City Council - Regular Meeting

Council regular session for the year. I'll go ahead and call the meeting to order. First item on our agenda tonight is the pledge of allegiance tonight led by councilor Hilliard.

Hi. Please stand. Remove your hats if you have one. Place your hand over your heart and say the pledge of allegiance with me. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America

Thank you. Please be seated.

All right. That brings us to announcements. We have two new employees that we're very eager to introduce to the community. First up is our new Planning Manager, Teresa Montalvo, and Aquila will introduce her. Welcome, Theresa.

Hello, good evening. I know you know me, but for our millions of viewers at home, my name is Aquila Herdravich and I'm the Community Development Director. And it's my pleasure to introduce the newest member of the Community Development Department, Teresa Montalvo. Teresa is our new Planning Manager and she started here on 12/08/2025. She comes to us from City of Hillsborough and brings her knowledge, skills and abilities that we're so excited about.

They include things like her extensive land use application review, updating and writing code. I kind of found out last week she's got a lot of experience with food carts. So that will be helpful. She's worked on a lot of development regulations and lots of land use and transportation review. So those are all skills that we're really excited to have.

As our Planning Manager, Therese is going to be responsible for the day to day operations of the Planning Division. She'll be the liaison to the Planning Commission to the Architectural Review Board. And she'll have oversight of long range projects as well as current planning applications. So she will not be bored. So I know you join me in welcoming Theresa to Tualatin. Thank you.

Theresa, floor is yours. Welcome.

Okay. I hope I don't do this every time I'm before you. Thank you so much and thanks for that nice introduction, Akola. Yes, I'm just I'm really happy to be here. I've been in planning for a long time, but Tualatin was always in my sights as a place I would really like to work and I'm really excited to be part of the team. I think it's well known in the area. It's kind of a small community planning in a sense. And I think Tualatin has always been known for having a great culture. And this last month, I've got to experience that. So I'm really happy to be bringing forward, hopefully, to you some good projects and chip away on the work plan and just look forward to working with you in the future.

All right, great. Tawson is a much smaller city than Hillsboro, but we're growing, I would not say as fast, but pretty rapidly, especially in manufacturing industrial area that we have. So I'm looking forward to working with you on building out our urban renewal zone to the South and to growing and attracting more businesses here to town through innovative land use and planning. But thank you for joining the team and it was like your second day for the breakfast, right? You got to experience the breakfast.

Yes, I did. Was a very nice time to start, because I'm like maybe this is all the time. There's all these things going on, lots of

good Do I

get bacon every day? Okay, well welcome.

Thank you. All

right, we have another new employee that's very excited to start. Our new Climate Action Program Manager, Amanda Watson, being introduced by Cherilyn. Welcome, Amanda.

Mayor Bubenik and members of City council. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Cheryl Mambos. I'm city manager here for a long, long time. And it is my absolute pleasure to introduce the newest member of the team, Amanda Watson. So Amanda is our long anticipated climate Action Program Manager.

So thanks to your leadership, we have adopted a Climate Action Plan or you adopted a Climate Action Plan. Because it is ambitious and there is so much to take on in Shepard, we needed staff capacity above and beyond what existed currently. So once again, because of your leadership, we have two new revenue streams that support the implementation of the plan, including hiring a program manager. So Amanda started here on December 15. She comes to us most recently from the city of Lake Oswego, where she was their sustainability program manager, overseeing the city's sustainability and climate action plan.

Prior to Lake Oswego, Amanda worked for mayor Ted Wheeler in the city of Portland as a senior policy adviser and director of livability and sustainability. So Amanda, as you can tell, brings bona fide chops to this role given her past experience and knowledge. She has hit the ground running, and I'm super excited for what's to come for Tualatin with Amanda in this role. So I know you will join me in welcoming Amanda to the the city of Tualatin.

Welcome, Amanda.

Thank you.

The floor is yours.

Thank you so much

for the kind introduction. I am super excited to be here. I'm really looking forward to working with all of you and with our community and business community on implementing the the community climate action plan, which is a really fantastic and, you know, ambitious plan. And I just appreciate what I understand for the council's commitment and interest in this work already. And so, yeah, just really looking forward to partnering with all of you. Also, as was said earlier in the meeting, there's a lot of really exciting projects going on. And so it's a great time to be doing this work as we're thinking about downtown revitalization and the Riverfront Park and all of these ways that we can integrate climate action and sustainability into the work we're doing. So just very happy to be here.

Great. Because I think you've got we met each other at the Sustainable Cities Design Studio where you had great input, great questions for the students. But knowing that you weren't even here yet, it seems like and then the e mails were flowing to you from people who want to participate in Climate Action Plan. So people folks have been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Look forward again working with you on this and other projects and your input into the Cora and your ideas because one thing that came out the other night was the idea of sustainability and green in our downtown to make us distinguish ourselves in the community. So I see you having a lot of involvement there too.

Great. Yes. Absolutely.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right. So that brings us to public comment. So public comment is opportunity for anyone to address the City Council on an item that is not on tonight's agenda. Please keep your comments to about three minutes. We don't have our usual timer here tonight.

It's been it's MIA after a a previous meeting. So what Nicole is gonna do is she's gonna track at the high-tech way on her cell phone, and she'll give you a thirty second warning when you're down to your last thirty seconds. Again, limited please to three minutes. I'll take public comment for folks who are in the room first and then I'll go out to Zoom. I take both folks who are signed up and not signed up, but I do have one person signed up about the Idea Committee and it's not about the Idea Committee's report tonight, it's separate. So BJ Park,

welcome. I also brought a timer,

so let

me know to respect the time when it begins. My name is BJ Park. I've been a resident of Tualatin for the past thirteen years, where my wife and I have raised our children, one of them was even born here in Tualatin. I'm a proud legal immigrant from Korea, came here when I was nine years old. My parents came to this country the right way and I have profound gratitude to The United States for taking our family in.

Despite not knowing any English, I became a lawyer and specifically became a prosecutor to give back to this country, to our country and to my community. I've given my entire twenty six year career to public service as a result, having prosecuted the most serious offenders including hate crime offenders. I'm a former member of the IDEA Committee for the past two years, and I was there from the very beginning being part of the committee to set up the IDEA Committee starting in 2022. However,

back

in November, I was unceremoniously and without warning dropped from the committee under false pretenses because I opposed the subject of land acknowledgement, which we were discussing. By the way, a white woman was renewed, but I was not. So according to those DEI rules, that is discrimination by the DEI committee or hypocrisy. Full discussion on this topic of land acknowledgment has been piecemealed and delayed for months apparently to stonewall me until they could wait out my term so that they have no opposition. I find that disgusting.

What the advocates of this land acknowledgment want to do is before every city function or event, they wanna announce that we are on stolen land, which means that US is an illegitimate country. This is not true. There's no basis that Tualatin is on stolen land. And do you know who else's land acknowledgment does not have the word stolen or colonialism? The land acknowledgment of the Confederate Tribe of Grand Ronde, but apparently to the white liberals who brought the subject by the way, was not brought here by Native Americans.

The native's own land acknowledgments is not good enough. And so they want to have their own, which I find very condescending. As a reminder, this city council has no right or jurisdiction to declare the entire country illegitimate. There's a reason why on the elections, your positions are considered nonpartisan. In the future, I predict this committee will get more political, more extreme, not that I'm not on it, and more inappropriate without any practical solutions that actually benefit or help minority members.

I just want to state finally my own land acknowledgment and speaking as a minority and illegal immigrant is that I want to acknowledge that this land is the least racist country in the world. The U. S. Is the greatest country to ever exist as no other country has ever died for the freedom of strangers, including Korea. Like most twelfth citizens, I'm proud to be an American and we voters will not tolerate any hatred for our country disguised as some performative land acknowledgement. That's all. Thank you.

Do we have anyone else in the room who would like to public comment? Come on up. Just state your name, you don't have to say where you live. Well, see you live in Tualatin at least.

Hi. My name is Chris Paul. I do live in Tualatin, and I just would like to make a point. BJ, we'd really appreciate you staying and listening. I just wanna make a point of clarification. I am, a little bit saddened that this issue has arisen this way. Of course, I will be doing my report a little bit later on, but I just wanna make a quick point of clarification. I don't believe BJ was removed from the idea committee. Well, his term expired, and he was not reappointed. And I do not believe that to be because of his opinion on the the land acknowledgment.

I believe his I take his opinion very seriously, and I will con continue to consider that opinion while working with the idea committee on this issue. I am not in favor of a blanket land acknowledgment. It's just that this is extraordinarily careful subject that we really do wanna take our time on and do it right and do that. Whatever we have we end up doing is actually something that actually benefits both Tualatin and the native tribes. So I wanna just clarify that I did not believe that BJ was removed because of the his his stance on the land proclamation.

To be quite honest, BJ, well, having been elected co chair with me, was absent for several meetings, and his participation was something to be desired. And I think that may have some been something to do with the reason he was not reapproved. If he had participated more frequently and with better engagement, then he might still be on the committee today. I don't know if that was your guys' decision, but that was what I believe the reason that he was removed. And I'm sorry that it had to come to this, but if you had just shown up, you might still be on be here.

That's all I have to say.

Others who would like to provide public comment in the in the room?

Well, I would like to respond to that briefly. Missed that. Think it's

Got it. Got it. Meetings. I got to go to city attorney for

Your Honor, my understanding of the rules is there's one opportunity to comment at public comment.

Should be an investigation around that.

Alright. Alright. Other folks in the room? Do we have anybody in Zoom? Alright. So with that, I'll go ahead and move on to consent. Right, correct? Yep. So consent items. These items are considered routine.

They will be adopted by one motion unless someone in the council would like an item removed and heard separately later tonight. Tonight's consent agenda consists of three items. Item number one, consideration of approval of the regular meeting minutes at 12/08/2025. Item number two, consideration of approval of a new liquor license application for Maryland's Cafe Inc, doing business as Miller's Homestead restaurant. And item number three, consideration of resolution number 5940Dash26, authorizing the city of Tualatin to accept a grant award in the state of Oregon by and through its Oregon Water Resources Department and for the city manager to execute a grant agreement to fund the city's city of Tualatin's water reservoir seismic valves project.

Do I have any motions to pull something off consent and be heard later separately tonight? If not.

I move that we adopt the consent agenda as read. Second.

I have a motion and a second to adopt the consent agenda as read. Any discussions on those motions? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? It's unanimous. Thank you. That brings us to special reports. Our first special report is an outside agency grant presentation from the Peelie Group. Betsy?

Thank you.

Hello, mayor and council. My name is Betsy Rodriguez Ruf, community engagement coordinator for the city here. And I'm here this evening to translate for the Pili group. You may notice that I will speak a little bit more than Marilu as the group has asked me to help expand on their talking points and to ensure that they cover all of their talking points today. And because I work closely with the Pili group throughout the year, I'm very familiar with the work that they do and the impact that they have on the community. So just so you know, I'm not adding anything on. They asked me to do this. Unless they talk about me, then I might add a little bit.

Marilu?

Okay. So hello, mayor and council. My name is Marilu Serrano, and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the mayor and the city council for this night. And I represent the Pilio group, and here, some of the Pilio group members are in the audience along with our therapist, Fernando. So this support means so much to our community for Hispanic women, and it motivates us to continue working, learning and growing together.

Thank you for believing in us and for investing in opportunities that truly change lives. On behalf of the PD group and everyone who benefits from this grant, thank you for your generosity and your commitment to our community. What we do as a group. In the Briley Group, we offer activities that strengthen the body, mind, and spirit. The group is led by a mental health therapist and co facilitator Fernando that is here.

We provide workshops, Zumba classes, mental health classes, guitar classes, and we're currently working on a community cookbook created by all of us. Everything we do has a purpose to grow together, support one another, and build the community. So we also, Pilot Group wanted to share that especially during these times where ICE is in the community and so the community is living under difficult times and in fear. They have seen in the video group that their attendance is much lower than it has ever been due to that. So now we will share the meaning of the group Pilar.

So the meaning of the name Pilar, which Pilar in English means pillar, but that was Pilar's name. So Pilar is not just name, it means pillar. And Pilar was a courageous woman, a cancer survivor, who founded this group alongside our therapist ten years ago. When she passed away in 2020, we decided to name the group in her honor because that is what she was to us, a pillar. She was a steady strength, a constant source of support, and an inspiration who brought many women together.

What we do. Okay. There I'll expand. No. So the use of grant funds.

The funds awarded through these grants are managed with responsibility and transparency. These funds are used for presenter and facility fees, materials and supplies for workshops, Zumba events, including our annual Zumbathon, which you are all invited to if you want to swipe profusely for an hour, special group events. The PD Group participates every year at Viva Tualatin, so they use some of the funds to buy supplies to be at Viva Tualatin. Also, this includes promotional materials such as flyers to inform and reach the community, and she brought flyers to share with you for inviting you to Zumba. Mayor, if you'd like to come.

So each financial contribution strengthens our programs and allows more women to benefit from the supportive space. They would also like to thank me for their work. Yeah. And to everyone. And to everybody else. Yes. Everybody else. And now we're happy to answer any questions that you might have or comments.

Questions? Council Brooks?

Gracias. Thank you so much for coming.

Oh, okay. Oh, after your question, they have someone that would like to give a short testimony of the group. Yes.

Just I'm going to wait. Okay.

So this is Angeles Porales, and she would like to give a short testimony of her experience with the Pilip Group. I would like to just say thank you and thank you to the group as well. This group is a group that helps women that have trauma and survivors of domestic violence. And this group has helped us tremendously to be able to help with our emotions and everything that we are going through during difficult times, especially right now during these difficult times. Thank you very much for the grant that you have awarded us.

Thank you.

Alright. Councilor Brooks. The

time the amount of time that you've been here and your work is always so impressive to me.

Thank you.

And I'm so glad that this group is a part of our community. It really is important to me. Okay. Thank you. I always try to stop oh.

Thank you very much. When you said that the group numbers went down, can you give us an average that it was and where it's at right now?

So average was 20 people were in attendance, and now, it's down to around 10 people.

Okay. So 50%? Mhmm. And then, also, we have a counsel email, and there's a private email, Counselor Brooks. If there's things that we can do as a council or as a community to be supportive so that people feel safer to come to meetings like yours or whatever ideas people have. We really are invested in what you know, I mean, the most important thing for people, as you guys know, because you've been working with a therapist for a long time, is a sense of safety. And so we want to reinforce that sense of safety however we can.

So yes, right now during this time, we have a lot of our members that are showing up with a lot of anxiety and stress due to the fears. And our therapist is helping them work through it. But that is definitely something that they are experiencing. Yeah.

And even with the therapist too, we'd love to be supportive however we can. We are so glad that you're here. And we at least me, when I went to school for social work, Take Back the Night was one of my core projects that I did, and we had, like they went from 20 participants to 200 the year that we did it. And I just wanna honor and thank all the women because I know the strength it takes to step away and get support with each other in times of crisis. And, anyway, respect. Thank you. Thank you.

You. I'm UNIDENTIFIED going speak in Spanish, that's okay. In short, I was just telling them that thank you very much for coming here and demonstrating what what they're doing as a group. And that they continue to show up that though there's a little bit of people attending, they will it will once again be what it was before. And that we've been here in these times before, and it's been hard.

And to be strong and be strong for each other, I asked them to take my email and to share with me what their schedule is. Maybe And I can also put some information out there and even show up in support to add strength to the group and what they're doing.

Others? Pastor Rossocca.

I don't have any questions or really anything additionally to add, but just I personally want to say thank you for the work that you're doing, and thank you for advocating for your community and bringing them together. I think it's just wonderful work that you're doing, and it's so important to the community as a whole. So thank you.

The one thing we hear about Tualatin is people just love that have a sense of community, and what you're doing is so important and such an important part of that community to support women that really need that support and to make them feel that this is their home. And I'll say the two words I know in Spanish.

Thank you. And that is my alarm because it's Friday's bedtime.

So we'll wrap it up real quick. I want to thank you for coming tonight. I know you were a little nervous tonight. You did great. Congratulations on your courage, your strength for doing this, but you did terrific.

Thank you.

I want to thank you for coming tonight and letting us know what's going on in your group. And as Counselor Gonzalez says, I hope your numbers do come back, And you're doing great things for your you know, the community and for women who who've been through tough times. And thank you for doing that. And thank you for coming again. And more power to you and more strength to you because you did great. Nothing to worry about.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All

right. So that brings us to Special Report number two, the Idea Committee Annual Report. Chris Paul and Aaron Stimson with Gerian in support. Welcome.

Okay.

Good evening, mayor and city council. My name is Chris Paul, and I have served as cochair of the idea committee since its formation in 2023. For the past two years, I've been proud to work with my fellow community members to explore and implement new ways to make Tualatin a more inclusive, diverse, equitable, and accessible community where everyone has a sense of belonging. Since moving here in '2 in 2022, I have experienced firsthand how caring and welcoming the Tualatin community is, and I am grateful to be a part of it. I would also like to introduce my fellow committee member, Erin Stinson. Good

evening, mayor and council. My name is Erin Stimson. I have served on the idea committee since its formation in 2023 and am now serving my second term. I have dystonia which affects my movement and speech, but it has also given me the opportunity to engage with an advocate for members of our community living with disabilities through my work with the idea committee and organizations such as the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation. I am proud to serve on the idea committee because I trust that the city of Tualatin stands by its values of inclusion and accessibility for all.

Per Tualatin municipal code chapter 11 dash 11, the idea committee advises the city council by researching and engaging the community to identify opportunities to strengthen equity, inclusion, diversity, access, and belonging. The committee recommends goals and measures to track progress, review city practices to reduce barriers to public participation, suggest ways to improve connections between community members and city leadership and staff, and provides recommendations on policies and practice that promote fairness, accessibility, and belonging across the community.

In 2025, the committee adopted a work plan organized around three focus areas, culture and identity, community engagement, and housing and public safety. These focus areas guide the committee's research, outreach, and recommendations throughout the year. The work plan is reviewed and updated annually to reflect community needs and priorities, and the current version is included with the committee's annual report.

In 2025, the committee achieved several notable accomplishments. These included supporting city proclamations for transgender day visibility and pride month, conducting community outreach at Viva Tualatin and the concert celebrating pride, and engaging with city departments such as parks and recreation and economic development, including providing a letter of support for a parks grant and participating in the core excuse me, the core opportunity and reinvestment area community advisory committee. The committee is also The committee also expanded its understanding of food cart regulations and provided feedback on the city's community engagement incentives policy. The idea committee is made up of a passionate group of community members from diverse ethnic, racial, gender, social, and economic backgrounds. These varied lived experiences inform the committee's discussions as members examine city topics through many different lenses and intentionally consider the perspectives of residents who may not be directly represented on the committee.

By bringing these perspectives together, the committee works to improve the community of Tualatin for for everyone through thoughtful, inclusive dialogue and recommendations.

The committee's work extends beyond meetings with a focus on staying informed, building relationships, and being present in the community. Members participate in events such as pride, viva tweletin, the dystonia zoo walk, Tonga Day, and transgender day of visibility to listen and connect with residents, especially those whose voices are often underrepresented.

The committee also takes concrete action on work plan priorities, including learning about affordable housing, food cart regulations, and the core opportunity investment areas, supported by presentations from city staff and community partners. Committee members also recently participated in the visit to Chachaloo to learn more about the history and living culture of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde.

Looking ahead, the committee's work will continue to focus on culture and identity, community engagement, and housing and public safety. In the area of culture and identity, the committee plans to engage in community conversations around food carts and through the core opportunity and reinvestment area, explore how downtown to development connects to community identity, arts and culture, housing, and gathering spaces.

For community engagement, the committee will strengthen connections not only with other advisory committees and community involvement organizations, but also with community members beyond those spaces. This includes exploring new ways to improve communication, building relationships with potential partner groups and the local business community, and hosting an open house or exploring other forums to connect with Tualatin's community organizations.

In housing and public safety, the committee will engage on policy issues that impact vulnerable residents and learn more about Tualatin Police Department's community based approach with the goal of better understanding how public safety policies affect the community as a whole.

Based on our work in 2025, the idea committee makes the following recommendations to city council. Incorporate accessible public transportation, affordable housing, and community gathering places as part of the CORA downtown revitalization plan. And when considering changes to food cart regulations in Tualatin, prioritize community members' experience and opportunities to encourage community gathering through food cart pods in different parts of town while supporting a diverse array of multicultural foods and participation by local vendors. As chair, I would like to especially recognize committee member Sunny Armstrong for her leadership, dedication, and significant efforts in organizing and mobilizing the community for the concert celebrating pride, helping to create a visible welcoming and affirming space for residents and visitors alike. On behalf of the idea committee, we also like to thank the city council for its ongoing support and collaboration as well as the partnership of city staff, especially our facilitators, Gerri Ann Thompson and Betsy Roof, the other advisory committees and community organizations whose time and expertise continue to make this work possible.

At this time, we're happy to answer any questions that council may have.

Thank you. Questions? Me. Council president Pratt and council Brooks.

You mentioned I mean, this committee was formed so we could get perspectives of a lot of different people in the community. And without naming names, could you just give me a few of the different groups of people that are represented on your committee?

So we have a diverse array of people, like I said, from different economic racial backgrounds. We have people Erin brings an excellent perspective for people with disabilities. We have people from the LGBTQ community. We have people from immigrant community. We have people from various language and ethnic backgrounds.

And honestly, the diversity that you you we we can't just categorize people as this person is gay, this person is disabled. Like, we we are not monoliths of our community. We each bring a great intersectionality of our existence and our lived experiences. This is something you you may not even know about me, but my family on my father's side is of Spanish speaking heritage. And so I never even really presented that to the committee because I'm not a Spanish speaker myself, but I do have some perspective on the lives of people who speak Spanish and have brown skin.

So there is a lot of representation about everyone, and you can't just look at a person and say, this person is this. But I think if you get a big enough group of people who actually care about diversity, then you're going to get the diversity that you're looking for.

Thank you. Council Brooks. I just wanna appreciate everybody that serves and does leadership on the idea committee. I think that it's such remarkable work, it takes a lot of courage to come up and sort of help lay the foundation so that we it makes our lives easier and our work easier too. And I just encourage all of you to keep moving forward in leadership talk to us.

And if there's ever anything you want or mentorship or letters, let us know. We really appreciate your contribution to the community. I guess my question with the accomplishments is it's so impressive, and I'm curious what the maybe something that's been the most rewarding about the committee, and maybe start with the gap, like what the biggest gap might be, like something that would be good for us to know that's something that we're having trouble getting representation around or communication around or an issue that's been particularly tough lift?

You don't have to. I don't like to focus on the negative. No. We'll do that one

first. It's like a thorn in a rose.

Yeah. Honestly, if we could get more engagement with the committee, if we could find ways to communicate better with the idea committee from the general public, if we could establish more channels of communication so that we can better hear the people of Tualatin, I think that would be a great improvement. As far as what we've done this year, what really stands out, at least to me, you I I the movement that we had earlier in February to get the Transgender Day of Visibility Proclamation approved, And all of the community members who came out and stood up and said, this needs to happen because there is a community that is hurting right now, and they need to feel safe. And the community stood up, the city council supported us, and we held demonstrations on transgender day of visibility to show that Tualatin really is a community that cares about everyone. And so that really, really meant a lot to me.

Thank you both so much and everybody that's here. And I love your voice, by the way. It's fabulous.

Council Hillier.

Thank you so much. We always look forward to hearing from you and seeing you folks here. I am just curious. I know that the so I have two children and they each have unseen disabilities. And some of that would parlay into the transportation conversations that are happening right now in the region.

And I know that that is not on your work plan for this next year, but, I do wanna be sure that that your team has the information about the listening session on the twenty second for the transportation. I think at the housing forum, we had some members or former members of your team that were there. And I just wanna be sure that, your voice gets heard, as you represent our community members because you point out, you know, the diversity of your team. And I would I would love it if you felt empowered to give input on especially the transportation changes around TriMet and that sort of thing. So it's the only thought that I have.

Thank you for your amazing work, and I look forward to seeing you at all the community events. You're at everything, smiling and happy. So thank you.

Thank you. And yes, while it might not be explicitly called out in our future plans, transportation is definitely on our minds. And not only that it affects people with disabilities, but also many of the marginalized communities that we are trying to consider here rely on public transportation. And even I, as a driver, I have experienced, quite frankly, a lot better public transportation systems in other areas, and I would love to see improvement to the public transit system here.

Councilor Sacco.

Thank you. I don't have a lot I don't have any questions, but I just wanna say thank you all for your work. The idea committee meeting is a meeting that I look forward to every single month and seeing all of you and seeing the passion and the and the work that that you do is is really amazing. And I did say this earlier tonight, but Chris is not here, so I wanted to say this while he is here. But I just I thank you for your leadership around the, specifically around the the food, drive earlier.

It was in December. And I think, Jerry Ann said there was a 100 to a 125 pounds of food thank you so much for the work that you do.

Thank you. For in the interest of credit where credit's due, the food drive was a, I I believe, a team effort. I know Kelsey, our secretary, played a big part in advocating for that as well. And I was just the voice that said, hey. Let's let's really do this. But and Erin also went around her neighborhood and collected food for the food drive. So it was

some family members.

Clearly a a team effort. I can't take very much credit for that at all. It was really you just guys have have made an effort to bring a community together and to to say, like, let's give everyone a voice and let's give everyone an opportunity to help their community. And that's what this committee is about. And so thank you so much.

Any other comments? Great. I just want to thank you for coming out tonight and spending your evening with us and giving us your update. Continue on with your work and looking forward to hearing your next update.

All right. Thank you so

Your next big effort. Much. All right. So now we'll transition to general business in our agenda. And item number one on general business is Resolution 5930Nine-twenty6, awarding a contract with Kittleson for Phase one of the TSRBFRRR improvement project. I think we need to throw some more acronyms in there. It's it's not, you know, it needs to know at least another 10 more letters.

If you have name suggestions, I think we'd be willing to take those.

Welcome Mike and Adam.

Good evening. I'm Mike McCarthy. I work for Twalton as a city engineer.

Abby McFetridge, engineering associate. Thank you for having us.

And as mentioned, topic is the Twalton Sherwood Road, Boones Ferry Road, Railroad, intersection improvement concept evaluation. And yes, one of our next tests is we have to think of a better name. Perhaps you can throw in as many letters as possible. And so you'll have a resolution to authorize issuance of the contract with the consultant to take a closer look at the intersection. And alright.

So today, we'll be talking about reviewing the project location, the schedule of this, which will be phase one, and then looking at the overall project schedule, like if we did something big, what would it actually take? And then consultant and staff responsibilities in that Phase one, and then we'll have a chance for you to ask questions at the end. So the project location, as I think we're all familiar, perhaps painfully familiar with some of the issues here. Since I've started working at Twalton, I've heard about traffic problems at this location. And I imagine you all have as well.

I imagine you've experienced a lot of them. And it's also perpetually near the top of the county's list for places with the most crashes and most severe crashes. When we did our transportation system plan, which was updated last year, some sort of improvement at this intersection came up as one of the highest ranking projects on the list. It's also a heck of a place to try to walk through or across. I saw one person who she managed to get across the railroad tracks, but then the train came, and then she got stuck between the railroad tracks and Boones Ferry on this very narrow piece of sidewalk.

I would not want to be stuck there. It's also a very difficult place to ride a bike through. And then as we're looking at redevelopment of our downtown area, the economic opportunities, I hear a lot about fix this intersection and people will be more interested and make it more safe, make it a better environment. I hear about the negative effects of the traffic on the road on possibilities for businesses there. And then when I saw that typically when a four or five minute train comes through, it takes about twenty minutes to a half hour for traffic to get back to normal at this location.

So we've all heard about the problems here. And the goal of this first phase is what do we as a city want for this location because there's a whole lot of possible ideas for how to improve it and how to make things work. When we ask what does the city want, the best group to figure out what the city wants, I think, is the city council. So we will have you pretty involved in making that decision or getting to that question. This is a map through the various phases of it.

It's fairly complicated with this, but if you choose to authorize the contract for the consultant, the next thing they'll be doing is looking at the various types of options. Could be something, what I'm calling a big build, like a bridge over, perhaps with connections. I mean, you hear a lot about if you want to make downtown to Alton more walkable, put to Alton Sherwood Road into a tunnel. And so they'll take a look at that and what would that involve. And then also, what I'm calling a smaller build, but it's really would be one of our bigger projects, would be what if we added turn lanes on the surface and left it on the surface.

And then any study like this also has to look at a no build, which is how would it work if we just left it as it is. So that will be over the next couple of months, and then we'd be coming back to you with kind of an order of magnitude estimate. So like this is how much it would cost for particularly the bigger options like the bridge or the tunnel. And this is how it would address some of the existing issues and some of the other effects that would have. The next big question is, do we still want to go ahead with one of the big build options after we know a little more of what that would entail?

If we do, we then start getting into what would that look like. And if we were to do a big build, here's all the different phases we would have to go through. Start we probably have to go after federal funding or outside funding, a full federal feasibility study, preliminary design, environmental permitting, substantial we have to start getting property and all of that. And then at the end, we'd be able to celebrate. This puts it on a little more of a time line, which puts that celebration into more like the year 2037 if we do go forward with a big build because of just the sheer amount of time it would take.

Our consultant says that we could actually get it done a little faster than this. But especially when we have permitting processes and applications for funding, That part needs can sometimes take longer than one might think. So the responsibilities of the consultant and the staff team at this point. First one is a high level analysis. So the next step is we'll come back to you with bridge would cost roughly in this range, and it will be a very big range, but at least give you an order of magnitude.

And these are what some of effects would be, how it could address the issues, how it would affect our traffic flows, how it would reduce the crash rates that we're seeing, how it could work for people trying to walk across the area, what it might look like for development. I'll be presenting that in the third bullet. If we decide to go ahead and continue looking at the big build options, we then start really assembling kind of what could they be and all of the different possibilities and ideas because there are a lot of different ideas on what we ought to do. And then we'd be working with the consultant team and a technical work group of both staff, other agency staff like Washington County, ODOT Rail, Railroad, TriMet is in this area. Then probably a few citizen representatives of what do we think of these options?

How do we do we have them all on the table at first? And then how do we narrow them down to some finalists, which we'll then bring back to you. Once we get agreement on what the finalists are, we then take a deeper dive into what those would really be in a much more precise cost estimate and effects on how that would work. And then we bring probably three to five of the finalists and perhaps with a recommendation from the consultant and the citizen group, and then we'll be working with you on, is this something that the community wants? There will also be a pretty extensive public involvement phase if we decide to go ahead with the bigger build options and getting community input on how they'd be affected, what they think of some of the possibilities.

And once we get to that, the hope is to get to a this is the option that the city wants. And then our next step would be how do we make it happen. If it's something big, bridge, tunnel, something like that, then we're looking at how do we fund it, who do we work with. And if it's even a smaller add turn lanes on the surface, we're still looking at a few to several years to really make it happen. And anything that I missed? What questions do you have at this point?

Questions for Mike and Abby. So President Pratt.

I'm just trying to understand the process because I know we've been we talked about this when we went to Washington. So I've thought about this a little bit. It's like if we elevated the road, we have cross streets. If we elevate the train, can you make the West Station? You know, there's all these what ifs. So that would be the first phase? I don't want to go out to the public and say they all say, we want the elevated train and we can't even do it.

That's the first phase. Okay. Is of the options, which ones are actually feasible? I think what's called the rail under option where the train would actually tunnel underneath the road.

Yes. And we have a floodplain there, so I It don't if that affects

really does. That would probably end up off the table. The rail over option, they're telling us we can actually get down and under the other rail line in the park, but it would have a lot of effects on the station. The first thing that they'll be looking at is what's really actually feasible.

Okay. I guess that's what I would like to see is like, we want to know what our real feasible options are first, and then, okay, of these options. But I mean, to me, is our biggest problem in town. I think it's something

I'll add to that too. We did come up with a preliminary list of what we would bring to that next council meeting. And it was stuff like high level cost, construction timeline, impact area, what we're calling kind of special considerations like floodplain. So we do have an idea of a high level of what we should bring and what we should be looking at.

Right.

And just for clarity, we also talked about in that first phase 1A, like looking at those options, like some kind of schematic or like a visual.

Yes. Okay.

Yes, Yes. We think that's important.

Yes. Of that grade separated, either the tunnel or bridge.

And those will be high level too, like with a bridge, does it have on ramps and off ramps? Or is it just a bridge? But it will just be an example of one of the options.

Okay. That makes sense.

We figure this kind of sort of like families of options, sort of the road over option and then have different variations based on connection ramps or things like that. And the initial renderings will be very rudimentary. As we start getting the finalists, then we start getting the real renderings of what it could look like.

That makes a lot of sense.

Councilor Brooks?

I appreciate your presentation. I think that it's really important to get our arms around kind of the conversation. Mine was Romaine, resolving our most acute intersection nexus. Okay. All right.

I think that putting an effort to resolving our most acute problem is really important. And the stuff that I get curious about is sort of like the history and when it became a problem, how much density did it take for it to get to the place where it was problematic like this? And then also just with the ridership of the train there with the train station and all that? Does that train station have to stay in that place? And rethinking, you know, how how creative are we when we're rethinking this because it's such a especially with the CORA going on, it's such a concentrated nexus of overlap, and it's such a barrier to everything, each direction, pedestrians, community engagement, business, people that just wanna go through our city.

So I guess for me, think it's great that you're starting with the high level stuff, and I'm hopeful that the people that we're working with really look at it as fresh as they can instead of I know that we're going to end up into options, which I think is really important, but having a variety of options because I mean, if this was an easy problem, we would have already tackled it, right?

Yes.

Yeah. So I think we really need some really bright people and some really creative thinkers to give us the best solutions on this.

Thank you. Yeah. Let us consider that name. Yes. Sorry. We were pretty impressed with this particular consultant team. Kittleson's kind of really made their name in traffic engineering transportation planning and this kind of options analysis early on. And they've developed a really strong road design component. They're also teaming with two other companies that have expertise both with structures and rail. And so they bring together a pretty good expertise in all the different issues here and also dealing with floodplain issues and things like that because there is so much going on at this location.

So yes, we actually had a lot of consultants that were really interested in this one.

I bet. They probably have driven through and they want it better. Anyway, yes, I think it sounds healthy, romaine. Other

questions, comments? The only question I have, Mike and Abby, is level of involvement of Portland and Western Railroad. I know the city has struggled, Odehat has struggled with involvement of the railroad. Are you envisioning them being involved in this process because I hate to go down some path and then Pacific and I'm sorry, Portland and Western says no. So obviously, they're a key player if they're not going to play ball, especially we're going to also the rail line in any way. So are they going to be involved at this phase? Or do you envision their involvement that they actually attend the meeting or two?

We have reached out to them and talked with them. I've got the initial they would support any kind of a grade separation. Because they don't have to pay for

it. Yes.

They also we will be sending them all the information and inviting them to all the meetings. I'm not sure how much they'll show up. The local staff have been good to work with. Their national staff, I think Genesee and Wyoming, sent us an agreement for us to then pay them to come to meetings, which we have not executed. But we will be trying to work with them on whatever issues, whatever through the whole process.

Because I know on the stories I've heard from NLC on successful safe crossing projects, it took a level of significant commitment from the railroad itself to be involved. Like you're saying, most of them want to be involved because the federal government pays for most of the work, but they have to be involved. Fairly early to say, that's a good or bad idea or we won't even tolerate that idea or forget that that's DOA. So it sounds like you've got the handout and that's the thing I'm looking for. That's again, I don't want to get the community all raz about a possible option and P and W is like, no.

With the experienced team that Mike mentioned, sounds like some of the consultant staff, they've had luck discussing with railroads before.

Good for them.

So

And some have actually worked for railroads before. Woah. So yes, I feel pretty good about that. We will be keeping them involved as much as we can. We may be discussing that potential agreement for them to actually look at plans if necessary. But we're hoping to actually get some input from them just working together as agency and railroad company.

Yes. Because I remember Rachel mentioning one time that they have no hesitancy in asking us to do something and ask us to pay for something at a crossing, but when we need their input, they ghost us. I know you're other questions. Councilor Brooks?

To that point, their discussion of extending the length of the train and what the impacts would be on our city with a lot of different intersections, I think that that's a really important piece to think about and to help leverage those conversations too because I think the community would have really strong feelings about that if we're not tying up just one intersection because the length of the train is doubled.

Right. And that is a big part of it as well is and also what if there is some sort of incident with the train and then it's stopped for hours. How many of our crossings are blocked and if we have separated, then that could really help us.

Yes. We're trying to help them, have them help us help them.

Yes.

Thank you very much.

Any other questions? Do I have a motion? Oh

yeah. I motion that we adopt Resolution 5930Nine-twenty6. Second.

I have a motion to adopt resolution number 5939Dash26. Any discussions on those motions? Seeing none, this is a roll call vote. So I'll go ahead and start with councilor Sacco.

Aye.

Council Hillier.

Aye.

Councilor Gonzales. Aye. Councilor Brooks? Aye. Council President Pratt? Aye. Chair votes aye. It is unanimous. Thank you, Mike. Thank you, Abby.

Thank you

very much. Thank you.

Alright.

Happy New Year.

Item number two on the general business consideration of recommendations from the council committee on advisory appointments that is councilor Brooks and councilor Sacco.

I'll start.

I'm sorry, council president Pratt councilor Sacco, I'm not thinking and Maria, but Maria is not

Right.

So here

we go.

And that's Councilor Reyes.

Yep.

Anyway, I just want to be clear that the advisory committees do not select who's gonna be on the committee. It is the CCAA. We interview the people. We make recommendations to the council, and it's this council that appoints the people on that committee. I've been on this almost since I was on council.

Councilor Brooks used to be on it, and now I'm with Councilor Sacco and Reyes. And the whole time I've been on this committee, everybody's taken with ultimate seriousness. We want to appoint the best people on these committees. And every time we've come up here, I think we've mentioned that we end up with this plethora of great people to be on these committees. So we have a difficult choice of picking between great people.

And what tend to do what we do do is we look at well, lot of it's the person's enthusiasm, and we look at what traits they bring and skills to the committees, and that they will round out the committee and be a great participant and add to the committee. So that's how we make our decisions, and I just wanna be clear about that. But tonight we have three appointees to the budget committee and counselor Sacco is going to

go now.

Thank you. So the three individuals that we have are all for the budget advisory committee terms expiring 12/3128. We have Chris Bruhn, Elizabeth Michaels, Daniel Bakhubber. Bakhubber? Bakhuber? Bakhuber. Thank you. So with that, I would like to motion that we approve the candidates for the Budget Advisory Committee as read. Second.

I have a motion and a second to approve the recommendations from the council committee and advisory appointments. Any discussions on those motions? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Abstentions? It's unanimous. All right. Councilor Brooks.

I just want to also I'm also wondering cause things come up in life. These are volunteer positions. If someone doesn't get reappointed but wants to apply again, they're free to apply again. Correct? And their experience and passion, I'm sure, bodes well for them.

So I, you know, we wouldn't want anyone to think that they're being rejected or something like that because they're just very competitive volunteer positions, which is kind of interesting. And we want the rooms to be full during these meetings because there's so many people that would like to be on these committees. But if there's a reason that somebody couldn't come to a few meetings and they could, in their life, you know, gets more stable, it's fine to reapply and become come back and be part of the committees. So I just I want to make it really clear. It's not like anyone ever gets kicked off a volunteer committee here in Toowalton.

We're not doing that. That

brings us to items removed from consent. We had none. Council communications. Council Brooks.

I have a couple things that have come to my awareness. One that I think that people might want to know about. One is there's a Supreme Court decision coming down the pike around the Roundup. There's class action lawsuits around the parent company's liability and whether or not these people that have cancer and different things will be paid. And so I think it's really important to note that if we have people that are utilizing things like that at their work and stuff here, and for people that are making their choices at home in case something were to happen.

There's quite a few different cancers and things associated now. So that's a case that people might be interested in looking at, especially with us being obesity. And then the second thing that I wanted to bring up was there has come to my attention and understanding that there was an application for a build out on the Federal Reserve in Tualatin with a bird sanctuary type place. It's a battery type plant with would have overhead wires. It's I don't know.

It sounds like it's trying to the there's just some people that are interested in making that go fast, and I think the people in our community should know. I don't know where it is yet right now, but I know that the company's making the rounds to our state legislators. And it's complicated because the federal agency that oversees it is of a different mindset than they were the whole time that Federal Reserve has been there. So if anyone wants to talk to me more about that, let me know. And but I think it affects us in our downtown redevelopment. The Federal Reserve

Preserve. The Bird Preserve in Oh,

that's not in Tualatin.

Well, it's part of the Tualatin. Yes, the Federal Wildlife Preserve. It's very small. It's out on 99.

On 99.

Yeah. Uh-huh.

And it is the one of the smallest preserves and the reason why is because the diversity of birds that migrate through our area is so large that it was very important for us to create a space for them to land and stop and move through their progression of migration. So it's a really serious, speaking of transportation issues, it's a serious transportation issue for birds. So it's a very unique situation over there because it's such a small federally owned lands, but it's federally owned, but it's very close to 12.

It butts up against 12.

Yes, and it's on that end.

Comments. I just got two quick reminders. We mentioned in work session, January 22 is busy 09:12 in. TriMet will be at the library in the community room. I'll send the public comment on their proposed cuts from four to six.

So to Alton Library from four to six for TriMet. And then Washington County Commissioner, Pam Trease is running for Chair of Washington County. She will be in town having an open house down the street from 04:30 to six at the Marquee Community Center. So go make your comments to Tribit and then go speak and meet Commissioner Treis and see what you think about her because she is running against the feet of five for Washington County Chair. Any other comments? Council Brooks?

I had one more thing. After I really appreciate our city participating with the ally training the other day, and there were things that they pointed out for cities to look at. And I was just curious if there's any follow-up or if the people that went to that meeting wants to talk about it or if we should do a brief here to the rest of the council about the information that was shared at that meeting.

Like, what the materials in the PowerPoint or just what was discussed?

Whatever. Yeah. I think it's a lot of information, and and they covered things too like what those cameras were that they're concerned about, all kinds of different things. So some of it felt city related and some of it felt personally related. So I was I mean I'm open for a conversation Right.

Right. We can do that. We can talk about it. I know the the one part, the big discussion was about the flock cameras and we have no flock cameras in Toowlton. Chief confirmed that.

I attended a meeting with the flock people. I heard Ben decided to pull out that Ben is having them removed. So that was one big thing and it's involved city. The rest of it was as far as I remember was training, what organizations are out there to give folks information, support, coordinate. So we can always do you wanna talk about it in a work session or something or just amongst ourselves? What do you want?

Well, I mean, we could we could discuss what we'd wanna talk about. But I think that there's that. And then we had that incident that I almost saw that was, you know, something that is not legal in the community, and there's these incidents of violence. I understand there was something that went viral that shows our police department a really great life, and a lot of people have trouble discerning those things. So I just want to know as a body, you know, what our boundaries are and what we can and cannot say or proclaim or, you know, invest in.

But I don't know those answers because I'm not an expert on this kind of stuff. So I thought it was a good starting point. And there was a lot of legal conversations with the ACLU being there as well. I'm just curious about that. I'm I'm And I'm plus with your work too.

Yeah. I'm just confused of what you're talking about, to be quite honest with you. I have no idea. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

Was You're speaking in code. So can you be can you spell it to me out, please?

Yeah. We had a meeting that everyone was invited to that was broadcast throughout many cities in Washington County from Beaverton that was presenting information around how to be an ally for people that are dealing with challenges for around immigration and also illegal things that are going on. So there were three organizations there, and it was at Orr Library. The mayor everybody was invited on council, so we announced earlier that we had gone to that meeting. And so I was asking a follow-up question from that meeting.

What have we thought about exploring? Any options? Do the people that went to the meeting want to talk about what we want to share? Or do we want to share and have a talk? Or how do we want to do it? But there's something about everything that's going on that makes me feel uncomfortable with

So just to be clear, so you're talking about illegal immigration and all of the enforcement stuff. Is that what you're talking about?

I'm not talking about illegal immigration. I'm talking about overreach and public safety concerns that community members have.

So one thing that we these calls that were going on that councilor Rios and I are attending is to kinda share that information. And but the consensus is that as a city, have to be very careful because we cannot inhibit. We can share information. But if a person is not here legally, this was so hard even for me to talk about this, that we know what it is. It's illegal. So if you're wanting guess I want to be clear. What is it that you're looking for to the city to do? To I

don't I wanna

To share to share I just wanna know what specifically.

Well, specifically and I'll just say I had an incident where I almost saw these people attacking a man and like the police would never do, hitting them over the head. There's a citizen that's a US citizen that just got shot to death. And we have we're leaders in our community. And we want in my opinion, I would like to understand more about what our lane is and ways that we can tell the community, explain to the community that our police are operating under normal law enforcement operations. You know, they're showing their badge numbers.

They're showing their faces. They're doing everything how they're supposed to do and what we stand for and what we're not standing for. There are so many cities that have come into problems. So I just want to make sure that the information around what's legal and not legal that was presented at the meeting that for the people that weren't here can be shared. And so that this council can deliberate on making sure our community is a safe place to be and that we stand for people's safety and well-being here.

I would want to table this for a work session then if so we can speak openly and candidly because I just don't know exactly what you're intimating. I think our police officers are doing what they're supposed to be doing. We're a sanctuary city. I just don't know what more

We're not a sanctuary city, actually. A sanctuary state. Are you asking that basically, maybe we have a work session item where the role of our police, what they can and can't do, what we can and can't do, and what I guess that's what I got out of that. And then what's available to people in our community. Is that what you're saying?

Yes. And maybe there's resources and things like that. But there were three And different there are opportunities for people to also get educated themselves. So for that information to be out there, what people's rights are, for that information to be out there, Just all the things that people should have access to be treated legally and fairly. That's all.

Because the promote my own article, but the article I should put to all in life addressed all that.

Yes.

What the city of Tualatin police officers are allowed to do, not do, what resources are out there. But I heard Councilor Gonzales had asked if we want to talk about this more, that should be addressed in work session and where we can flush it out. But you need three other votes to get it scheduled then Sherwin has to figure out where to put it in our schedule. But are there three other votes to put this on a work session to discuss it? Councilor Sacco?

I mean, I wasn't able to attend that attend that training. And so I think having that information available for us to review somewhere, if it would would be at the least, would would be helpful.

What do you mean by review? To discuss or

To review the information. Yeah. Because I agree. I mean, I don't know. I mean, I I guess I know an overview of what the police is responsible for and what, you know, federal what the federal agency is doing. But I really, I guess, don't understand councils, which, I mean, we're policymakers. I get that. But, I think as I mean, it seems like there are situations that are escalating that we should be prepared to answer questions. I can see where that would be valuable.

So that's a yes. Councilperson Right. Pratt.

Yeah. I I don't see where it would hurt to educate all of us and to also be one more place of outreach to our community members.

Councilor Hilliard?

Yeah. And I guess a clarification. Are you also asking about how to become an ally how to become a legal observer? Because I think that was maybe I mean, I had architecture review board that night, so I missed the opportunity for the training. But is that or and I guess what I would wonder is, are there more trainings that we could those of us who weren't there could potentially get to so that we could all hear it from and then move into a discussion? So I I don't know.

Yeah. I think the training materials are

really I'm happy to

learn more. Yeah. I think the training materials are really important to share. And then I'm not talking about, like, the counsel all being legal observers, but if community members wanna know where to go to get that information. But I think as a council, we also might want to understand what's happening and what other cities and councils might be doing in this moment. Is there a place that we can make sure that we're standing for the safety of our community? That's all I'm asking about.

Okay. I got three. I got one, two, 34.

I don't understand the direction.

Yeah. Don't I mean, it's it sounds what I'm what I'm getting is we got the email back from the organizers of the event who gave us a copy of the PowerPoint presentation and then the contact information of the agencies involved. What I'm getting from Councilor Brooks is clear definition out to the community beyond what might be published in a newspaper article and what this city can do, what it can't do, what the police can do, just that's what I'm getting from what your comments is just an information piece in a work session, clarity of work to city council on what are the lines between ICE and Border Patrol when they're doing their thing, what the Tualatin Police can do. There's questions, is there anything a city council can do? To me, it sounds more like an informational session than an action session.

Is that what you're looking for?

Yes. That's led by staff?

Who's people?

I'm sorry, I turned

it off. Who's people? It's people us?

Yes, for people that haven't had a chance to read the

Oh, mean, we can send the link out to all seven of us.

Yeah.

From the results of the PowerPoint and everything like that. I think they even recorded it so you can watch it. Is that what you're looking for?

I think that if we want to have a discussion about what we're talking I think there's confusion because some people went and some people didn't go. So my first question was, did the people that went want to talk about this? And then my second question was, and it sounded like Counselor Sacco was interested in the information before making decision. I think that disseminating the information to the counselors that couldn't be there, and especially, I'm not thinking of your last name right now.

Counselor Gonzales.

Counselor, know that. Counselor Gonzales and I'm a little like flustered also and counselor Reyes, especially since there are representatives on Metro right now. Mhmm. Yeah. But

I wanna add comment. To just to be clear, and this is not something that I'm making and you can just look at anybody can Google and just look this up. There is nothing that we can do at all. There is not if a person is illegal this is what's even difficult for me to say. If a person is illegal, there is nothing that we can do. If they are a US immigration green card holder, they can get legal advice to become a citizen. That is it. There's not if we see somebody out there who who's you feel we feel they're being mistreated, do you wanna get in the way? Do you wanna be there? Do you wanna do the whistle?

I mean, there there is that kind of train that I'm seeing out there, but it's making things worse for the community. It really is. It's putting a bigger microscope. All of us, when we think about this, it's gonna pass. And if we're trying to be advocates for our community and if some people are in here legally and ISIS chased them, what are their options? Their options is what? To get legal services? There's no amnesty. I mean, there's no amnesty. There's asylum seekers, and those are the two distinct, and that is it. What more can we know about this?

Yeah. I've I have a different experience. I don't think that First of all, I don't wanna refer to people as illegals, And and there's people that have been treated in ways that that are citizens as well. And I just think that it's important to understand where we are in this moment, how we can be connected as a community, including your position, by the way. But I think that the information I didn't know a lot of the things that I learned at that training, and I feel like I'm a pretty well read, intelligent person with a lot of training.

And I think there's a lot of information and changes that are moving pretty quickly. And I think we're in a moment right now that is a different moment than I've ever experienced in my life. And we're in a leadership we're in a leadership body, in a leadership situation. You look at what Beaverton and Hillsborough wrote in to the committee that that counselor Earlier. Sorki.

I wanna call everybody by their first name right now. That was reported on earlier, and that's it. I mean, I don't think that this is that. This is not a Rubik's cube. This is just being educated in a moment when I know myself. I don't feel like I understand all the things. And it's a little terrifying to me to think of, you know, go see a beautiful new park and then hear that somebody's getting clobbered over the head with a gun. It's just not okay.

Thank you. I think the information that I'm most interested in is and I assume it's part of this information. So yes, I would love the PowerPoint presentation. The link to the recording would be great to have additional context is that, you know, the way that this is happening is is causing some terror and fear in our citizens. And it's not about people that have broken a federal immigration law.

It's about our citizens that are here that are seeing things driving down the road that they shouldn't see here in our city. And how do we handle that when that's happening in our city? And how do we protect innocent bystanders. If somebody is going through a drive through and, you know, people drive up with masks and guns and they could be traumatized for for life. And how are they supposed to react?

I don't know how I would react if I was sitting there and saw these masked men and guns. Are they federal agents? Are they some sort of organized terrorist group? Are they is it gang related violence? I would have no idea. I don't I wouldn't know what to do. And I think that we do need to you know, we need to educate ourselves. We need to help educate our community as possible to make sure that folks are, you know, at least arming themselves with the knowledge. Because I understand there's not a whole lot that we can do, but we can educate ourselves and help educate our community. And so I think that's the least that we So could

what I'll do is I'll dig up the because Mayor Beatty sent out a link. Did you you get one? I thought they sent it to all attendees, but we'll do I'll find the link and then email it out to all of you so you have access to this. So you can review the PowerPoint. Not promising they recorded it, but I think they did. And that all the contact information that can follow-up with Mayor Beatty if there's additional resources we can share with all of you. Since she was organizing that Beaverton is chest deep in this right now. So they have a lot of resources that I can send out courtesy of the city of Beaverton.

I was going say I went like a month prior to that I went to a presentation at Central Cultural that was for electives that was very similar so they might have a recording too.

We'll get that information out to you. Is that what you want looking for? Okay. All right. Do your thing.

All right. Have tried three times. Sorry. I move to adjourn. Second. Second.

Motion and second to adjourn. All those in favor say aye.

Aye. Happy New Year,

Opposed, happy New Year. Have a good evening.

Recording stopped.