City Council - Regular Meeting

All right. Good evening. Roll call on declaration of conflicts of interest, please.

Council Member Abram. Here and none. Council Member Bixle.

Here and none.

Vice Mayor Moniz. Here and none. Council Member Phillips. Here and none. Mayor Buble. Here and none.

All right. Approval of agenda as posted or amended. So moved. Second. Motion and second. Call the roll, please.

Council Member Abram. Yes. Council Member Bixle. Yes. Vice Mayor Moniz. Yes. Council Member Phillips. Yes. Mayor Buble.

Yes. Passes on a 5-0. All right. First presentation. Mr. Sims. Yes.

Good evening, mayor, council members, city staff, and members of the public. This evening we're pleased to celebrate another new Turlock business that recently completed the Turlock Partnership Incentive Program. Tonight we'll be recognizing Wicked UTV and its owners Jesus Mendoza and Brian Mendoza THESE GENTLEMEN ARE TURLOCK COMMUNITY MEMBERS, GRADUATES FROM TURLOCK HIGH SCHOOL AND PITMAN HIGH SCHOOL. LOCATED AT 966 WEST GLENWOOD AVENUE, WICKED UTV SPECIALIZES IN PROFESSIONAL CUSTOMIZATION, PREMIUM AUDIO INTEGRATION, PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS, MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR SERVICES UTV, ATV, and personal watercraft vehicles. So we wish Wicked UTV continued success and look forward to their business flourishing in Turlock. At this time, we'd like to invite the mayor and council and the business owners up for a celebratory check presentation.

Thank you, Chief.

If I can have you guys step up.

Thank you guys so much.

All right. Mr. Sims, you still up? He left us. You want to start with Titus? Titus? Did you want to be a part of this recognition for virtual turn-off?

So tonight we have a special certificates of recognition for the inaugural project team for virtual Turlock that's working between Stan State students and the city of Turlock.

So why don't you guys all come up, as well as the professor, please. And you probably need Titus, right? Yeah, let's get Titus up. Titus, you need to be up here. All right, come on up here, guys. You did all the work. Dr. Kim. Don't let them fall. Rosalie, clean up on aisle one here. Come on. So this virtual Turlock is an amazing thing. And these are the students and the professor who work together to work with our staff to try and make us have something just crazy unique and have an ongoing relationship, working relationship with the university. And so this is like the beginning of the beginning. So these guys are... the pioneers, if you will. And so we wanted to make sure that, you know, we really appreciate you. So we have a Christian. So for this, you have to understand how much time they put together to put this together for Turlock and let us display Turlock in so many different ways. This is going to be incredibly unique for our community. And I see it really growing and having different aspects that will help us for getting people to come to the university as well as people coming to start businesses here or just want to live here because it's such a great city. Do you have other things to say?

These students have just done a phenomenal job the whole year, and we're just excited for what's to come and the continued effort that's coming from this group. So I just want to say thank you guys.

We're going to do a little bit later.

Three, two, one.

Karen's ready come on up young lady good evening mayor and council thank you for the proclamation and the opportunity to be here tonight as we celebrate July is Parks and Recreation Month Parks and recreation are an integral part of our communities throughout this country, including Turlock. And parks and recreation promote health and wellness, improving the physical and mental health of people who enjoy parks and public places. Parks and recreation encourage physical activities by providing space for popular sports, walking, biking, swimming, and many other activities designed to promote active lifestyles. Parks and Recreation are a leading provider of healthy meals, nutrition services, and education. Parks and Recreation programming and education activities such as out-of-school time programming and youth sports and activities are critical to childhood development. Parks and Recreation increase a community's economic prosperity through increased property values, expansion of the local tax base, increased tourism, the attraction and retention of businesses, and crime reduction. Our parks provide a place for children and adults to connect with nature and recreate outdoors. Now therefore, I, Karen Packwood, on behalf of Mayor Amy Bublak and the entire City Council, do hereby designate July as Park and Recreation Month in the City of Turlock. From youth and adult sports, classes, aquatics programs, senior lunch program, and special events, the recreation and maintenance staff do an amazing job of providing opportunities for all ages in our community. I encourage everyone to follow the City of Turlock recreation and maintenance social media pages for exciting activities that are happening in July and throughout the year. Thank you.

You accepted that on your behalf, right? All right. So, Road Doctor, you're up.

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND THE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. WE HAVE A SHORT PRESENTATION FOR YOU TONIGHT ON THE REHABILITATION OF GOLDEN STATE BOULEVARD BETWEEN DELL'S LANE AND WEST TWALOMY ROAD. ALSO, WE HAVE LOOKED AT SEVERAL ALTERNATIVES FOR THE REHABILITATION, AND TONIGHT WE WILL PRESENT TO YOU OUR RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVE FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. What we are looking for is any input, any feedback, any comments, suggestions, guidance from you. After that, we will move into the final design phase of the project. Tonight we have Mr. Ed Noriega with us. He represents Mark Thomas & Company, the design consultant for the project, and he will take it on from here and give the presentation. And I'll be here to answer any questions as well.

Thank you, Fred. Good evening. As Fred mentioned, this presentation for the Gold State Boulevard Pavement Rehabilitation Project from Dells Lane to Tuolumne Road, it's an important artery through the city of Turlock that really spans the city from the southeast diagonally to the northwest of the city. This project segment is, if you can look on the screen, it's the yellow segment in the middle from Dells Lane to Tuolumne Boulevard, right back in the middle of the city. The objective of the project is mainly to rehab the pavement. By doing so, we're required to make sure to make the corridor ADA compliant and to make sure that the improvements are consistent with the city's active transportation plan as well as the city's general plan. For the meeting tonight. We're going to go over these four bullets. It's really the overview of the project the proposed improvements We're funding is coming from for the project and the project schedule We're currently in the preliminary engineering stages, so we just completed it in the green box that you see are on the screen We're trying to move over to the middle box environmental documentation as well as final design so that city can construct this project A little closer view of the project. It's, in this case, this map's rotated. North is to the upper left corner of the screen. Dells Lane is, the project is that yellow line that you see in the middle. Dells Lane is to the right of the screen, while Tuolumne Boulevard, or sorry, Tuolumne Road, to the left side of the screen. Distant conditions of the corridor. So, Golden State Boulevard, you'll see there on the typical cross section that you see at the bottom of the screen. is a two-lane roadway in the southbound direction and three lanes in the northbound direction. It's in the middle of that cross-section. On the west side of it is Union Pacific. Along the east side of it is Devanian Road, and the pavement condition along the corridor is very poor. On the southbound direction, a lot of alligator cracking. Northbound direction, where you can see the concrete, there's a lot of spalling that's happening. On that third, that outside lane on the northbound direction, there's some cracking that you see surfacing along that pavement. We've done some preliminary, some data collection. We've surveyed the corridor, some geotechnical investigation, as well as utility research. And we've now completed the 30% design that we're recommending to the city to consider. So we've developed some cross sections for the corridor and the pavement rehab strategy associated with the project. This cross section right here is the city's general plan typical cross section for a roadway like Golden State Boulevard. It's defined as a six lane expressway. And what that means in the city's general plan is you have three lanes in each direction with center median. BIKE LANES, WHAT YOU SEE THERE, BUFFERED BIKE LANES, SO BASICALLY BIKE LANES WITH SOME PAVEMENT MARKING BETWEEN THE TRAVELED LANE AND THE BICYCLE LANE, THEN SOME SIDEWALK AND LANDSCAPING OFF OF THE EDGES. THE BIKE LANE, BECAUSE GOLDEN STATE BOULEVARD IS A HIGH SPEED FACILITY, THAT BIKE LANE NEEDS TO BE BUFFERED, WHICH MEANS some pavement markings shown here on the photo that separates the bicyclists from the motorists. It's an added safety feature for a corridor like Golden State. In the city's active transportation plan, it was identified that north of Hawkeye, Falkirk, along Golden State, there's a gap all the way to Taylor, actually. There's a gap in facilities for bicycle lanes as well as sidewalks. And so it's important with this project, it's the opportunity to actually implement those. This map here just shows along the corridor where existing sidewalks are. And we didn't show all of it stretching out. It's really just the sidewalks that are touching the project. And so you'll see them in red there. There's some sidewalk along Devanion, as well as just on the edges of the project along Golden State Boulevard, Tuolumne, as well as Fulkert and Hawkeye. What we're recommending to make it consistent with the general plan is to add sidewalk and the green lines that you see there along Golden State just to the north end of the project. However, for the remainder of the project to connect it to Tuolumne to add sidewalk and Devanion instead of along Golden State. THEN FOR BIKE LANES, YOU'LL SEE HERE IN LIGHT BLUE WHERE THE EXISTING BIKE LANES ARE CONNECTING TO THE PROJECT. WE'RE RECOMMENDING THE BIKE LANES THAT WE MENTIONED EARLIER ALONG GOLDEN STATE SHOWN HERE IN GREEN, SO ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ROAD. The right-of-way along the corridor, it's roughly along Golden State, so east of Union Pacific. It's 135 feet. That's consistent with the city's general plan. Then on Devanian, it's 44 feet generally, which is consistent with the city's general plan also. What we did notice is that along Devanian, there's a gap there where we don't have enough right-of-way width to construct the sidewalks. And so, therefore, that's needed for the project. And that gap there is between Vic and Pedras. What we're recommending for the typical improvements for this project to be consistent with the general plan and the ATP is mainly to widen Golden State Boulevard. I'll start from the left on the screen here. Widen for a bike lane on the southbound direction. A third lane going southbound along Golden State Boulevard. Then the northbound direction widened to the east of Golden State, east of that third lane for a bicycle lane going northbound. Then some sidewalks along Devanion where they're missing. However... What we're also recommending, because Golden State actually functions really well, it operates really well, that you really don't need to add that third southbound lane. So what we're recommending is to defer those improvements and mainly deliver the bike lanes and the sidewalk along Devanian, as well as, obviously, to rehabilitate the pavement of Golden State Boulevard. Speaking of pavement rehabilitation, from our analysis, there's some south of Hawkeye. Pavement is relatively new. It's been reconstructed here very recently. It's in good condition. It's a resurfacing that's needed there in order to accommodate the traffic that Golden State is, the amount of traffic using Golden State. North of Hawkeye and Falkirk, there are sections of Golden State that have concrete in it. It's that middle section from Walnut to just north of Hawkeye. On that pavement where there's existing concrete, our recommendation is mainly to resurface that pavement, reuse the existing concrete material, and make a good base for that pavement. The AC sections north of Hawkeye, they're not in the best condition as well as at Third Lane along Golden State. So we're recommending a reconstruction at those sections. There are signals that will be affected by this project that will need to be modified as we rehabilitate the pavement. Corridor landscaping. There's some corridor landscaping for this project. It's mainly at the intersection of Hawkeye, Fulker, and Golden State, just the north leg of there to complete the look of that intersection. Project costs. So the... With the recommended improvements by deferring the future third lane, the construction cost for the project would be roughly $11.6 million. The deferred improvements for that southbound lane would be roughly $2.5 million for the project. And these are the locations of what the deferred improvements would be. It's really that third southbound lane as well as there's a portion in there where Walnut intersects with Golden State Boulevard where that third lane is a right turn lane onto Walnut. If the city decides to make it three lanes all the way through to Tuolumne, then there's some improvements that need to go in there in the future. Project costs, like I mentioned, $11.5 million roughly, mainly paid for by Measure A, your local tax measure, as well as the city was awarded $2 million of the CPR carbon reduction program from the feds that would go on to the project. And I think the city is still actively looking for additional funds for the project as well. So the next step, schedule-wise, as I mentioned, we've completed preliminary engineering here at City Council this evening presenting the project for feedback. But the goal is to go back out to the public here this summer as we continue final design to talk about these improvements. with the idea that as we go through the environmental process and final design, that we keep the public informed of what the – I imagine two meetings from now it would be sharing the inconveniences of construction out there, so how traffic will be handled during construction. But the goal is to have this project bid roughly a year from now so that construction can begin in the fall. At that, that's the end of my presentation.

Questions for either of them?

I just do have a quick question. So I'm appreciative of the plan for this section, but I guess I'm just a little curious why this section and kind of because Golden State spans a long way and there's lots of areas along it that need attention. So can you just kind of clarify? HOW THIS PART WAS SELECTED?

THIS WAS THE WORST CONDITION. AND IT WAS KIND OF LIKE THE CONTINUATION OF WHAT WAS ALREADY DONE, THE SECTION FROM MAIN STREET TO DELLS LANE. SO THE IDEA WAS TO PROGRESS SEGMENT BY SEGMENT TO THE NORTH. We actually looked at the other two segments, the rest of the Golden State from Tuolumne all the way to Taylor Road. We broke that into two phases. We applied for grant funding. Unfortunately, we were not selected for that. So those are also in the process of evaluation, and definitely they are not forgotten. The idea is to basically rehabilitate the entire Golden State all the way to Taylor Road.

Okay, so we will anticipate, you know, put some press release together about the 2026 public meeting so people can come up with some ideas?

Absolutely.

Okay.

May I share some good news?

Oh, we love good news. Come on.

Gear Road was advertised today. Ooh. The entire Gear Road. Whew. All right.

So it'll be done tomorrow?

Definitely.

By Friday.

Thank you, gentlemen. Appreciate you. All right. Thank you.

All right. Wayne, you ready? It's only good news. Top that with good news. Come on. You guys get money all the time.

All right. Thank you.

ALL RIGHT. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR, MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. I WANTED TO PROVIDE THE COUNCIL AND THE COMMUNITY A BRIEF UPDATE ON OUR TRANSIT PLANNING EFFORTS AND OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT EFFORTS. AND SO I WANTED TO TOUCH ON A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT WE'VE GOT GOING ON. A FEW MONTHS AGO WE STARTED OUR SHORT-RANGE TRANSIT PLAN PROCESS. IT'S SOMETHING WE DO USUALLY EVERY ABOUT 35 YEARS. A LOT HAS CHANGED IN THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, INCLUDING A HUGE SPIKE IN RIDERSHIP, WHICH IS GREAT, BUT WE'VE ALSO HAD AN INCREASE IN OPERATING COSTS AND NOT A CORRESPONDING INCREASE IN REVENUE. AND SO THAT AND SO WE WOULD DESIRE THAT THE NEXT PLAN BE PRACTICAL, EFFECTIVE, AND SUSTAINABLE. WE WANT IT TO BE A GOOD SOLUTION FOR THE COMMUNITY OF TURLOCK, AND NELSON NIGARD HAS COME ON BOARD A FEW MONTHS AGO TO HELP US WITH THAT. AND SO OUR GOALS WOULD BE TO BUILD ON OUR PAST AND ONGOING SUCCESSES. WE'VE DONE A LOT OF GOOD THINGS OVER THE LAST FEW YEARS. WE WANT TO KEEP BUILDING ON THAT. WE ALSO WANT TO CAPITALIZE ON OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS, TO MAKE VALUE-ADDED PARTNERSHIPS WITH OUR REGIONAL PARTNERS, PURSUE NEW GRANT FUNDS, THINGS OF THAT NATURE. AND THEN ALSO RECOGNIZE THAT THERE ARE TRADE-OFFS BECAUSE WE HAVE A FINITE AMOUNT OF RESOURCES AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE DELIVERING THE BEST SERVICE WE CAN FOR OUR COMMUNITY. IT'S NOT JUST THE SERVICES, BUT IT'S WHERE WE'RE CHOOSING TO MAKE OUR INVESTMENTS. SO BUSES, FACILITIES, THINGS LIKE THAT. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE MAKING PROPER INVESTMENTS. SO OUR ROAD MAP, WHAT WE'VE GOT GOING ON IS THIS PROJECT IS A SHORT RANGE AND A LONG RANGE. SO WE'RE FOCUSING ON THE SHORT RANGE NOW. WE'RE IN THIS FIRST PHASE WHERE WE'RE ACTIVELY GATHERING DATA. THAT'S WHAT WE'RE DOING NOW. pulling all kinds of data from different sources, and that includes feedback from the community. So we want to hear from all stakeholders involved in the process, and that's not just transit riders, because stakeholders are a lot more than just riders. There's officials, there's taxpayers that are helping fund this valuable service that's available to the public. And so we want to hear from everybody on what you want to see in your transit system moving forward. And so that's what we're doing now. Then we're going to move into the next phase of that, which is the short-term actions, where we take all the things that we've learned, we've put together some scenarios that make sense, and we go back to the community again. We say, we've heard you, we've listened to you, this is what we think. It's going to make sense moving forward. What do you guys think of that? And we'll get feedback again, retool as needed, and then bring back to council for ultimate adoption. eventually then moving on to the long-range plans, which is going to focus more on bigger-picture items, as well as things like facility improvements and investments in our zero-emission transition, things that are multimillion-dollar investments that we need to come up with some strategies for that as well. So how can the community get involved? We want to hear from you and we want to provide plenty of opportunities for you to provide your feedback. So one of those is going to be a community survey. It's available on our website and I'll actually pull that up here in just a second. But you can go to that website at any point. We would encourage you to do that, to share it with friends and go there and provide your inputs on what you want to see with the transit system in the years to come. We're gonna have a series of community engagements. We're gonna have pop-up events, which are smaller, more informal, but really engaging with the public. And we're gonna pick sites throughout the community where we can best engage with folks. We're also gonna have community workshops, which are a little bit more formal, a little more organized, and we're gonna be presenting information Again, hearing back from the community is what they want to see. We're actually going to hold those community workshops in English and Spanish. And so there's going to be separate sessions, so you're going to be able to interact in your native tongue. That is the goal. We want to make it as comfortable as possible for folks. So again, we can share with family and friends. It's another great way to hear about this. And we're going to be putting stuff all over the place. We're going to have posters up, flyers. social media, website. Any way that we can get the word out, we're going to be doing that. And last but not least, we're going to have surveyors onboard the bus. So we're taking onboard surveys, not to be confused with the community surveys. These are going to be surveys intended for our riders. And so for the folks that are using the service, how can we do a better job serving you? And so look for those folks on there. They're going to have IDs, so... DON'T BE FREAKED OUT IF SOMEBODY IS ASKING YOU QUESTIONS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. IF THEY'RE IN A VEST WEARING AN ID, THEY ARE OUR OFFICIAL SURVEYORS FOR THAT. SO THIS QR CODE WILL TAKE YOU TO OUR WEBSITE. IT'S THE SAME LINK THAT IS THERE NOW, WHICH IS TURLOCKTRANSIT.COM PLAN. THAT WEB PAGE WILL BE A LIVE PAGE THAT'S GOING TO BE ACTIVELY UPDATED AS WE GO THROUGHOUT THE PROJECT. any flyers, media, content, videos, whatever progress we have, we're going to be putting on that website. And so that's a great place to go and see where we're at and how you can get involved. And so with that, I'm going to exit out of here to open up the webpage. So we're going to be working on snazzing up our web page here in a little bit. But right now, it's basic, but it's got all the information, and it's got a link to the community survey. So we've got it here on top. So if you're loading it on a mobile device, it's going to be one of the first things you see, and also another duplicate link here. But go there. It only takes a few minutes. We appreciate the feedback, and that's what I've got for you tonight.

Outstanding. So, Mr. York, is there anything happening in July that –

Oh, do we have anything going on in July?

We do. Maybe free something?

Free something. Free transit.

There we go.

Throughout the region.

I love it.

Stanislaus County, Merced County, partnered together again for free transit in Turlock, which is great not only for all your normal travel throughout July, but to the fair. We're going to have a free fair shuttle, which is going to take you directly from the transit center to the Archgate. And, again, it's free. Show up, and you're going to get cold water and maybe some little goodies we have for you there at the transit center. And it's a great way to experience the fair and not deal with the parking and all that stuff.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. York. All right, this is time set aside. public participation which is a matters that are not listed on tonight's agenda subject matter for the council and there are three minute limits I have some cards so we will start with the Turlock library

Good evening, council members and community. We are right in the midst of our summer reading program. If you're not familiar, it's all ages, so we have anything from infants all the way to adults. We did our kickoff the first Tuesday in June, which also happened to be Election Day. we had 99 people show up for our bubble day. And that was just the kids that we counted. We didn't count the parents that helped. So it was a lot of fun. People were parking in neighborhoods and walking on over because there was literally no parking. But it was a great event just to see the kids who got, we made giant bubbles. So the kids who figured out how to make the giant bubbles started showing all the other kids on how to do it. So it was a good collaborative learning event for them. And you can see their confidence kind of being like, oh, yeah, this is how I do it. And then kids want to learn from other kids, not necessarily from me. They did not care how I was making the giant bubbles. But seeing a kid that was maybe a couple years younger or a couple years older showing them how to do it is an amazing event. We also had a free book giveaway. We gave out 78 adult books for grownups in two and a half days. So we completely got wiped out. Same thing with kids. We ran out of books early on. So that was a good thing because we're also helping people build their home libraries. So we want people reading all the time. We don't care if you're reading books from home, books from Barnes & Noble, library books. We do not care. We just want this community reading. After 12 hours of reading for adults, you get a free tote bag that says, Discover Summer at the Library. It's super cute. People have been picking it up already. They love it. And then kids also get, like, little stuff. But they can also enter to win prizes. And as I said, if you're an adult, highly recommend doing it because not that many people enter. So your odds of winning something are fabulous. And that's all through the Beanstack app, or if you... a little more analog and want to get a paper log, we have them at the library. Just ask us at the counter. And that's all I got.

Oh, and it goes through July 31st.

So you have plenty of time. Terry Shaver.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the City Council. My name is Terri Shaver. I'm a Turlock citizen. And I've noticed, my neighbors and I have noticed a lot of stray cats in our neighborhood recently. And we began to wonder what on earth we were going to do with them. So we started looking into all the possibilities. And then, about three weeks ago, I found that a black cat had given birth to five kittens in my backyard and They're precious six six kittens. They're precious, but they've kind of taken over my backyard and It's kind of like what am I going to do with all these kittens and the mother cat? It's true. It turns out that it's really a problem The Turlock The Turlock animal shelter animal services will not take kittens or cats unless they're sick or hurt. My cats aren't sick or hurt. I can't take any of my cats there. So anyhow, I started looking into all this information. Cats can have three litters per year. So this could play out. It's amazing. Assuming a female cat has three litters in a year, Assuming each litter is four kittens, two are males, two are females, we'll only count the females since they reproduce. Cat A has a litter of four, two of which are female. In six months, she'll have another litter, including two females. And two of our first set of kittens will have litters of their own, two of which are females. At this point, there are already nine breeding females. Six months later, eight more litters arrive with 16 females and added to those nine already adult means 25 female cats in one year. Now add in all the male kittens we haven't been tracking, that's another 25. So 50 cats in one year from one breeding pair. This is the exponential growth of overpopulation. Obviously, this is way too many kittens and cats, stray, feral, and tame to be adopted into homes. So where do they all go? Do they get dumped, killed, starved to death? I wonder where the kittens go who don't get adopted. I think they're probably just turned loose in the hopes that somebody will adopt them. So intervention is so desperately needed, and this is... on behalf of the cats themselves so they don't have litter after litter after litter. Intervention is desperately needed. I found that it will cost me $200 to spay the stray mama cat who's now living in my backyard. She does not need any more kittens, so I will have her spayed if I can catch her. But I can't be expected to neuter all the stray cats that come to my neighborhood. Caring for stray cats and preventing their abundant litters cannot be managed solely by citizens with limited resources.

It must be a city and or county run program. Thank you. Well, I'm sure we're going to address it in another meeting as well. Abigail.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, city staff, and members of the community. My name is Abby Pendleton. I'm here on behalf of Assemblymember Juan Alaniz, and I just want to provide a quick legislative update on what's going on in Sacramento. We had two bills passed the Senate Public Safety Committee this month. So AB 767, this would prohibit a sexually violent predator from being released within a quarter mile of a child daycare facility or a home that has filed for a private school affidavit. And then also AB 2004, this would extend peace officer status to more officers at the county jail level, which would free up additional resources for county law enforcement operations. And then we have two bills being heard tomorrow in committee. So AB 387, this would require local sports facilities with a permanent sports infrastructure to maintain an AED facility. And then also AB 1728, this requires California community colleges to use a standard numbering system for firefighter and police officer courses. Right now, that system would only apply to general ed courses for transfer students. It doesn't really take into account CTE courses. So this would be helpful for students who are pursuing careers as first responders. And then, as always, if any Turlock residents need assistance with the state agency, like the Employment Development Department, the Department of Motor Vehicles, our office is always available to assist. Thank you.

Sophie?

Good evening, Mayor and members of the Council. Thank you for giving me your time to provide a legislative update from Senator Alvarado Gil's office. My name is Sophie Wiseman and I am a brand new district rep for her. It's a pleasure to be here today to report out on our legislative and district priorities tonight. As you may already be aware, Senator Alvarado Gil's legislative priorities include making California rural living affordable again. protecting parental involvement in children's education and health care decisions, and working to promote and protect the needs of our elderly and veteran populations. A few of our bills, or five of our bills, are going through assembly committees next week. One of those bills is SB 353. It's our Farm to Food Bank bill. Currently, we have a tax credit that gives a 15% incentive for qualified food donations to farmers. but it is set to sunset in 2027. This bill would extend the sunset indefinitely. We also have our right of passage bill, SB 1109, going through committee next week in the Assembly. SB 1234 will also be heard in Assembly Human Services. Our ABC Act, SB 1293 for Caltrans notifications. SB 1382 for mountain passes and SB 1397 for human mountain lion conflict program. Also currently in the capital, we are in the process of selecting two recipients to be awarded the Minerva Scholarship. Our office has received 73 applicants from throughout the district and the scholarship allocates $3,000 to the recipient through the Women in California Leadership Foundation. Please give our social platforms a follow to find out more about the scholarship winners. Additionally, our team is still busy out in the district. I am proud to announce two additions to our Senator's Choice Awards project here in Stanislaus County. The Senator's mission for the project was to support and award outstanding small businesses across the 13 counties in Senate District 4, ultimately providing them with community recognition that they deserve. Small business awardees in Stanislaus County have included the Drip Coffee Bar and Series and Modesto Indoor Soccer. And I know what y'all might be thinking. We have not awarded a small business in Turlock as of yet, but I've got news. If there's a small business that you hold near and dear to your heart or you know someone that holds a small business near and dear to theirs, please reach out to me directly or our office. Thank you, Mayor Bublak and members of the council for your time. And if anyone has any constituent issues, please reach out to me or our office directly. Thank you. Thank you. Shawn.

Mayor, City Council. This regards a car which had a sticker placed on the back window by the Code Enforcement Unit on October 18th, 2024. Days later, it was pushed by its owner into a guest parking space in the small parking lot at 290 North Door Street. It has remained uncovered and unmoved with a 2022 tag on the license plate ever since. 20 months. The Code Enforcement Unit has known about this car since June 1st of last year. In July, former City Attorney George Pachulakis requested if the unit had any photos for a visual test. In September, I even met with him in his office to discuss the matter. This year, on February 28th, Interim City Manager Gary Hampton came to the property regarding a different matter, and during his visit, we also discussed this car. He was so certain that the city could do something about it that he brought the chief of police two days later and they had a discussion standing directly behind it. But nothing changed. So I later reminded the chief by email of Municipal Code 4-8-501 and 502, which both regard penalties and begin with, it shall be unlawful for any person. No person is lawfully allowed to give permission for a car to be parked uncovered and unmoved at an apartment property month after month after month. This car has no connection to any person residing at the property. The police department is aware of these details. Regarding the municipal code, it states, the civil penalty for violation of this section shall be established by resolution of the city council. I call on this council to direct the police chief to immediately execute his authority under Chapter 4-8. Issue the formal 10-day notice of intention to abate to both the vehicle owner and the property trustees. If they fail to comply, Section 4-8-502 is specifically written for that purpose. Thank you.

I have no other cards. Is there anyone else who wishes to speak in public comments? Come on up. Don't fight over it.

I wasn't going to speak tonight, but I had to make a comment about the homeless cats and everything. It was like that. There are well-meaning and intentioned people that feed cats. You can go down a block here and find it. You can go all over the city. There's places where people feed cats. It is a miserable, absolutely horrible existence for those cats. They get in fights. They get fleas and ticks and all sorts of things. If you like the cats so much, take them home. You know, or at least, you know, take them to get spayed and neutered. And, again, I said well-meaning. That's fine. But, you know, as far as I'm concerned, we should outlaw that. But, you know, I've had enough cats born on my property, and everybody likes to think that if you want to have a cat, keep them in your yard, keep them in your house. I think that's fair, don't you guys? Thanks. Mary?

Good evening. I'm Mary Jackson. I have several things to talk about. I'm going to finish, I think, what Ms. Shaver was talking about. The city used to have a partner with the state for the trap-neuter-release program for feral cats. When Glenna Jackson was here, it ran smoothly. We did not have colonies of cats throughout the city. We were down to one dog and one cat, and now we have three dogs and three cats. Because my sweet godchild found one on Alpha. They are all over. I know one of the council members has a mama cat and two kittens. So if you guys want a kitten, maybe we should dump them at your house and you'll figure it out. They're all over. And I don't know why, once again, we're refusing to work with the state and take the feral cat program money. I know that the staff is aware of this. And it is highly frustrating that this, I mean, Terry spelled it out for you. She did basic third grade math. This is not going to go away. And so if we can't figure it out, we obviously need new leadership because this is frustrating. And there are kind-hearted people, but if you don't neuter them, it's like having rabbits. I'm going to change topics. Mr. Fisher met with me and my neighbor about the standing water issue we have, and I'm very appreciative that you came out and talked to us. I still don't agree with why you think There's standing water because there was water in February, and I have photos of that. And so what I'm going to do is we have standing water after Miraflores was repaved. And a former municipal services director now lives on our street. We just, as explained to me, we just need to drill down so the water automatically drains into the system. It is not draining because of some cement thing, and I don't understand it all. But I do believe what Nathan Bray is telling me. And lastly, Ms. Lucchesi, I was very upset. I didn't stay until the end of the last meeting. But Mr. Treeweiler was trying to talk about the pay for Mr. Fisher. And he named him because that's who he was talking about. And Ms. Boo Black and her comments attacked him. And that's not okay. When you get elected, you need to be civil. And if you can't be civil, then you shouldn't be up there. And it's something that I have people yell at me when I was on the dais. I have people yell at me as a school board member. And the last thing I want to talk about is I look at that plan and I took a photo because I want to take it back to the school district. I don't know if any of you drive on Golden State starting on August 12th when school starts, but many people who take their kids to Pittman High School, that is the main thoroughfare. That is the main thoroughfare to get people up to the freeway. And starting construction in October, it would be better if you started construction in June. Thank you.

Anyone else who did not fill out a card who wishes to speak now? Okay. We'll close public comment. Move on to city manager report.

I do. I have three updates tonight. The first one is last week the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority Board approved the fourth amendment to the Joint Exercise of Powers Agreement. The amendment really authorizes the appointment of an ex officio board member who would participate in board discussions and only vote in the event of a tie vote amongst the regular board members. The reason I'm bringing this up is important because the next step of that is the SRWA board is expected to consider a policy establishing process and selection criteria for the ex officio board member. FOLLOWING THAT, WE'LL BRING IT BACK TO THE CITY'S BOTH SERIES AND TURLOCK FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE FOURTH AMENDMENT ITSELF. SECOND UPDATE I HAVE IS ON ARPA. I KNOW THAT WE DISCUSSED WHAT THE BUDGET PRIORITIES. TWO PROJECTS WE ARE BRINGING OUT TO BID THIS WEEK, THAT'S THE CORPORATE SECURITY LIGHTING IMPROVEMENTS AS WELL AS FIRE STATION 33. SO WE TEND TO BRING THOSE AWARD TO BIDS ON THE JULY 28TH OF 2026 MEETING. ANTICIPATING THAT WILL BE DONE WITH THOSE PROJECTS IN OCTOBER. THE FINAL UPDATE I HAVE IS IN REGARDS TO GRANT FUNDING. STANCOG, THEY ADMINISTER THE FEDERAL CMAC AND STBG, WHICH IS THE SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BLOCK GRANT. THEY PROCESS THAT FUNDING THROUGH A COMPETITIVE PROCESS, AND THESE PROJECTS ARE EVALUATED AND SCORED BASED ON THE CRITERIA THAT THEY PROVIDED. SO THE STAFF WORKED REALLY DILIGENTLY AND DEVELOPED AND SUBMITTED PROJECTS THAT WE FELT WOULD BE COMPETITIVE AND REALLY ALIGNED WITH THE REGIONAL FUNDING PRIORITIES. And I'm happy to report on June 17th, the Stancock Policy Board approved the final fiscal year 27-2030 funding program, which included $10.494 million for the following City of Turlock projects. The first two being of CMAQ, so it's East Olive Signal Improvements, about $333,000 that was awarded. SECOND ONE IS WEST MAIN STREET SIGNALIZATION IMPROVEMENTS AND COORDINATION. IT WAS $1,162,000, FOLLOWED BY THE TWO SMALL STPG PROJECTS WITH THE GEAR ROAD CORRIDOR, AWARDED $2 MILLION, AND THE REHABILITATION OF FIFTH STREET WAS ALSO AWARDED $2 MILLION. And the final large STBG was the rehabilitation of Lander and Olive Avenue. That's safety and connectivity improvements, and that was a total of $5 million. And it's important to note this process started in April of last year, so it was a long process, and we're not done with it exactly. So the next steps of the staff will work with STANCOG, program the approved projects in the Federal Transportation Improvement Program, complete any of the remaining environmental design requirements, and secure the federal authorization for each project for each phase. As they advance, we're going to bring you regular updates to the council. That's all I have tonight.

All right. Thank you for that. Next is the consent calendar. These are routine items enacted by the motion and no separate discussion. If there's a public that wishes to make a comment on any of the items, you have one minute, so please come up.

Hi, Mary Jackson again. I'm just asking why the appointment to someone on the Measure A committee is on the consent agenda and not agendized separately. That's the way it's been done in the past, and I think it should be done that way. Thank you. I don't think it should be put in the consent agenda. It looks to me like it's being hidden for some reason.

Anyone else? Okay, we're going to close public comment. Ms. Luchese, will you explain? It wasn't my idea.

So appointments are an action taken by council, therefore we put it on with the other action items before it had been presented up with presentations, which didn't allow the public to comment. So by putting it under consent, the public gets a chance to comment before council takes action.

Move to approve the consent calendar as written.

Second. Motion and second. Will you call the roll, please?

Council Member Abram. Yes. Council Member Bixle.

Yes.

Vice Mayor Monette. Yes. Council Member Phillips. Yes. Mayor Budweiser.

Yes. Council of 5-0. All right. Moving on. Next item. No final readings. Public hearing. Appeal of the Planning Commission. We'll start with Ms. Warner. Wait, is it? Is today your day? Yes. Happy birthday. Thank you. Happy birthday. Thank you. Get my stuff here together. I guess I don't have to ask what you're doing for your birthday?

No.

My husband will. He's probably going to text me, where are you at?

He forgets every other Tuesday. He forgets, where are you at?

GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL MEMBERS, MAYOR BUBLEK, AND MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY. THE ITEM BEFORE YOU TONIGHT IS AN APPEAL OF THE APRIL 2, 2026 PLANNING COMMISSION DECISION REGARDING A BUILDING PERMIT, AND IT'S BUILDING PERMIT NUMBER 251123 AT 290 NORTH ORR STREET. THIS ISN'T A TYPICAL TYPE OF APPEAL THAT YOU USUALLY HEAR FROM EITHER THE PLANNING COMMISSION OR THE COUNCIL WOULD HEAR. TYPICALLY YOU WOULD HEAR, LIKE YOU HEARD A COUPLE MONTHS AGO, AN APPEAL OF A PROJECT THAT WENT TO PLANNING COMMISSION OR WHERE A DEVELOPER OR THE COMMUNITY WOULD DISPUTE WHAT WAS GOING TO BE BUILT. THIS APPEAL IS AN APPEAL OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION THAT WAS MADE BY MYSELF AS THE DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER AND THE CITY ATTORNEY. THAT'S OUTLINED IN OUR MUNICIPAL CODE AT CHAPTER 1.4, OR 1-4, AND IT SAYS, HIGHLIGHTED THAT ANY APPEAL, ANY ACTION OR DECISION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION MAY BE APPEALED TO THE CITY COUNCIL. SO THAT'S WHY I'M BEFORE YOU THIS EVENING. SO THERE WAS, JUST TO KIND OF GIVE YOU A LITTLE BIT OF IN JULY OF 2000, JULY 11TH OF 2025, THE DEPARTMENT DID RECEIVE A COMPLAINT THAT THERE WAS CONSTRUCTION AT 290 NORTH THOR THAT WAS DONE WITHOUT A BUILDING PERMIT. OUR BUILDING INSPECTORS WENT OUT AND DID FIND THAT THAT WAS THE CASE. WE CONTACTED THE PROPERTY OWNERS AND TOLD THEM THAT THEY NEEDED TO APPLY FOR A BUILDING PERMIT. THEY DID THAT IN SEPTEMBER OF 2025. THAT BUILDING PERMIT WENT THROUGH THE REVIEW PROCESS AND WITH OUR OUTSIDE PLAN CHECK AND OUR OUTSIDE PLAN CHECK PEOPLE, OUR REVIEW OF PEOPLE, AND THAT BUILDING PERMIT WAS ISSUED IN DECEMBER OF 25. SO CONSTRUCTION BEGAN ON THE STAIRS IN JANUARY OF 26, EARLIER THIS YEAR. There we go. The project's located at 290 North Thor, and it's a six-unit apartment building. Let me see if I... And then... So these are the stairs prior to the construction, and this is what they look like prior to the extraction of the removal of the old stairs and replacement with the new stairs. So upon our... receiving the building permit and once the building permit and construction were started, we did receive some calls from Mr. Sheridan, the appellant, who was concerned with the paperwork that our building permit application and the papers that were signed as part of the issuance of the building permit. THOSE DOCUMENTS ARE, AND I'LL KIND OF SKIP A LITTLE BIT, BUT LET ME ROLL IT BACK A LITTLE BIT. SO PART OF THE DECISION THAT THE COUNCIL WILL MAKE WILL BE TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE DECISIONS THAT WERE MADE BY THE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIRECTOR, THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER, THE CITY ENGINEER, AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION FOLLOWED THE APPROPRIATE PROCEDURES, THE RELEVANT CODE AUTHORITY, AND BASED ON THE RECORD THAT WAS PRESENTED TO THEM. The City Council may uphold or modify or overturn the Planning Commission's April 2nd, 2026 Planning Commission decision. So what was raised in not only the appeal of the staff decision to the Planning Commission, but also in the appeal that was filed with the City Clerk to appeal the Planning Commission's decision are these four points. THAT THE APPLICANT DIDN'T HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO APPLY FOR THE BUILDING PERMIT, THAT THE OWNER BUILDER DESIGNATION WAS QUESTIONED WHETHER OR NOT THE OWNER BUILDER WAS THE APPROPRIATE SIGNATURE ON THERE, AND WHETHER OR NOT THE PLAN DEVIATIONS, THEY ALLEGED THAT THE CHANGES IN THE CONSTRUCTION WERE INCONSISTENT WITH THE APPROVED PLANS AND THAT THERE WERE SAFETY CONCERNS, LIFE SAFETY ISSUES WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STAIRS. So as far as going down and looking at what the building permit says and what the building code says, the California building code says, that the permits that are required authorizes the building official to issue permits for construction and alterations. So what that means is that the application does have, you know, a construction has to apply for the building permit. It is determined by the building official whether or not that application is the appropriate application. It has to meet certain guidelines. It has to substantially meet certain guidelines in the government code, in the health and safety code. But our building permits do substantially meet those requirements. The building official can have more, but we can't have less on the building permit. IT ALSO REQUIRES THAT THE APPLICATIONS BE SUBMITTED TO THE BUILDING OFFICIAL IN THE FORM PRESCRIBED BY THE JURISDICTION, WHICH IS OUR APPLICATIONS HAVE BEEN UNCHANGED FOR SEVERAL YEARS. AND AS I SAID, THEY DO NEED THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE HEALTH AND SAFETY CODE. AND THEN CBC SECTION 105.4 TALKS ABOUT THE VALIDITY OF A PERMIT, WHICH ALLOWS THE BUILDING OFFICIAL TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE APPLICATION CONFORMS TO THE APPLICABLE REGULATIONS BEFORE ISSUING THE PERMIT. So that all goes back to the authority of the building official determining what our forms are, what has to be on those forms, and accept them prior to the issuance of the building permit. So this is our building permit application. AND THIS IS THE SPECIFIC APPLICATION THAT IS FOR THE STAIRS FOR 290 NORTH THOR. IN THE BUILDING PERMIT APPLICATION, ANYONE CAN APPLY FOR THE APPLICATION. THE BUILDER, THE DESIGNER, ANYONE, THE PROPERTY OWNER. WE ALSO HAVE COMPANIES WHO HAVE PERMIT RUNNERS WHO THEY MAY APPLY FOR THE PERMIT. BUT THE ISSUANCE OF THE PERMIT CAN ONLY BE ISSUED TO THE HIS AGENT OR A LICENSED CONTRACTOR OR HIS AGENT. SO THOSE INSTANCES WE WOULD NEED TO HAVE A LETTER OR SOME TYPE OF WRITTEN DOCUMENT. IF THE PROPERTY OWNER OR THE CONTRACTOR DID NOT APPEAR, THEY WOULD HAVE TO HAVE SOME TYPE OF WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION ALLOWING SOMEONE ELSE TO PICK THAT BUILDING PERMIT UP. As you can see on this building application, the red star is Osvaldo Reyes. He's the actual designer of the plans. So he filled out the application, submitted the plans through our electronic portal, and so that's what this star means. It's like anyone can apply for the building permit. This is the, once it had gone through the process of plan check and plan review and comments, and if there were any comments on our building plans that needed to be addressed as far as other items that needed to be seen, we would have sent those comments back to Mr. Reyes. He would have made the corrections and resubmitted to us. So it did go through that process. And then in December of 25... the building permit was ready to issue and we issued it to Armando Garcia and you can see his signature here with the red star. We also received the owner builder designation and you can again see with the red star where the signature is. Subsequently at some point in time Mr. Sheridan did let us know that the signatures on the builder acknowledgement form were not Armando Garcia Sr. He let us know that it was Armando Garcia Jr. who had signed for them. He felt that that was inappropriate because Mr. Garcia was not listed as the property owner other than as a trustee. The Armonta property is actually held in trust with Mr. Garcia Sr. and his wife as trustees. When we do, we do have to verify property owner We do that by getting the latest tax roll information from the county assessor's office. So that did show us that Armando Garcia and his wife were trustees of the trust for the property. So when we do issue the building permit, WE DO VERIFY THAT WITH THE PAPER THAT WE HAVE, THE DOCUMENTATION WE HAVE FROM THE COUNTY. WE ALSO ASKED FOR A DRIVER'S LICENSE SO THAT WE CAN VERIFY SIGNATURES ON OUR PAPERWORK AND THE SIGNATURE ON THE DRIVER'S LICENSE. THAT WAS DONE WHEN THE BUILDING PERMIT WAS ISSUED. MR. SHERRITON DISPUTED THAT, AND WHEN WE DID FIND THAT, IT WAS MR. GARCIA JUNIOR WHO HAD SIGNED THAT. SO WE REACHED BACK OUT TO THE GARCIA FAMILY THE PROPERTY OWNERS AND ASKED FOR THEM TO UPDATE THE OWNER BUILDER ACKNOWLEDGMENT. THAT'S WHAT THIS IS. THIS IS THE MOST UPDATED ONE WITH ARMONDO SENIOR SIGNING IT. ARMONDO JR. SUBMITTED A LETTER STATING THAT HE, AS A CONTRACTOR WHO DOES A LOT OF WORK FOR HIS PARENTS, THEY OWN SEVERAL PROPERTIES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY, THAT HE IN GOOD FAITH CAME IN AND SIGNED THE PAPERWORK AS HE TYPICALLY DOES FOR HIS PARENTS, YOU KNOW, OF REPRESENTING THEM AND DOING THE WORK FOR THEM. SO HE SUBMITTED THIS LETTER IN GOOD FAITH. letting us know that in good faith he was not trying to hide anything from the city, it's just that he typically signs for his parents. Just another caveat is that Mr. Garcia Jr. is also a licensed contractor, so he could have picked up the permit as the licensed contractor as well. IN ADDITION, AFTER THE BUILDING PERMIT WAS PICKED UP, THEN CONSTRUCTION ON THE STAIRS BEGAN. AND THE DEPARTMENT CONTINUED TO RECEIVE CORRESPONDENTS FROM MR. SHERRITON THAT HE WAS DISSATISFIED WITH THE WAY THAT THINGS WERE GOING. HE STILL THOUGHT THAT THE PAPERWORK WAS NOT IN ORDER. SO WE DID MEET, MYSELF, THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER. we did we meet with mr sheridan to talk to talk through these issues we also met with staff we determined that the paperwork had been updated everything was valid the permit was was was okay to go it was it was it was valid subsequently after some other discussion with the city the interim city manager MR. SHERRITON ASKED THAT CONSTRUCTION STOP ON THE STAIRS BECAUSE HE WAS GOING TO FILE AN APPEAL OF OUR DECISION. SO INTERIM SITTING MANAGER AT THE TIME VOLUNTARILY SAID THAT HE WOULD HAVE THE BUILDING DEPARTMENT ISSUE A STOP WORK ORDER AND WE DID SO, I BELIEVE WE DID THAT IN MARCH. SO WE DID PUT A STOP WORK ORDER ON THE STAIRS AND CONSTRUCTION ON THE STAIRS UNTIL MR. SHERRITON FILED HIS APPEAL AND IT WENT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON APRIL 2ND. ON APRIL 2ND, THE PLANNING COMMISSION DID HEAR THE APPEAL. THEY VOTED 7-0 TO UPHOLD THE ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION MADE BY MYSELF, THE CITY ATTORNEY AND THE INTERIM CITY MANAGER. SO AFTER THE APRIL 2ND, THAT STOP WORK ORDER WAS LIFTED, AND AT THAT POINT IN TIME, MR. GARCIA COULD CONTINUE CONSTRUCTION OF THE STAIRS. SO CONSTRUCTION OF THE STAIRS DID CONTINUE, AND I BELIEVE ON 13TH OF APRIL, He did he did call in the day before he did call in for a building inspection The way that our building inspection calls work is that you have up until 4 p.m The day before to call in for an inspection that goes on the schedule for the next day. Mr. Garcia did do that. So it was scheduled for the inspection and our inspector went out inspected the stairs signed off on the stairs Then the building was closed ONE OF THE ISSUES THAT MR. SHERRIDAN BROUGHT UP WERE PLAN DEVIATIONS. HE HAD CONTACTED THE ARCHITECT AND THE ARCHITECT SUBMITTED A LETTER TO US STATING TO MR. SHERRIDAN AND REPLYING TO HIM THAT HE DID NOT AUTHORIZE ANY DEVIATIONS FROM THE PLAN BASICALLY BUT THAT THOSE deviations would have, that his only involvement was the drawing of the plans and anything, any deviations or alterations of what he, of the interpretation of what he had planned was on the building, was a part of the building department's jurisdiction. So under the authority of the building official, if we are able to make some decisions on alterations. One of them being that the plans did call for pressure-treated wood. That pressure-treated wood is more to, and I have my building inspector here who could probably help me a little bit, but pressure-treated wood has to be, like if it's in contact, the wood's in contact with the ground, it has to be pressure-treated so that then it doesn't deteriorate. SO WHAT WE DID FIND THAT THAT WAS NOT, THEY DID NOT USE PRESSURE TREATED WOOD ON THE ENTIRE STAIRS, BUT THEY DID USE IT ON THE STAIRS, THE WOOD PORTION THAT WAS IN CONTACT WITH THE GROUND. WHAT THIS, MR. SHERRITON WAS STILL DISPUTING THAT, SO WHAT THIS E-MAIL IN THE HIGHLIGHTED AREA IS BASICALLY SAYING FROM THE ARCHITECT THAT IT IS the purview of the building department to make any of those alterations that are comparable to what the plans would say. So there is some type of spray that you can spray on the wood that kind of would be an alternative to having pressure treated wood. So along with the pressure treated wood that is in contact with the concrete and the ground, the stairs were also sprayed with this resin to AS THE ALTERNATIVE FOR THE PRESSURE TREATED WAS. SO WE FELT THAT THAT WAS ENOUGH AS FAR AS MEETING THE DEMANDS OF WHAT THE PLAN SAID AND ALSO ADDRESSING MR. SHERRITON'S CONCERNS. KEEP GOING BACKWARDS. I'M SORRY. THIS IS THE NOTICE TO CONTRACTOR AND BUILDER WE CALL ENTD. DURING THE INSPECTIONS, OUR INSPECTOR WILL GO THROUGH HE'LL GO OUT AND INSPECT, AND THEN IF THE THINGS THAT HE SEES THAT NEED TO BE CORRECTED OR CHANGED OR ADDED, WE WRITE UP, HE WRITES IT UP, AND THAT'S WHAT HAS TO BE DONE BEFORE A FINAL PERMIT IS MADE. AT THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING, MR. SHERIDAN FELT THAT AT THAT POINT IN TIME THAT THE INSPECTION HAD TO FAIL. BUT THAT'S NOT HOW INSPECTIONS WORK. YOU GO OUT, THE BUILDING INSPECTOR INSPECTS THE PLANS, He then gives the contractor what has to be corrected. You have to give them a chance to correct the issue before you can final it. And that's what the NTB is. Along with the NTB was an additional email from our inspector, Enrique, adding a couple of other things to the NTB that needed to be done.

I'm sorry, I keep going backwards.

THE OTHER ISSUE THAT WAS RAISED BY MR. SHERRITON WAS THE LIFE SAFETY CONCERNS. THE LIFE SAFETY COMPLIANCE IS ALSO REVIEWED DURING THE BUILDING PERMIT REVIEW PROCESS, AS WELL AS IN THE INSPECTION PROCESS. SO DURING THE REVIEW PROCESS, THE PLANS, ONCE THEY'RE STAMPED AND APPROVED BY OUR PLAN REVIEWERS, THEN THEY ARE ALSO INSPECTED FOR LIFE SAFETY ISSUES. So that's something that our building inspector is also looking at. So when he went out to the inspections, to the inspections that he did, the first one he did I believe was in February, he did not find any life safety issues. He did not write them down on the notice to the builder because there were none. So if there were, they would have had to be corrected prior to the building inspector signing off on the building permit. SO JUST TO KIND OF WRAP UP A LITTLE BIT, THE ROLE OF THE COUNCIL AND THE PLANNING COMMISSION AT THE TIME WAS, OR IS, IS LIMITED, AND IT'S A NARROW SCOPE. THE APPEAL WAS BASED ON THE ADMINISTRATIVE DECISION MADE BY MYSELF, RAND TRUM, CITY MANAGER, AND THE CITY ATTORNEY ON THE PAPERWORK THAT WAS SUBMITTED FOR THE APPLICATION AND THE BUILDING PERMIT. It's not, the role of the commission and the council is not to reevaluate the plans, not to reinspect the plans, not to go out and do another inspection or look at any of the construction documents. It's strictly to look at the documents that were submitted for the administrative decision that was made. As I said before, the city council can uphold the planning commission's decision, modify or overturn their decision as well. I'll get this ready for next week. So just to kind of go through the appeal, the issues again, there are four main issues. The appeal asserts the permit applicant lacked authority to apply for the permit. Again, anyone can apply for the permit. It's the issuance of the permit that has to be either to the property owner, their agent, or licensed contractor or his agents. And this is where you can see where Osvaldo had signed the permit application as submitting the application. The owner-builder designation, the appeal calls into question the owner-builder application and whether or not that was appropriate. When he did notify us that he felt that the signature was not Mr. Garcia's senior, we did reach out to them. They corrected that paperwork, as is in the authority of the building department and the building official, and so that paperwork was corrected. We asked for what we typically don't do is copy the driver's license, so we did ask for those and kept those on file. We don't usually keep those on file, but because Mr. Sheridan filed the appeal, we felt at that point in time it was a little bit, we probably would need to do that. We don't typically do that. We probably won't do that going forward with the suggestion of the attorney's office. So this is the updated owner builder designation sheet that was called into question. And the plan deviations that Mr. Sheridan called into question, again, he says they are inconsistent with the approved plans. But any alternatives that are, or deviations from the plans, as long as the building department and the building official can see that they are comparable, then those alternatives can be allowed as far as any deviation in plans. And again, this is the letter from the architect. As I said about the safety concerns, the inspector in his inspections did not note any safety or life safety issue concerns, and so those were not written up. So this just kind of bullet points again. The council's role is to review the administrative determination from myself, the city attorney, and our interim city manager, not to do a plan check or a plan review or inspections. And you may uphold or overturn or modify the April 2, 2026 Planning Commission decision. So I'll take any questions. I kind of rushed through that. Question from the director?

Okay. So at this point, what we will do is we will offer the appellant, Mr. Sheridan, ten minutes to speak. Then we'll open it to the public. We will close it from the public and give Mr. Sheridan an additional five minutes should he need so, and then come to our conclusion. So, please.

Thank you.

Okay. Good evening. I am the appellant, Sean Sheridan. On April 2, 2026, after the vote at the Planning Commission meeting for my original appeal, Commissioner Matthew Davis decided to admonish me from his microphone as I was seated at the back of the room. He asserted that, like his younger self, I simply needed to better understand how municipalities work. but he was unaware of something already confirmed to me by interim city manager Gary Hampton, a man this council specifically brought back in February to leverage what he described to me as 43 years of municipal experience. On Saturday, February 28th, Mr. Hampton came to the property at 290 North Thor Street and we spoke for more than two hours. He looked at the newly built apartment stairs, the building permit and application, the city approved plans, and some emails and documents I had obtained through public records requests. Toward the end, as I was speaking, he contemplatively looked up at the stairs and chuckled. He then said, I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but this is a mess. For context, Building Permit 25-1123 is fundamentally flawed. It was secured through documented forgery and impersonation. This commercial multifamily project masquerading as a single family residence allowed the bypassing of safety liability and licensing laws. I exposed it last year, but the city has chosen to spend months defending it through compromised procedures. On February 28th, the stairs were both dangerously and thoroughly not according to the plans. But something happened between Mr. Hampton's personal assessment on Saturday and Monday morning when he called me from City Hall. He informed me on the phone that George Petrolakis' counsel would stand, and my only option was to appeal. I came to City Hall to get the form referenced in Municipal Code 1-4-04. both the City Clerk and Development Services Director expressed that they were unsure of what the term prescribed form meant. Then I was handed a form designed for the City Council, not the Planning Commission. At the time, I thought it was a badly designed form, but it altered the way I framed my appeal. I later realized I was given a form for 1-4-01B instead of a form for 1-4-01A where the Planning Commission has jurisdiction. My appeal was then unanimously denied by seven commissioners who judged it based on the wrong form and 1-4-01B where they have no jurisdiction. These procedural failures constitute a defective hearing. For tonight's hearing, I must assert certain rights found in Municipal Code 1-4-04 and 06. The first right is found in this sentence. All information to be considered must be submitted with the appeal. All information to be considered must be submitted with the appeal. That means that each and every council member who votes for or against my appeal has a legal obligation in the code to consider all information that I have submitted, not just substance from a microphone, as the city attorney conveyed to me by email last Thursday. My appeal includes a 95-page amended addendum I did not write a book. It was composed in an outline format with six sections and 40 subsections. It took me weeks and countless hours to prepare. I also submitted 26 exhibits. However, subsequent developments compel me to assert an additional right under Municipal Code 1-4-06. If information, evidence, or arguments not previously submitted are offered at the hearing, the hearing may be continued in the interest of fairness. I now offer an additional addendum here with me with new exhibits for consideration, and I will highlight examples of what I am submitting. Under California law, an administrative appeal must be fundamentally fair, and the appellant body must receive neutral, unbiased advice. Development Services Director Adrian Werner oversees the division that issued Permit 25-1123, which is the catalyst of my appeals. Ms. Werner is a material subject as well as division staff. So investigating her own potential failures and or of her department and then authoring reports for the commission and the council violated California's established legal standards for a fair administrative hearing. As an official, Ms. Werner is legally barred from advising this appellant body regarding a matter that directly involves her. as a significant issue regarding the current staff report is that it omits the inspector's January 21st letter sent as a final notice that the stairs for apartment 200 had to be fully completed and approved by inspection no later than January 28th. That letter, I only recently discovered, states that after January 28th citations would be issued without further notice. But when I filed my first appeal in March, the project was still not final, yet no citation was ever issued. The staff report conveys a completely different story than the reality of that letter. Another fact recently learned through a PRA request is that the staff report omits the existence of the April 29th letter from the design professional of record. That letter emailed to the city by the architect named on the permit states that he did not know about the determination letter used to final the permit in April. It proves that the permit was finalized using a fraudulent design professional determination from the unlicensed drafter who submitted the permit application. Another issue is that the city clerk acknowledged last Friday that while you received my exhibits privately, she kept 24 off of the online agenda. Distributing evidence to the council while hiding it from the public record directly violates the Brown Act. It defeats the purpose of a public hearing. Exhibits Y and Z are online, but not exhibits A through X. Exhibit C, not online, is my photo that exposes the staff report's misrepresentation of when construction began for apartment 200. It exposes the city inspectors, who spoke only to commercial employees at the January inspection, ignoring that the permit claimed a workers' compensation exemption. The staff report also misrepresents the February 9th meeting, as though my allegations of fraud were brand new. It omits that just one week later, Director Werner accepted a city-prompted letter where the licensed contractor confessed to impersonating his father to obtain the permit. To conceal this, a retroactive authorization form was accepted which once again perjurously contains his handwriting in his father's name. I am submitting photos taken today of the stairs for apartment 200, the stairs must be replaced. And my appeal proves that the permit has reached the level of administrative cover-up. Furthermore, the city attorney waited until last Thursday to admit in writing that the April 2nd resolution was illegally filed with the county. Passing either of tonight's flawed draft resolutions without correcting that public record is just another cover-up. I ask this council to vote in favor of a continuation of this hearing in the interest of fairness, and I call on the members to consider my entire appeal, including the addendum and exhibits I offer at this time. I see that I have another minute and 30 seconds. Ms. Werner stood there and absolutely lied. She said that my complaint on July 11th was there was construction going on. The non-permitted stairs were not built until August 6th. But she just stood there and said that I was complaining on July 11th. July 11th was the original stairs. Then the licensed contractor built stairs with no permit on August 6th. She said that, she just really quickly said that the building permit process is in accordance with health and safety code. My appeal tears that apart. This city does not honor the health and safety code 19825 regarding the building permit process. This city must adhere to the way the forms are described in the health and safety code, not through some ambiguous jurisdiction that she claims through a building code. She said that she looked at the tax roll and discovered who the owner was. That is BS. I have it in email that she told me on February 9th in the presence of Donna Andrino that she did not verify the signatures, that she does not verify property ownership, and she said at the planning commission meeting that she does not verify property ownership, and yet she stood there and said that she did. It was the city attorney. Oh, I'm sorry. The city attorney's the one that asked me for the grant deed.

Questions? Question for Ms. Lucchese.

Ms. Lucchese, just a question. Given the information that's been presented this evening by the appellant, are both options, both resolution options pending before the council still viable?

Yes, all of the documents, addendums, and everything have been presented to council. They're available to the public outside of the meeting and everything. So you do have the complete record absent these additional documents that he's just now presenting.

Last question, any legal cause for a continuance?

No, unless there's something in these new records that council finds they would like longer to consider, staff would not present any need to. Any other questions for staff?

All right, we'll open it to the public now. Anyone wishing to speak on this? Yes.

Good evening. My name is Armando Garcia. The family purchased these apartments about two years ago. They needed some work. Nobody asked me to fix these stairs. The city did not force me to do any upgrade on this property. We took it upon ourselves to clean up the place. The stairs, we bought that property. It also has an adjacent lot behind it where we plan to build another sixplex there. So in the meantime, clean up the place, fix the stairs. We fix the stairs, not replace the stairs. They were a little flimsy. I had one of the contractors say, by the way, I'm a general license contractor. I have my B general license. I have a C27. I have a C8, a D14. I've been in landscaping since the age of 21. I got my contract license at age 21. I did sign as my dad's – as the owner because I manage all his properties. My dad is 67 years old. We manage all his properties. He has multiple properties here in Turlock. Never have I had a problem. for doing such a thing. I could have got the permit as a General B license as an employee to him, as a hired contractor. I could have provided the general insurance, general liability insurance. We have all that. This tenant was inherited when we purchased the property. So he has come to the city. He has come to me. He wants the project done yesterday, but then throws all these wrenches into the project. To a certain degree, I think it's harassment. It's harassment to Ms. Warner. It's harassment to myself. I send contractors out there to do certain things that he'll come out of his property or out of his apartment, which he's not even the tenant of this property. It's the mother. I don't even talk to the mother. She seems like she's always scared upstairs. She doesn't even come downstairs. Mr. Sheridan. FEEDS HER THIS LIFE OF DANGER AND EVERYTHING GOES THROUGH HIM. AND SO I DON'T KNOW HOW THE MOM LIVES TODAY. BUT MR. SHERIDAN COMES OUT WITH HIS PHONE, RECORDS PEOPLE. HE HAS GONE INTO SOME TYPE OF DISAGREEMENT WITH EVERY TENANT THERE. I cannot continue doing any improvements on that property while he still lives there because these stairs are a project that, I don't know, a $10,000 project, and we're a year and something into it. I did not bring my dad today because I would hear it all the way home of how waste of time this is. Thank you.

Anyone else wishing to speak on this item? Okay, I'm going to close the public comment. Mr. Sheridan, you have an additional five should you need that.

It's difficult when there's so much lying going on. Armando Garcia Jr. is the landlord. He's not just some licensed contractor. I have it on recording. He told me February 26th. He is the landlord. But we have not been able to confirm it because the property manager with her attorney, Paul Eccles, refused to acknowledge who the actual landlord is. But he told us on February 26th. And that was a complete surprise to me. But when he said he just wanted to fix up the property, no, he was the landlord for sure in January, or July of last year. So July 9th, I sent an email. to the landlord and I said, the stairs have got to be fixed. And I went to City Hall on July 11th and said, I just want to get you guys involved. The stairs need to be replaced. Mr. Garcia Jr. was the, he was the vice president of Amarok Management Incorporated, which was the landlord. We found out in February of this year when he came to the front door, he said, I'm still the landlord. So this whole thing happened with him being the landlord. And he's not just some innocent person. At the Planning Commission, he said he manages 100 properties. So when he came to the city, I... I'm sorry, I just blacked out. Oh yeah, when he came to the city for the permit... All he had to do was do it right. That's all he had to do. Just fill out the authorization form, and your father, he takes care of it. He says you're in charge, you're the agent, and that's all you have to do. The problem here with this permit is that there are two agents. Osvaldo Reyes is listed on the permit application as an agent. And the Health and Safety Code directly structures when you ask for authorization. Who is an agent and how do you have authorization? Osvaldo Reyes has no authorization. He applied for the application with no authorization form. Then Armando Garcia Jr. got the permit with no authorization form. Then George Petrolakis... through Kimberly Hammack, sent an email on February 13th telling him to write a good faith letter. So then they took the letter that George Petrolakis orchestrated and then she took it to the planning commission and said, look at this, look how innocent he is. It's a good faith effort. No, it was a cover-up because George Petrolakis is the one who initiated it. And so that's in writing, that's in the email from Kimberly Hammack. The permit was finaled with a fraudulent design professional determination and April 29th the architect put it in writing. That is not valid. I do not agree with non-pressure treated wood. Now that's what was said. And so if you don't give me a continuation, this hearing is not fair whatsoever. Because I gave in my exhibit, there are two case laws and one standalone law. This is illegal. Adrian Warner has no legal right. And I didn't know that before. I just recently found that out. I just happened to ask Google Gemini, is there any law about this? And it went, here it is. It is illegal for Ms. Werner to be representing this situation. So it is an absolute unfair hearing. And what I present in my exhibit is a whole big situation. Here's an issue. She presents that there were inspections. There were no inspections. The apartment 200 stairs got one inspection. One. April 10th. April 10th is the only inspection. The city never did anything else. There was no correction list on the apartment 200 stairs. It was only the other stairs. They did a corrections list on the other stairs before the apartment 200 stairs were even built. So the only corrections list was on the other stairs, which had nothing to do with the complaint. So I came in here, filed a complaint July 11th. And then they decided to incorporate these other stairs into the project, which had nothing to do with the complaint. And then they never inspected the stairs they built. And one last quick question or comment. On March 10th, I came before this council, and my mom was left without a handrail for seven months.

All right. Council has a discussion or...

Madam Clerk, motion to approve the second resolution denying the appeal of the April 2nd, 2026 Planning Commission decision and upholding the Planning Commission determination that the administrative decision declaring building permit number 25-1123 for the property at 290 North Store Street, Thor Street, excuse me, Stanislaus County APN 061024058 valid and that the billing permit be...

Deemed was properly issued Councilmember Abram.

Yes. Councilmember Bixle. Yes. Vice mayor Monette. Yes. Councilmember Phillips.

Yes All right, you guys ready it's time CSU Stanislaus, let's do it Anthony Take us on a virtual tour You guys can be okay without Titus. Just in case.

I feel bad. Good morning, Mayor, Council Members, staff, and members of the public. The item before you tonight is a request for City Council approval of a Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, between the City of Turlock and California State University Stanislaus for the continued development and maintenance of the virtual Turlock project. Virtual Turlock is an innovative partnership that serves as a digital platform showcasing our community's businesses, attractions, quality of life, educational institutions, and community assets through immersive technology and storytelling. The project supports economic development, tourism promotion, community engagement, and placemaking efforts by providing a dynamic tool to market Turlock to residents, visitors, prospective businesses, investors, and future workforce talent. In addition, the project provides Stan State students with valuable hands-on experience in software development, digital media, project management, and emerging technologies. As part of the proposed MOU, the city would provide an annual contribution of $5,000 to support the ongoing development, maintenance, and long-term sustainability of the platform while continuing to foster economic development, workforce development, student engagement, and innovation through this unique partnership. So at this time, I'd like to introduce the virtual Turlock project team, who will provide a brief overview of the project, share their experiences, and highlight the progress made to date.

Right here.

We're doing it through the eyes of a zebra?

Yes.

It's creative. I know, right?

There we go. Hello, everyone. Thank you for having us today. My name is Ashno.

My name is Jose. My name is Christian. So everyone, welcome to Virtual Turlock. Virtual Turlock is a virtual tour application that we're building for the city of Turlock. And some things that we hope to achieve is grow interest, bring in more visitors, bring in more investors, give people the opportunity to learn more about the great city of Turlock, and hopefully to increase the local economy by showcasing local businesses. So just to briefly explain what we have done so far since the fall of 2025. We had our very first meeting between all of us right here. And then we had our very first virtual Turlock kickoff meeting here at the Turlock City Hall in August 16. And then we explored related tools, so searching up virtual tours, seeing if there's anything that we like that we can implement in our virtual tour. And then we had another progress report meeting at Sand State with the City of Turlock. And then we received 360-degree footage from the city of Sherlock that we used to implement in our virtual tour. And then after that, we planned application development, including the main layer, the street layer, side layer, which we will explain briefly more on. And then we finally purchased our 360-degree camera, the Insta360 X5. that we use and think about different filming techniques. We also use Insta360 Studio and Infinity Studio, which are free softwares that we use to download from the camera and also edit our photos. And then we develop integrated UI functions into our site tours. And then we collaborated with the city of Turlock to get photos from City Hall, from the municipal services, the Carnegie Arts Building, and then also videos from walking from here to the Carnegie Arts Building and walking back. And then with that, we implemented into our virtual tour, and then we also did various testing on different devices, including our smartphones and our laptops.

Some of the tools and platforms we have used to develop our app have been Google Cloud, GitHub, and VS Code for the actual development of this site, as well as a WordPress plugin, WPVR, and Marzipano softwares to actually create and embed our 360-degree virtual tours and YouTube as a form of storage. For our design criteria, we wanted an easy and comfortable UI anybody would be able to easily use and pick up, as well as responsive UI design, which means even if you're on your laptop, your computer, a phone, whatever it may be, you would still get the same experience anybody else would. as well as we wanted to make sure it was dynamic with live data retrieval and databases. And we also wanted this project to be scalable because we want to continue working on this for years to come. And scalability will allow us to continue to work on it easily and efficiently, as well as security, which in our day and age, everyone is using technology. Security is a very big issue for everyone, so we want to make sure our application is secure. as well as authentication and authorization functionalities, making sure the correct people are able to add to our tour and those who are not are not able to. For our data acquisition, as previously mentioned, we have used the Insta360 camera as well as Insta360 Studio to actually edit and work with our videos and photos we have taken. For our data management, we have used YouTube to store all of our videos in one central area, as well as Google Cloud to actually host our live website.

Now we will discuss the architecture of our virtual tour. So, a continuous street video is going to play, and during that video, the location in the video corresponds to the video time. So, this means that a specific time is associated to a specific place. For example, the student center can be shown at time 1 minute 30 seconds. Now when a user does click on a hotspot, one of four things can open. It can be a site virtual tour, a web page, an intro video, or a video virtual tour. Now I will show you the live demo. So when the user begins the tour, a continuous read video is going to play as shown, and we are actually using YouTube iFrame API, and this allows us to use YouTube videos, which provides a great user-friendly experience for the user. At the bottom, we have hotspot navigation, so we can easily move to the previous and next hotspot, so the user does not have to figure out where the hotspots are located in the video. While we walk over, we will shortly approach the municipal services building. We have reached it. So now all the user has to do is click on this hotspot and they can enter the facility. The user has a 360 degree view of the location. And at any point, the user can resume the street video by clicking on return to tour. In this video, we have implemented three sites. The Carnegie Arts Center, Municipal Services, and Turlock City Hall. Let's visit the Carnegie Arts Center. And let's go to the gift shop. Now, Kirshen will explain the potential e-commerce solutions that we can implement in the future.

So we have been using two different site tours. One is Marzipano, which is what you're seeing right now. And the second one is WPVR, which stands for WordPress Virtual Reality. WPVR, it offers something that Marzipano doesn't, which is the WooCommerce hotspots. And basically, instead of the go-to or the info hotspots, for an example, right here, for this product right here, we can put a hotspot right next to it. And when the user clicks on it, it will show up the information about the product and the option to go to cart, which basically, if the user likes what they see and they want to pay it later, they can. And then after, when they're done with the virtual tour, it will take them to your online website, your online store, and from there they are able to purchase a product from there.

Now we will exit this specific location. At any point, the user can exit a facility by clicking on Return to Tour, which will resume the street video exactly where you left off. and we will return back all the way to the city hall and we can enter to the location similarly. And here we are. There are two types of hotspots, information hotspots and go-to hotspots. So for example, we have the development information over here and you can place these information hotspots anywhere in the scene. We also have go-to hotspots as we have seen earlier. Now Jose will explain the navigation bar.

As you can see in the top right corner, we have this little icon with three sections. As you click on it, it'll show you a drop-down menu. Right now, we were just at downtown Turlock, but if you'd like, we could visit our local university, Sand State. As you click on it, it will work exactly the same. It will have a continuously playing video. And during this video, hotspots will appear at designated times. So if we go to our first hotspot, See here, we are approaching the student center, as you can see here. Once we click on the student center, we will then be taken inside the student center. Once again, it is fully 360 degrees, and you could look around as you like, use go-to hotspots to explore, and once again, at your convenience, in the top left, you have a return to tour button, which will take you right where you left off in the video. As well as you can see, the Stan State category under, there are the different hotspots in this area. So for example, we're just at the Student Center, but we could also go to the Vasichi Library. And it will take you to that time in the video where this hotspot appears. Once again, we could go inside the library, look around as we like. Go upstairs if you want. And if there's any type of hot spots you want to look at, you will be able to do that. Once again, you can hit return to tour in the top left corner to resume the video. For our next steps, we want to make our application dynamic, which would allow for live data retrieval, as well as we would like to integrate MongoDB for search purposes. This is a database that would allow us to store all of our videos, hotspots, and metadata, as well as we want to continue adding more categories and different videos of different places of interest within the city of Turlock, which will allow us to develop and show more of this great city.

We would also implement our management dashboard which will allow the City of Turlock to add hotspot and manage hotspot information and videos and photos. And we will also be testing multiple devices such as mobile, desktop for usability and user satisfaction and performance. We would especially like to thank the city of Turlock for initiating this project and for their continued collaboration throughout our development. It has been very helpful for us to develop and learn a lot of skills in this collaboration. We'd also like to thank our university, CSU Stanislaus, and the CS department, the Office of Service Learning, and the Aspire STEM CRU program, and the Computer Science NSF STEM Scholarship. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for having us here. We can now answer any questions you might have. Wow. Questions?

So you'll have to forgive me because tech is not my strong suit, but I'm hoping you can clarify a little bit more about how this will look as more locations come online. I mean, are you proposing that a business could become a hotspot and they will have control over what they can put on their website and whatnot so people can not just see it but get a little bit deeper in that? Is that what the plan is? Come a little closer, because there are people that watch from afar. Thank you.

As we've seen, as you go through downtown Sherlock, then there's many shops and restaurants, and you can actually, you'd be able to go inside those restaurants possibly, or you can have a website showing the restaurant or an intro video showing the restaurant. So we'll be adding a lot more hot spots through the downtown Turlock video. And it's supposed to be very scalable in the future. So restaurants would be able to choose what they'd like to include as part of their, like how to feature themselves in the tour.

Great. It's a very... innovative way to integrate a lot of information that lives in different parts of the internet. So I think that's really cool. I'm curious. I don't know exactly who to direct my question to, but have you seen this done elsewhere? What's the inspiration? How did this come to be?

Yeah, we've viewed related work. So we've seen various other tours, street video tours, which have inspired us to make something similar. And especially the mayor has helped us because he's seen virtual tours as well. And it's a great way to boost the economic development of the city of Turlock as well.

And just one final thing, you know, I could see a lot of utility for this for people who can't get around as easily or, you know, might not be able to go to the Carnegie for whatever reason. So can you highlight, are there accessibility features built in? Are there plans for that? What can you say to that?

Yeah, there's definitely plans for accessibility in the future, such as like, yeah, for sure, like people with disabilities, especially people with disabilities who cannot view the locations in person will be able to view the locations as if they were there. Yes.

And integrated within the software, so, I mean, if there's people who can't view the technology the same way, there could be some way for them to experience it as well?

Yes. There should be text-to-speech features maybe, especially for people who have different languages. They should be able to understand what the locations are about, for sure. And of course, people who cannot physically move the cursor and stuff, they'll be able to have ways for them to access the tour as well. Okay.

So I have a question for you guys, and I don't know if you have an answer for me. So I keep hearing that CVS stores are going to shut their doors to the public and just become fulfillment centers because of shoplifting and organized retail theft. So going to the shopping feature on this, do you guys think that that could be a possible substitute so that people could actually see inside the store and shop off the shelf versus, you know, just buying on a traditional – merchandise website.

Dr. Kim's going to have to do that one. Sorry.

And while you're up here, Dr. Kim, you can tell us how proud of those guys you are, because I can see it all over your face.

I am Daey Kim, associate professor of the computer science in Sunstate. So yeah, that is very important. So because the people that can access this program remotely So that's why we are very focused on the cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is very, very important for our application. So we are going to involve some authentication or authorization functionality in there. So there's some very authorized people that can see see the kind of the products there, and then take, use all kind of functionalities in the program, but not authorize people or something like that, and then cannot do some malicious actions through this online program. So that, yeah, that is the, we are thinking about to implement in this application. So that's very good point. Thank you so much.

Okay, let's open it to the public. Anyone wishing to make a comment, please come up to the lectern.

Very, very impressive. I'm trying to kind of figure out, it seems like it is somewhat time consuming. So how are you going to monetize this as far as paying for the time that it takes to acquire all of this information? I mean, you had to take this out on the streets. You had to do all that. If a business was trying to do that, they're going to have to pay for that. You can't be doing that for them. So do you have bigger plans in the future for this?

Yeah, that's a very good point. So currently the City of Tarlac and the Stan State are planning, this is the multi-year project. So currently the videos, we have several videos, City of Tarlac, some street videos, and then Stansted several street videos. So we are planning to add more and more videos into this framework. So in that case, so I am thinking, so City of Tallaght and Stansted, will collaborate each other continuously. And then, so the instance state in computer science that there are a lot of students who wanna be involved in the kind of a realistic practical project so that that can be collaborated with our community, so that to contribute to our community as well. So the students that wanna improve their technical skills as well as the softer skills. So also that we can get help from the city of Tollab to know the information of our community. So this is kind of the, we are going to develop some kind of framework and then to put the videos, so surely the city of Tollab and the Sunstate, the students, collaborate each other. I mean, the cost-wise, so some students will be very happy to be involved in this project, I think. So a little bit, maybe the stipend, maybe that may make the students very happier, but yeah. Even without the stipend or some kind of money, students will be very happy to contribute to our community in this program, to add some more videos in this application. that will be very good. And then I think the city of Tala, and then we, Stan State, may be able to make a co-op program, and through the co-op program, maybe, this is my planning something, so future vision. So through the co-op program or something, so we will be able to help our community much better. So in the framework, So my idea or our vision is so for the business owner or the maybe store owner, so who want to expose their businesses or the stores, then their businesses can be exposed very easily through the three-dimensional, very immersive platform instead of only the two-dimensional websites. So this will be a very effective way to expose their businesses or some stores. So I think when our application is very stabilized and then maybe the year or two years soon as we add more and more videos in there, so City of Tarlac staff will ask you to give your information to us. to our collaborative team. So I think this is what I am envisioning. MS.

Anyone else in the public want to talk? Okay, we'll close public comment and bring it back. I just want to thank you guys. I know that the idea, I don't even understand IT, but you guys did a phenomenal job. Can I have? Yes, sir.

Okay, this is really great collaboration between City of Tala and Stan State to help our community. I really appreciate City of Tala for initiating this great project. AND THEN GIVING STUDENTS A GREAT CHANCE TO IMPROVE THEIR SKILLS, SOFT AND TECHNICAL SKILLS, AND THEN ALSO TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR COMMUNITY. THANK YOU SO MUCH.

MOTION TO APPROVE THE MOU FOR THE VIRTUAL TURLOCK PROJECT.

I'LL SECOND THAT, AND I'LL JUST SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, AS YOU MAKE THESE IMPROVEMENTS AND MILESTONES, I HOPE YOU'LL COME BACK AND SHARE WITH US BECAUSE I'm with you on, like, this could be so cool. So, you know, I hope we can continue to discuss it in this type of forum. And that was a second.

We have a motion and a second. Will you call the roll, please?

Council Member Abram? Yes. Council Member Bixle? Yes. Vice Mayor Moniz? Yes. Council Member Phillips? Yes. Mayor Buble?

Yes. Passes on 5-0. Thank you so much. I'm sorry it took so long for you guys to get to your item today, but thank you. Don't say sorry to Titus. Well, yeah, let's be Titus. Titus, don't. NOW HE'S WALKING UP HERE WITHOUT ANY HELP. YOU GOT THE PICTURES?

ALL RIGHT.

HE'S SO PICKY. I KNOW, RIGHT? WE PAID FOR THAT.

GOOD CALL.

It should be where's Titus instead of where's Waldo.

Thank you, guys. Appreciate it. Thank you. It's going to look good.

Thank you so much. Thank you.

All right. The next item is appointing John J. Murphy to the position of city manager for the city of Turlock. Director Dahmey.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council, City staff, members of the community. My name is Jessie Daumey, HR Director with the City. This evening, staff request formal approval of the appointment of Dr. J.J. Murphy to the position of City Manager effective June 30th, 2026 or earlier and request formal approval of the employment agreement. The competitive and thorough recruitment for City Manager attracted a strong pool of qualified candidates from across the country. Following a comprehensive recruitment process, extensive background, reference checks, and careful evaluation, it was ultimately determined by City Council Dr. Murphy emerged as the candidate best qualified to lead the City of Turlock. Dr. Murphy has a Master of Public Administration degree from Marywood University, and recently shared he has earned a Doctoral of Public Administration degree from Liberty University. Mr. Murphy brings more than 20 years of extensive leadership experience in federal, county, and municipal government. Dr. Murphy is a retired major in the U.S. Air Force Reserve from 1997 to 2017 with honorable service. Most recently, Dr. Murphy served as a township manager for Roxbury Township, New Jersey, Prior to this appointment, he was the Assistant County Administrator for Public Safety in Pasco County, Florida, City Manager for Palmdale, California, and City Manager for Hobbs, New Mexico, City Administrator for Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The employment agreement before you has been reviewed by the city's Labor and Employment Council and as approved as to form. The terms and conditions reflect the council's direction and the negotiated agreement with Dr. Murphy. In compliance with government code section 54953C3, the city council must publicly disclose the salary or salary schedule. With that said, Dr. Murphy will be placed at step five of the city's adopted city manager salary schedule, range 45.7. The monthly amount is $22,425 per month, fiscal year 25-26. And as we step into fiscal year 26-27, the monthly amount will be $23,095 a month. salary and benefits combined in fiscal year 2627 is projected to be 351 726. i'm happy to answer any questions questions from the director just one jesse i believe um dr murphy

Is ICMA certified? Correct. Have we ever had a city manager at Turlock that's been ICMA certified?

Not to my knowledge. Thank you.

Can you clarify for the public what that is or what that means?

Yes.

So the ICMA is the international city County management association. And when you receive that certification, um, you are essentially credited and, um, he has been, uh, he's never lost that title in other words. So he is presently an ICMA certified, um, credentialed individual.

Okay, we'll open it to the public. I have two cards. Milt?

I don't have all the information you have, but anyway, I'm going to read what I've prepared. Staff and Turtle Residence, Milt Treeweiler. The only way that we can appoint a city manager in an ethical, unbiased way is at a public meeting. So let's think about this. Interim city manager Gary Hampton informed us at a special meeting that was called for an interview for two candidates for city manager on May 9th. He told us the city could find a new city manager and do the jobs ourselves. He said we could do this by contacting local people. He said local people. who are ready to step up to a bigger city or a deputy city manager looking to break into the city manager. This effort turned out 17 qualified candidates. Mr. Hampton then hosted interview panels to select the top eight of the 17 qualified candidates. He said he had three different panels. Community panel consisting of a former city manager, church leader, and other long-term community members. a professional panel with many business CEOs from our community's top business, and an executive panel with top city directors. These three interview panels then reduced it down to two finalists at the top. OF THE EIGHT QUALIFIED CANDIDATES. AT THIS MAY 9TH SPECIAL MEETING, THE COUNCIL INTERVIEWED THE TWO FINALISTS IN CLOSED SESSION. MR. HAMPTON SAID HE BELIEVED THAT IT HAD BEEN A GREAT PROCESS AND HAD YIELD TO HIGHLY QUALIFIED CANDIDATES. HE SAID IF IN FACT THEY DON'T MEET THE COUNCIL'S EXPECTATIONS, WE'RE PREPARED TO REPEAT THIS WITH THE REMAINING FINALISTS. What is the question we need to have answered? The question we need to have answered is, was Mr. Murphy picked as one of the two qualified candidates selected by these three City of Turlock interview panels? If Mr. Murphy was not one of these two qualified candidates and is not a local person, What does this tell us as the residents? It tells us that this decision to hire Mr. Murphy was solely made by Mayor Blue Black. Therefore, the solution is Mayor Blue Black needs to recluse herself from the vote for the new city manager because it would not be ethical and unbiased if she does not recluse herself. Over and over again, the mayor and her two council members have voted to pass an item on the agenda by a 3-2 vote. Mayor Blue Black needs to recluse herself and allow the four council members to make this decision for our city. And I think that would make it a fair way of doing it. But, again, another thing, are we going to do a police background check on him? I think we needed that also. You can't just assume things. There were questions about his background that have not been mentioned. So that's my comment. Thank you.

Good evening. I'm Scott Siegel. I have lived in Turlock for over 30 years. I am deeply troubled by the proposed hiring of a city manager who comes with an abundance of red flags. The proposed candidate has held his current job in New Jersey for less than one year and for less than six months when he applied for this position. Did you ignore this obvious red flag? When he was city manager of Palmdale, he cost the city millions when he sued following his termination and when employees sued the city due to alleged misconduct on his part. A total of over $7 million, not to mention legal costs associated with the lawsuits, was paid out by Palmdale. How can you justify ignoring this? According to an article in Tap into Roxbury, an online news publication, he sued Radnor Township in Pennsylvania after they did not hire him for the township manager position. He did not win that case. But still, did you ignore that? How could this be the leading candidate? This candidacy should not have survived the background check. this candidacy would not have survived a competitive candidate pool. Hiring this candidate would put the city at financial risk given his long track record of suing. Given the allegations associated with the employee lawsuit against Palmdale due to his conduct, city employees are potentially at risk for abuse. What are you thinking? On top of all this, why the five-year contract? That is not a standard introductory contract. How can you possibly justify tying the city to this level of risk for that long? Since Mayor Boo Black was elected in November of 2018, the city has had eight city managers. One of them served twice. Five designated as interns. Only one has served for significantly longer than one year. It has been a revolving door of the worst sort. With this track record of instability, a reputation for micromanagement on the part of the mayor, the best candidates do not apply. They just don't. Your current frontrunner for the position is evidence of that. Turlock deserves better than this. I urge you not to approve this contract and to not attempt to fill the position with a permanent city manager until after the November election in which the voters of Turlock can weigh in on the leadership that has created the conditions that deter qualified candidates for applying to the city manager position. Thank you.

Anyone else?

I just kind of wanted to back up what was just said. I see no reason why this decision has to be made now when it could be easily deferred until after the new city council is seated in November. Mitch McConnell did that with appointing justices to the Supreme Court. Why can't Turlock take a lead from that and just postpone it? I think the man who's doing it right now, as long as he wants to keep doing it, he's doing a fine job. The other thing I was kind of worried about, Liberty College, where he got his doctorate, it's located in Virginia, and he was working in New Jersey. So that seems to me like it was probably online to a private college and perhaps... Yeah, it is what it is.

Anyone else?

Let's see if I can figure out what I'm going to say. I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HAVE SEEN A LOT MORE INFORMATION PRESENTED. I MENTIONED IT IN A COMMENT ONLINE BECAUSE THERE ARE QUESTIONS THAT THE PUBLIC SAW. I mean, you just do a simple Google search and some of these things come up. If you do more of a detailed search, I posted it late today. For example, one of the articles about the Palmdale situation, you know, they talk about him having a gun and, you know, some sex tape. and stuff like that. And it turns out that the people who sued, the workers who sued, never saw the gun, never saw the sex tape. So what are they suing about? There's also the instance of, seemed like he said that he had been swatted, and I didn't understand that until, again, I read the article, I guess someone called in something about him, and it caused, what was it, five police cars, sheriff's deputy cars, and a sheriff's helicopter to come. If you know about SWATing, you know that that can happen, okay? Someone calls in and... says that you're holding someone hostage in your house and all of a sudden you've got the police, the SWAT team surrounding your house. I would have liked to have seen a presentation by staff showing that they did some deep research, background check into him, to see, to talk about those issues. I mean, those are valid questions and concerns that the public has. Okay. And I would have liked to have seen answers to those questions. I know that when I made presentations to DARPA and some of the leading experts in the world in their field, I had this much of a presentation. I had that much of additional slides anticipating their questions so that when they asked a question, I was able to go in and pull that out. I kind of expected to see that. So I'm concerned that there's too many red flags. So I'll leave it as that.

Anyone else? Yeah.

i'm pretty new to all this stuff but um thank you i did uh pull up the the contract and read it to see what that was about because there it does seem that there's a lot of questions and so i agree with ron and and some before it seems like there's a lot of red flags and it would be nice to have more information and with the concerning about suing and stuff like that, and I'm looking at the indemnification and the contract, and I thought I was under the impression we would try to protect Turlock, and it sounds like we're trying to protect him and not us. So I'm just a little confused, and I think it maybe is a little too fast-moving. It would be nice to get some more information.

Thank you. Anyone else?

Okay, I'm Mary Jackson. I'm going to educate the board members who have not been on here for 16 years, like Ms. Bublak. It is officially summer, and many people are on vacation, and we all could be watching the World Cup, which brings the world together instead of tearing them apart, which in my opinion, and from what it looks like from many other Turlock voters' opinions and the people who have spoke here tonight, the decision to hire a city manager tonight is not a popular idea. J.J. Murphy is not, let me repeat this slowly for everyone here and watching online, not the best candidate to be Turlock's next city manager. Sadly, he's being brought forward with enough red flags which would take out an entire World Cup soccer team. I'm serious. This is not funny. I know I tried to be funny, but it's not funny. His red flags, if you can't do a simple Google search, if you have not done an FBI background check on somebody, then we are failing as a city to hire a city manager. And don't look at me sarcastically, because we wouldn't hire someone for five years. We would hire them for one year with an interim contract. And we would have the out that they would leave at will. That's how you do it. I shouldn't have to be explaining this to you. And I'll disrespect Ms. Jessie. I have to respect for you, but this is not good. When we were elected in 2008, Ms. Bublak, you waited one month to fire the city manager. He was doing a great job. The only issue was he wouldn't do the illegal things that Ted House wanted to do. But you voted with House and Kurt Spicer a month later after we were elected in November, sat in December to fire him. He told me several weeks before it happened he was going to get fired. He did after Ms. Bublak was on the council for one month. Again, let that sink in. I'm pretty sure they violated the Brown Act, but I digress. Do you know how to use Google? And I've already asked that. I don't believe Gary Hampton would be supporting this choice at all. By doing a simple Google search, I found a long history of costly mistakes, short periods of work, sort of a scorched earth path. You're pushing a guy who worked in Palmdale, and they paid $5.5 million to former employees because of his behavior. He is allowed out of a current contract. That happens when the current employer isn't happy with that person's work, and he is allowed to go somewhere else. So now fast forward to 2026. You're in your second term for four months more and running for re-election against two formidable opponents who appear to be heard and understand this sentiment. Turlock voters are upset with your leadership. So how can you stick it to them if you don't win? Hire J.J. Murphy and give him a lucrative contract with a huge payout. No, this is not the only way all four of you can do this. The four of you need to stop this right now, not vote for it, and wait five months, and then go back and start again. Hopefully Mr. Hampton is better and healthy and will reach out. As it was pointed out, all of us are against this. All of us have spoken, pointing out huge red flags, huge red flags. He is not a local guy. He is not from California. He is not from our region. We can do better, and we must. Thank you.

Anyone else? Okay. I'm going to close public comment. Councilwoman, do you have some comments?

Yeah, I have comments. Do you want to let her answer the questions first?

Oh, you're right. Thank you. Yeah, so we can talk about the process, if you would. Was I the only person in the process?

You were not. It was... In closed session, it was all council members.

And when did we, the council, get involved in the process?

Sure. So the initial interviews with an executive-level interview consisted of city department heads, community members, and businesses. It took place on May 1st, followed by a special closed session city council interview on May 9th.

And then we actually did our interviews after that, correct? Yes.

Yes, on May 9th, yeah. Okay.

And so was Mr. Murphy in the top two?

He was. Top candidates moved forward to interviews with city council.

Which was the May 7th or May 9th? May 9th.

Okay.

And did we do a background?

We did a background, and it was done through our public safety.

And does that include FBI background, all of that?

FBI, DOJ, and military. Okay.

Did I hit anything? OK. Those are the questions. Was there anything else you wanted to add to this? No.

Not at this time.

OK. Thomas?

I do want to highlight some accomplishments. So I'm going to kind of give you guys some of that information. So Wilkes-Barre, 2002 to 2010, he led a financial turnaround estimated at $57 million. City Manager 2012-2019 reported a $16 million budget surplus during his first year through fiscal discipline, managed $170 million municipal budget, helped facilitate a $65 million health and wellness learning center, through public and private partnership with private funding covering over half of the project costs. Palmdale, and that's kind of where everybody's kind of talking about, but when it comes to his employment in Palmdale, I recognize that there was the concerns to Mr. Murphy. I also understand why members of our community have the questions. At the same time, it's my responsibility to evaluate the full picture. While I don't intend to reopen the events from another city, I will continue to evaluate Mr. Murphy based on his performance, accountability, and results serving the residents of Turlock.

But I don't care.

It's all good. Thanks for that. I didn't have that information. I went a different route on Mr. Murphy, but I'm going to back up for a second because I want Turlock and the public to know that we don't do our background checks on Google or Google Scholar. We do use the FBI and the DOJ and our police detectives for employment background checks. And it's also difficult... to be able to put out HR-sensitive information that is protected by HR laws and rules. And we can't just put that stuff out. So I understand that if you do a Google search, yes, on Mr. Murphy, there's a lot of controversy around Palmdale. So because of that, what I did was I went to the jurisdictions that he worked at after Palmdale because I wanted to see what this guy was all about. So I started in Florida. And I spoke with a man by the name of Jack Mariano. Jack Mariano is a county commissioner. I picked him because he's been a county commissioner there for 22 years. He has seen a lot of things. He gave me permission to use his name. He gave me permission to quote him tonight. He said Dr. Murphy was a great asset. They are sad to see him go. Yes. We thoroughly vetted Palmdale. I'm sure that's why you're calling. JJ brings people together, Democrats and Republicans. I have never seen so many people line up to say goodbye to a guy that was leaving. JJ can get the job done. He went on to say our fire department loved him, could not thank him enough for the safety enhancements that were achieved today. for our firefighters. City staff absolutely loved him. Lastly, he said, I'm happy to zoom into your meeting tonight to share these comments with the public or you can just quote me and use my name. I said, thank you. I then went to New Jersey. I spoke with Fred Hall, who also gave me permission to use his name. Mr. Hall has been on the council there for 27 years. He was the mayor of that township for a lot of the 27 years. But somebody who's been there for 27 years has seen a lot of things come and go. He said, I know why you're calling, Rebecca. It's Palmdale, the Palmdale issue. He said, we investigated that up and backwards six different ways to Sunday. JJ did a great job. We are sad that he is leaving, but we had no issue with the Palmdales or his work performance. He said he was moved at the amount of people to show up and say thank you and goodbye. He said he was the best leader our township has ever had. Our employees loved him. He said he solved a huge problem that their township had with the federal government that nobody else could get resolved. John resolved it in a very short time. Some people call him John, some people call him JJ. He said, we're happy for you, but he was an asset for us. He said, you can use my name and quote me tonight. So that's the things that I look at. And the big picture is all the staff loved him. I imagine that the staff that are the center of the controversy that went on in Palmdale are not very happy with him, and that's why that stuff occurred. But I know that you can Google anybody and pick up red flags on just about anybody. So I'm very proud to have somebody who's certified by ICMA. That's a very prestigious certification. It takes a lot. And if you blow your ethics or your continuing education, ICMA will decertify you. And that's why I asked the question about Dr. Murphy having that certification. And I'm glad you pointed out that he's never lost it. He's never blown his ethics, and he's never had an issue. Had Palmdale put forth a viable issue, I'm sure a court's holding would have affected, at a minimum, his ICMA certification. The last thing I want to say is I don't appreciate the public comment. Every time somebody gets in the lecture and the amount of city managers we have, the number changed. It's gone from 2 to 5 to 8 to 13, and somebody, I think, said 16. You guys need to learn, some of you, not all, some of you need to learn the difference between an acting city manager, a city manager, and an interim city manager. I realize what it is. I realize it's election season. I realize people want to make things appear to what it's not. But I am proud to have Dr. Murphy come on board to Turlock.

Yeah, you know, thank you for that background, Vice Mayor Moniz. I wish that that was part of the background that we all got to see because, yep, yep. I think it's fair to bring up all of this in this forum. That's why we do this in public. I think it is very fair to point out he has a long history of leadership. I think that you don't become a major in the Air Force without having strong qualifications and being a good leader. And I think it is fair to note that there is a long history of, or a history, I'll remove the qualifier there, of controversies. You know, I'm very conflicted on this because I do have reservations, and I share them. I share the reservations that were here. I don't feel like I got the answers that I would have liked. I will note that I do think the city has done well to protect our interests as much as we can in the contract process, and I think that, you know, the level of oversight that we've written into this contract will provide – lets the expectation be known what this council wants from our city manager because we deserve someone who comes with the leadership minus all the rest. And that's, you know, if he is to be appointed tonight, that's what I will be demanding going as long as I'm sitting in this seat.

I would like to say to all city department directors and staff, as well as the public, that we are all keenly aware of the concerns regarding Mr. Murphy's past employment information that is easy to find on a Google search. I've had city staff, as well as various public voice their concerns over what is public record. I believe Mr. Murphy has a lot of very good qualities and strong leadership capabilities that it can bring to our city. At the same time, I will have zero tolerance for any behavior exhibited that resembles any hostile work environment, no matter the circumstance. And I would hope that my colleagues here would share that. I would encourage all city employees to reach out to me or other council members and make us aware of any concerns. They will be heard. In Mr. Murphy's contract, we have a six-month performance review. I do not believe it is the council's job to micromanage our city manager or other employees. However, it is our responsibility to ensure that the city is a welcoming and productive place to work and that concerns will be taken seriously. It is my sincere hope that Mr. Murphy will bring strong, accountable leadership to all of us. He has a tremendous amount of energy and I believe a strong work ethic that could be very positive for the city. But again, to all staff, what you can Google is it's a double-edged sword. And as Cassie has said, I think we've got good protection built into the contract, and here we are.

So the conversations we have in private, in closed session cannot be released unless we vote 5-0 inside to bring them out. As well, these are personnel issues. So we have the obligation to ask all the questions that you're asking, and we get those answers, but we can't share them with you because it's personnel and it's also a closed session right. Having said that, the process was completely untainted. We had nothing to do with it until it got to us, here's the last two. And even our new attorney had sat in on these before we saw who the people were. So it's interesting to me that someone would think that I would thwart my obligation to be one of the votes. This is part of my job is to help lead the city whether I'm here or not. to set us up for not failure, but for the future. So with that, I think we need a motion and a second, wherever it goes. Oh, I don't.

Sorry. I got to make sure you didn't give me another double negative. A motion to approve the resolution appointing John J. Murphy to the position of city manager for the city of Turlock and approving the related employment agreement. See, there were two in there.

Second.

Motion and a second. Call the roll, please.

Council Member Abram.

Yes.

Council Member Bixle? Yes. Vice Mayor Moniz? Yes. Council Member Phillips? Yes. Mayor Budlak?

Yes. And it passes on a 5-0. Dr. Murphy will be starting on Monday?

Possibly, yes.

Potentially Monday, depending on traffic, yeah? All right. So now we have council comments, announcements, and future items.

Anybody? Since we won't be back until after the 4th of July, right? It feels like that's kind of far away, but I wish everyone a happy and safe 4th of July. please use safe and sane fireworks, so it's not loud for your neighbors and unsafe. And, you know, with this being a very special Independence Day, you know, I hope that everyone here, everyone watching, you believe in the democratic process, you're participating in it, and I hope that you will share that with the other people that you encounter on Fourth of July, because that's one of the many things that makes our country great. And happy Fourth of July again.

Yeah, I will piggyback on that. Wish everybody a happy and safe Fourth of July. I would encourage you to come out and see the city's fireworks that the downtown association is going to be putting on at the fairgrounds. Promises to be a good show. A special time to reflect 250 years of this great country. There's a lot of divide. But I think that something like this can bring a lot of people together. And I would just encourage you to reach across the aisle and do that. Thank you.

Very good.

I will piggyback on both of those and just emphasize that the fireworks show is supposed to be bad to the bone this year.

All right. And I'm going to put the spotlight on our mayor. She just competed last weekend in the World Cup. AND POLICE FIRE GAMES IN SAN DIEGO WHERE SHE NOT ONE GOLD MEDAL, BUT TWO GOLD MEDALS SHE BROUGHT BACK HOME IN JOVELIN AND CHAPUT. AND I THINK YOU LEFT THE OTHER SECOND OR THIRD PLACE A LITTLE BIT BEHIND. SO I SAW THE NUMBERS. SO CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS. YOU CONTINUE TO MAKE US ALL PROUD. AND THANK YOU FOR BEING SUCH A GREAT LEADER. WHEN IT COMES TO DISCIPLINE, I MEAN, YOU'RE ALL ABOUT IT.

Appreciate that so from one athlete to another congratulations appreciate that So I want to just let you guys know that the mobile home park Grants are like going crazy cool. There's so many people that want it need it that we have We have financial issues to find more money for them Which is a good problem to have because we're helping people who are one paycheck away from being homeless That's what we should be doing that. There's where we can really help people. I this 4th of July parade on the 3rd. We have the Grand Marshal in the room. All right, Harry Boucher leading it, buddy. So I look forward to that event and we will all be together because we are unified in the city. So we're going to walk together along and behind you. Yeah, he thought he was getting pulled.

Yes, sir. I had a lot of remarks

I don't think I've ever thought that. And finally, just a thank you to CSU for what they're doing. that what it's going to look like for the virtual is going to be just amazing, and I think it's going to be economic development. I believe Dr. Murphy will be able to, he loves economic development, so he'll be able to tie that in and start making money for us somehow. We have no closed session, so we won't be reporting out from a closed session, and we are in adjournment.