 97, it has been temporary since before I was born. So we absolutely need to address that. I also, but as I said during the prior item, I do share that concern related to the unspent funds in streets. And so my question is, it looks like previously there was a $9.3 million budget among the fiscal sustainability strategies for deferred maintenance on streets. THIS REDUCTION OF $2.5 MILLION, I THINK I KNOW THE ANSWER BUT I WANT TO CONFIRM, WOULD THAT ALLOW SUFFICIENT FUNDS IN THE DEFERRED MAINTENANCE STREETS FUND TO ALLOW FOR THE DESIGN OR IS THERE GOING TO BE ANY DELTA THERE THAT WE WILL HAVE A CONCERN WITH LATER?

The fiscal sustainability strategy funding is in addition to the city's gas tax and Prop K funding. So this was funding in addition to clear the backlog. So they are currently working on construction of money, the money that was given to them in fiscal year 23, 24. They are doing design work with the money that they were given in fiscal year 24, 25. So if we pause this, IT DEPENDS WHEN THEY GET ADDITIONAL DEFERRED MAINTENANCE FUNDING, IF IT WILL CAUSE ANY OTHER TYPE OF BACKLOG, BUT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE GAS TAX AND MEASURE K FUNDING TO KEEP COMPLETING WORK. SO WORK WILL NOT STOP.

MR. SANCHEZ, I SEE YOU EGGING AT THE BIT.

MAYOR, MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL, ARTURO SANCHEZ, CITY MANAGER, I MIGHT JUST TRY TO SAY THAT A LITTLE DIFFERENTLY, IF IT MIGHT HELP. Every year we program money to do streets work. We use funding that we receive from the state and from other sources. That work continues every year, which includes design and the actual construction of the roadways. That work will continue no matter what. This money, is money that the council has wisely programmed to do additional work on top of the money that we program to do that work every year. And this money was just set aside to do additional work as we can, depending on how quickly we can do the regular work that we program every year. Unfortunately, we have a backlog on the roadways that we need to catch up on. So we do not think or believe or anticipate that we will be able to touch these monies to catch up on that road work anytime soon. So reprogramming this money will not have an impact on catching up. Is that helpful?

It is. Thank you, Mr. Sanchez. And for the record, I remember I was part of the committee that set up these fiscal sustainability strategies. Our intent in particular was that we would have a $7 It started off as a five-year program so that all the streets would be paved every five years. We were hoping there'd be a platform for folks would know when their streets were going to be paved within that. We have still not seen that. So I hope that is oncoming. It is among the council's strategic priorities. I know that five-year turned into a seven-year program. So at some point I'd like an update on that. But I understand that this is separate. Okay, so that appeases my questions. With that, we'll go out for public comment on item 4F related to public safety facilities. You see hands raised for who would like to speak on this item? Okay, we will allow four minutes.

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS. GOOD EVENING. MY NAME IS DAVE GARCIA, AND I AM THE ATTORNEY FOR THE HARD WORKING WOMEN AND MEN OF THE TRACY TECHNICAL AND SUPPORT SERVICES EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION. AGAIN, SOME ARE SEATED BEHIND ME IN THEIR BLACK TOPS AND BLOUSES. I'M HERE TODAY TO BRING TO YOUR ATTENTION AN ISSUE THAT HAS ARISEN REGARDING THE CITY'S PROPOSAL TO CHANGE THE SICK LEAVE CONVERSION AT RETIREMENT TO A RETIREE HEALTH SAVINGS PLAN FOR CITY EMPLOYEES. AT ISSUE IS AN EMAIL THAT THE TTSSEA RECEIVED FROM HUMAN RESOURCE DIRECTOR KIM MURDOCK YESTERDAY EVENING AT ABOUT 525 PM. THAT EMAIL ADVISED THAT FUNDS CURRENTLY DESIGNATED FOR THE RETIREE HEALTH SAVINGS PLAN COULD BE REDIRECTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL FOR AGENDA ITEMS 4F, 1 THROUGH 4. AND I BELIEVE I SAW THAT EARLIER ON THE SCREEN. A BRIEF CHRONOLOGY WILL ILLUSTRATE MY CONCERNS. FOR SEVERAL MONTHS, THE TTSS EA HAS BEEN COMMUNICATING AND MEETING WITH MS. MURDOCK REGARDING THE PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE RETIREE HEALTH SAVINGS PLAN. MORE SPECIFICALLY, ON JANUARY 13TH OF 2026, THE TTSS EA MET WITH MS. MURDOCK AND PRESENTED A FEW OPTIONS THE CITY DID NOT AGREE TO ANY OF THE TTSSEA'S OPTIONS. WE MOVED FORWARD. MORE RECENTLY, ABOUT THREE WEEKS AGO, ON MARCH 17TH OF 2026, THE TTSSEA MET WITH MS. MURDOCK AT ONE OF OUR MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS. WE INVITED HER TO COME TO EXPLAIN HOW THE NEW RHS OR RETIREMENT HEALTH SAVINGS PLAN WOULD WORK. WE WANTED OUR MEMBERS TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY WOULD BE GETTING INTO EVENTUALLY. MS. MURDOCK ADVISED US THAT WE COULD SUBMIT MORE OPTIONAL LANGUAGE FOR THE CITY TO CONSIDER REGARDING THE RETIREE HEALTH SAVINGS PLAN. AND AGAIN, YESTERDAY EVENING, I RECEIVED THE EMAIL FROM MS. MURDOCK THAT THE FUNDS SET ASIDE AND EARMARKED FOR THE RHS COULD BE DIVERTED TO OTHER PROJECTS, SOME I JUST SAW AGAIN ON THE SLIDES. I'M HERE TONIGHT TO URGE YOU NOT TO DIVERT ANY OF THOSE FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN SET ASIDE TO FUND THE RHS. Why? Because the parties are actively engaged in good faith discussions regarding what will happen and the ultimate language of the RHS. In fact, today we sent additional optional language to Ms. Murdoch. We work well with her. We get along with her. But we were surprised to hear that these funds might be diverted and the employees could be left with nothing. I just saw that the remaining 3.7 million WOULD BE DIVERTED UNDER THE PLAN. MY ASSOCIATION WANTS TO PARTNER WITH THE CITY. WE WANT TO REACH A RESOLUTION THAT'S AMICABLE FOR BOTH MY EMPLOYEES AND FOR THE CITY. WITH THAT IN MIND, I REMIND YOU, YOU HAVE A DUTY TO ACT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF YOUR EMPLOYEES. I'D ASK YOU TO BE CONSISTENT AND ACT OR ACT CONSISTENTLY BY NOT, I'M SORRY, WITH THAT DUTY, BY NOT DIVERTING THOSE FRONTS FROM THE RHS. TRACY IS A GREAT PLACE TO WORK. BUT LET'S REMEMBER, WHEN OUR EMPLOYEES TOOK JOBS HERE WITH THE CITY AND THE PUBLIC SECTOR, MANY TIMES AT LOWER PAY THAN OUR PRIVATE SECTOR COUNTERPARTS, THEY WERE PROMISED BETTER PENSION BENEFITS. THAT WAS ERODED WITH THE PASSAGE OF PEPRA IN 2013 OVER AT KELPER'S. AND WE SEE OUR BENEFITS AND NOW THE RETIREE SICK LEAVE BEING SLOWLY ERODED. AGAIN, I ASK YOU TO CONSIDER THAT AND ACT CONSISTENT WITH YOUR DUTY AND NOT RAID THE FUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN EARMARKED FOR THE EMPLOYEE'S RETIREE HEALTH SAVINGS PLAN. THANK YOU.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU, MR. GARCIA. DO WE HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS ON ITEM 4F? SEEING NONE HERE. DO WE HAVE ANY ONLINE?

NEW SPEAKER NO REQUESTS ONLINE, MAYOR.

NEW SPEAKER ANYTHING, CHIEF? ARE YOU SURE? All right. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and close out public comment portion for item 4F. My initial question is, can I get staff to respond related to this new information we've received related to the retirement health savings plan and its allocation?

I believe we have HR Director Kimberly Murda on the line. If not, I can provide some general information.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. Kimberly Murdaugh, your Human Resources Director. First and foremost, let me say I acknowledge and appreciate the partnership we've had with TTS-SEA over the years. We initiated discussions with each represented bargaining unit in April of 2024 when or following Council's initial dedication of fiscal sustainability strategies to address the sick leave conversion program. Council had set aside funding to allow the city to address liabilities from the sick leave conversion program. At that point, we initiated conversations again two years ago with the representative bargaining units to discuss what a transition program could look like into a retiree health savings account. We have had conversations over the past two years with TTS SEA. Bear in mind, we also were engaged in labor negotiations with the full MOU in calendar year 2025. And during that process, for the most part, conversations regarding that transition were paused because we were focused on discussing terms and conditions of the successor MLU. We picked up the conversation again with an email notification to each bargaining unit in September of 2025, providing the opportunity to continue to engage in discussions with bargaining units. Mr. Garcia's statement is true that we did engage in conversations and I did attend their TTSSCA membership meeting to discuss actually to answer questions regarding the proposal. on the table that mirrors the plan design in place that was provided to the department head unit and the CEU unit agreeable and actually went into effect in April of 2025. So Mr. Garcia is correct that we have engaged in conversation just after six o'clock tonight. I did receive their most recent proposal and we will continue. I did notify the bargaining units that this discussion was going to occur tonight, which could use part of that fiscal sustainability strategy funding, which had been previously set aside to address the retiree medical account. But I'd like to note that they have retiree medical in terms of a sick leave conversion program in the current MOU. Nothing affects that benefit to them now. We were simply offering the opportunity to engage in a transition to retiree health savings account, which helps the city reduce liabilities from existing sick leave on the books while providing a portable benefit to the employees. However, any bargaining unit that chooses not to transition the program retains the current sick leave program in place in their existing MOU. So to Mr. Garcia's point, if this funding set aside was used or transitioned and used for another purpose, that does diminish our ability to fund a transition program that we have been discussing for the past two years. HOWEVER, THOSE EMPLOYEES WOULD RETAIN, AGAIN, THAT SICK LEAVE CONVERSION PROGRAM THAT IS IN THE MOU CURRENTLY.

OKAY. AND THEN I HAVE TO ASK, IS ANY OF THIS AFFECTED BY, I MEAN, WE ARE SOMETIMES LIMITED IN WHAT WE CAN SAY PUBLICLY. IS THIS IN ANY WAY AFFECTED BY LABOR NEGOTIATION DISCUSSIONS OR ANYTHING?

So we have a current MOU. So it does not affect unless, so we've offered the opportunity again, beginning in 2024 and again at the end of 2025 to engage in conversations which would affect or modify the terms and conditions of the MOU should TTSAC come to agreement. But if there was, if those conversations ended, no, there's no impact because they retain the current benefit provided to them in the existing and approved MOU. Okay.

And there was no promise to transition in the, within the terms of the last MOU?

That is correct.

Okay. Understood. Mayor Pro Tem.

I just want to clarify because I voice the same concern the mayor has about doing negotiations from up here. But by doing this, would that eliminate the possibility of continued conversations with the conversion or not?

Yes, because the council set aside these funds for the purposes of transitioning because there is an upfront cost to do the transition. And that's what we've been sort of negotiating with the different groups for the last two years. So we had a one-time opportunity with these fiscal sustainability policies to transition to cut off those liabilities for the city, provide a portable benefit to the employees if they chose to. So it would... take away that set aside that was going to allow us to do that upfront conversion.

Okay, thank you. It places the council in a difficult position because we're learning of information related to 3.7 million dollars of a gap with information we did not have four hours ago. We intended to implement the retiree medical program funds for that particular purpose as identified by Ms. Lightfoot. I don't want to jeopardize that. Our staff you know deserves to have really strong benefits but that leaves us in a situation where we still remain in a particular gap. Does staff have any. The quick fix would be to reallocate it to an unassigned fund balance, but does staff have any other options other than that?

At this point, the other recommendation that I would have would be to allow staff time to go through our existing capital improvement project list to see if there are any other projects that could be reallocated. But aside from that, your unassigned fund balance is essentially your only other place.

Love it. Okay. Well, now we get to do the tough work that Finance Committee gets to do, you know, off the times. I don't want to jeopardize any particular benefits that our staff is trying to achieve, given the de facto unassigned means that we would be looking to find it anyways. At this point, I suppose I would support moving the $3.7 million gap to unassigned. and I would ask staff to do, as Ms. Castro stated, to continue to comb for additional funds. I do have a question, though. It seems like some of these projects are in various phases. It seems like the substation and the retrofit are in much stronger positions, but the relocation, just confirming there's no land been designated yet?

That's correct.

So can that proceed with less funding right now until we cover this $3.7 million gap? I don't want to jeopardize the relocation.

Mayor, you can certainly, the way it's proposed right now is funding all three projects 100% basically today. Given the council's desire potentially to ask us to find some other sources to come from, I think what would be helpful is if you could, I think there's $500,000 that we're being asked, well, first to establish CIPs for both the police substation, establish a CIP for the fire station relocation so that we have an established project, put some funding in those projects. We do have an immediate need for the police substation in the amount of $500,000 to begin the environmentals because we do have the land and it's going, that project is moving forward. in tandem with the transit maintenance yard. So we get some economies of scale by running both of those environmental together. So that would be an immediate need. And then putting some money towards the fire station relocation so that we are currently working with the fire chief and a consultant to try to locate land. And that would give us some funds to work with and give us a if we are to locate land and have a dollar figure in mind. And then if council so chooses, you have still left over from that $11 million to fund the Station 91 renovation. So you can still work within, if you want it to be safe, within the $11 million that we have currently programmed some portions of that. And we can come back to you in a couple of meetings with some alternatives if Council directs us to find funding to fully fund all three projects as currently budgeted by the fiscal year.

Mayor Pro Tem. Looking at the proposed motion, can we just do one two and three and not do four where it says approving a funding plan for the construction of public so that would allow us to not do four till you guys maybe come back with a different strategy for that 3.7 Would that be a possibility?

That would be very helpful. Okay. And it doesn't, we have the 11, we can take it all from the 11 million that we currently have budgeted.

Right. Is a friendly amendment to that, is it possible that we could, I guess, alter number four to allocate all remaining funds other than the 3.8 million to ensure it's at least allocated or appropriated to these projects moving forward? Is that possible? Because I would like to ensure these funds are earmarked from this moment forward, if at all possible, for these public safety projects.

What I think I heard was, and I don't have the numbers in front of me, but allocate as recommended in the report minus the medical leave bank dollar amount. Come back to council at a future meeting to fill that gap. Yep.

You got it. It sounds like that's de facto assigning it to the unsigned fund balance.

But it gives them some options, and we're not making a commitment right now, I think. Sure. Okay.

Would you like a motion there? Does the staff think that's a viable strategy to move forward with?

i think it's an easy one for tonight if you if you do move forward with one two and three give us that direction so we can continue moving on the three projects um and some variation of four if as councilmember evans suggested um The funding minus the $3.8 million from the employee medical leave bank transition fund. I'm not sure what it's called. And then we'll come back and find $3.8, whether that is through unassigned balance or if there's other projects that are not close to being ready that we're going to be able to start within a reasonable time frame.

So essentially it would be fully funding the three public safety facilities within the next fiscal year. minus 3.7 million. Is that a fair assessment?

Yes, until we are able to come back to council.

Okay. I think that's something that I would be supporting. I think that provides adequate funding to almost fully fund these needs. In the meantime, we can continue to work with our employees to make sure that they're taken care of while combing for... All the drawers.