City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, everyone, we're going to get going in just a minute.

If everybody can make their way to the dais and or your seats.

This is a lot.

All right. With everyone's cooperation, I'm gonna go ahead and call to order our regular meeting of the Vallejo City Council at 7.03 p.m. And to begin, I'll go ahead and ask our city clerk

TO CONDUCT THE ROLL CALL. MAYOR SOURCE. PRESENT. VICE MAYOR MITULIK. PRESENT. COUNCIL MEMBERS FIGENZER. PRESENT. GORDON. PRESENT. LETITU. MATIAS. HERE. PAUL MARIS. HE'S UPSET. OKAY.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU. THAT IS GOING TO BRING US TO ITEM THREE, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. IF EVERYONE WOULD PLEASE STAND AND JOIN US FOR THE PLEDGE. all right thank you all that brings us to item four report out of closed session and the council did meet in closed session immediately following this meeting i will turn it over to our city attorney to report on our first set of closed session items and i'll encourage all of us at the dais to take our items so they are not blocking us while we do that

All right. Yep. Okay. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Oh, I'm not sure I'm on. Maybe. The council did meet in closed session this evening with regard to the following items. Conference with legal counsel, existing litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9D1. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I think it's not quite working properly. My apologies. Can you hear me now? Okay. Much better. I'll just get really close and talk a little bit louder. So, sorry. The council did meet in closed session this evening with regard to the following items. Conference with legal counsel existing litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9D1. There were three cases. Litton Rancheria of California versus the City of Vallejo, the case number is written on the agenda. Yojadehe Winton Nation versus the City of Vallejo, the case number is written on the agenda. And Christina Lee versus the City of Vallejo, Solano County Superior Court case number as written on the agenda. With regard to these three items, the council gave direction to legal counsel. There is no other action to report at this time. Conference with real property negotiators pursuant to government code section 54956.8. The property is 285 Mare Island Way. THE AGENCY NEGOTIATOR, CITY MANAGER, HARRY BLACK, THE NEGOTIATING PARTIES, WENDY STEPHENSEN, AND KEVIN JONES, AND UNDER NEGOTIATION PRICE AND TERMS OF PAYMENT OF LEASE. WITH REGARD TO THAT ITEM, THE COUNCIL TOOK NO ACTION.

THEN OUR VICE MAYOR WILL PROVIDE ONE OTHER UPDATE.

Thank you, Mayor. And for item 3A, conference with legal counsel, anticipated litigation, significant exposure to litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9D2, four cases. The counsel received a report from outside counsel, and we provided direction to outside counsel. And that is the end of the report.

all right thank you that is going to bring us to item five presentations and commendations and we do have one this evening we are going to be give me one second so i can see everything We do have one presentation this evening, which is our proclamation recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month, which takes place between September 15th and October 15th, 2026 and every year. And this year we are presenting it a bit early because we have our Fiestas Patrias event this Friday during art walk and some other events that will be happening between now and our next council meeting. and we wanted to particularly feature our youth this year, so we have two incredible groups receiving this proclamation. We have Maestra Yajaira and Munence Teca Dance School, and we have Jessica Gonzalez and students from the Ser Latino program. And I've asked Councilmember Matias to present the proclamation, if you all can please meet at the podium.

I just want to make sure this is working. Okay, we're good? All right, great. Thank you, Mayor. So this proclamation is recognizing Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins on September 15th and goes through October 15th of 2026. Whereas National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed September 15 to October 15, celebrating Hispanic and Latin American people, cultures, achievements, and the contributions of the more than 37,000 Hispanic and Latin people, which is 30% of Vallejo's population, who help make our city stronger every day. And whereas the observance began in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week and was then expanded into a month-long celebration and officially enacted into federal law on August 17, 1988, and whereas we celebrate the 2026 theme As Unidos Somos Mas, together we are more, which celebrates family resilience, creativity, faith, and service. And whereas this year's theme underscores that while our stories span many countries and cultures, shared values such as perseverance, family, service, and creativity continue to unite us. It also honors the collective richness of our histories, from indigenous and African roots to present day trailblazers while inspiring a stronger, more connected future. And whereas locally and nationally, countless Hispanic educators, entrepreneurs, and community organizers continue to inspire new generations to lead with pride and purpose. This month is a time to reflect on the past, celebrate the present, and build a future where the voices and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans are always recognized and valued. And whereas in the city of Vallejo, we foster inclusivity, we promote equality, and ensure that the contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans are valued, celebrated, and fully integrated into the tapestry of our shared history. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that I, Andrea Source, Mayor of the City of Vallejo and the Vallejo City Council, do hereby recognize September 15 to October 15, 2026 as Hispanic Heritage Month to highlight the achievements and contributions of Vallejo's Hispanic community, reaffirm our commitment to enable them to build a bright future with hope and opportunity for themselves, their families, our cities, and the country we love, and to celebrate our interwoven Hispanic heritage by participating in celebrations throughout this month. The date is September 8th, signed by our Mayor, Andrea Source, and undersigned by Vice Mayor Diosdado J.R. Matulak, Councilmember Peter Bergenzer, Councilmember Helen Marie Gordon, Councilmember Tania Letiju, Councilmember Alexander Matias, and Councilmember Charles Palmares. And then, As a point of personal privilege, I just want to pull out two excerpts in Spanish, and then we will offer remarks. We'll allow folks to offer remarks. So, this is a proclamation in recognition of the month of the Hispanic Heritage from September 15 to October 15, 2026, considering that the Hispanic Heritage National Month is commemorated from September 15 to October 15 to celebrate the people CULTURAS Y LOGROS HISPANOS Y LATINOAMERICANOS, ASÍ COMO LAS CONTRIBUCIONES DE LAS MÁS DE 37,000 PERSONAS HISPANAS Y LATINAS QUE REPRESENTAN EL 30% DE LA POBLACIÓN DE VALLEJO Y QUE CADA DÍA AYUDAN A FORTALECER NUESTRA CIUDAD. Y que considerando que celebramos el lema de 2026, unidos somos más, juntos somos más, el cual reconoce la resiliencia familiar, la creatividad y la fe y el servicio. Y considerando que el lema de este año destaca que aunque nuestras historias abarcan números países y culturas, los valores compartidos como la perseverancia, la familia, el servicio, la creatividad continúan uniéndonos. Asimismo, honra la riqueza colectiva de nuestras historias. desde nuestras raíces indígenas y africanas hasta quienes abren nuevos caminos en la actualidad, al mismo tiempo que inspira un futuro más sólido y unido. Y considerando que en la ciudad de Vallejo fomentamos la inclusión, promovemos la igualdad y procuramos que las contribuciones de los hispanos y latinoamericanos en los Estados Unidos sean valoradas, celebradas e integradas, plenamente en el tejido de nuestra historia compartida. Por lo tanto, se proclama que yo, Andrea Sors, alcaldesa de la ciudad de Vallejo, junto con el Consejo Municipal de Vallejo, reconocemos oficialmente el periodo comprendido entre el 15 de septiembre y el 15 de octubre del 2026 como el mes de la herencia hispana, con el propósito de destacar los logros y las contribuciones de la comunidad hispana de Vallejo, reafirmar nuestro compromiso de brindarle las oportunidades necesarias para construir un futuro lleno, lleno de esperanza y posibilidades para sus integrantes, sus familias, nuestra ciudad y el país que amamos, y celebrar nuestra herencia hispana entrelazada mediante la participación en las diferentes celebraciones que se llevan a cabo during this month. Signed by Andrea Source, our mayor, Vice Mayor of the State, Gerard Matulak, Councilor Peter Bergenzer, Councilor Helen Marie Gordon, Councilor Tanya Lettajou, Councilor Alexander Matias, and Councilor Charles Palmares of District 4. Congratulations.

Thank you.

Mayor Soares and the entire council, we are very humbled tonight to not only recognize Hispanic Heritage Month, but to always feel included in all that the city of Vallejo does. We do contribute quite richly. My name is Jessica Gonzalez. I have the tremendous privilege of directing an amazing program at Vallejo High School called Ser Latino, a program that was birthed in the need to provide support to our Latino students. And that program was birthed and founded by former Vice Mayor Mina Loera-Diaz. And so you don't wanna hear from me tonight, I wanna elevate youth voices. I'm just a Vallejo kid, an immigrant from El Salvador, but my passion is to see our youth reach their full potential. So tonight I have with me a couple of our líderes, and they're gonna be sharing a little something about what Hispanic Heritage Month means to them.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Priscila Arredulfo. I am a junior at the Vallejo High School and a proud member of the Ser Latino program. Being Hispanic is something that I am proud of because it has shaped me into the person I am today. My culture has brought so much light into my life and taught me the importance of family, effort, and doing everything with love. Whether it was hearing stories from my family, bonding over food, or watching the sacrifices my mom makes every day, those were the moments that reminded me where I come from. To me, Hispanic Heritage Month is a time where we can truly honor where we come from while also recognizing the sacrifices, stories, and achievements of the people who came before us. Many of our parents and grandparents have worked incredibly hard so we can have the opportunities they never had. Every family has their different journeys, but those experiences are what make our community so strong. One thing I wish people understood is that many Hispanic students carry responsibilities outside of school, whether that be helping translate for family members, caring for siblings, or even trying to balance work and school. Those obstacles cause us to continue to push forward and strive for success. not only for ourselves, but for our families. I am so incredibly grateful for programs like Ser Latino that create meaningful opportunities for students to grow as leaders and remind us that our voices are worth listening to. I hope we as a community can continue to celebrate our culture, not only this month, but all year long. Thank you for your time and happy Hispanic Heritage Month.

All right, all right. Good evening, all. My name is Blanca Rodriguez, and I am a student leader at the Ser Latino program at Vallejo High School. And I am a Latina student, active community member, and most importantly, the daughter of hardworking Mexican parents who have been striving for a better future for their children. When I am asked about my culture, the obvious answer is to think about sharing the religious practices we hold, traditions, customs, and social norms. And of course, of the food, because let's be honest, the food is incredible. However, today I want to talk about the deeper traits that define my Hispanic community, and that often go unmentioned. The first thing that comes into mind is the hardworking spirit.

I am proud to be part of. I'm sorry. We really want to be able to hear you. I didn't want to interrupt, but I'm going to ask folks to move away from the sliding doors so that they close because the noise is coming into here. So we're just going to wait for those doors to close and thank you to our, why aren't they closing? Oh, my goodness. So our folks back there, thank you for trying to help kind of have folks keep it down out there. I'm sorry that I had to interrupt you. You all are doing an amazing job, and we wanted to make sure we hear everything you have to say. Okay.

All right. So... All right. Okay. So... Okay, however, today I want to talk about the deeper traits that define my Hispanic community that often go unmentioned. The first thing that comes into mind is the hardworking spirit. I am proud to say that I am part of a hardworking community that instead of dreaming, works to bring those dreams into life. Instead of complaining, we unite to take action. We bring that diligence into everything we do because we do it with a clear purpose, to support and protect the thing that is most sacred to us, which is our family. Which is why the political situation in the United States for the past two and a half years have been painful to watch. I am very disappointed to see all the dishumanization and behavior of others to say the least. I often hear people claim that discussing political issues is inappropriate because that makes others feel uncomfortable. But for us, these matters are deeply personal and inherently political. These problems have been impacting us and affecting our humanity. So sharing our stories and experiences isn't always easy, especially when we know people might generalize our problems and misunderstand our struggles. As a Ser Latino student, it is crucial for me to help students from the Hispanic community who are struggling with language barriers. Supporting them navigate challenges in the classroom and beyond has shown me how important it is to give back and help others feel understood. Through these experiences, I've helped others find their voice. So as we continue celebrating this month, it is essential for all of us to understand the importance of youth participation. We, the youth, are the authors of the future. But that doesn't mean that our voice in the present doesn't count. Even better, once we all turn 18, we will be able to mark that difference with our votes. This month reminds my Hispanic community, family, and myself that our struggles of today will one day allow us to enjoy the fruits of our labor. This month is about sharing the richness, resilience, beauty of our culture. Its historical significance reminds us that today, today that I or none of our other community members will allow us to get downplayed by anyone else and this month is about remembering that for all the months that lie ahead we should remind ourselves that Hispanic heritage matters so before I leave today I would like to thank everyone who's in the audience and the council members for hearing us thank you

All right, we'll have Maestria Jairo come up and then maybe we'll all do a picture together.

We just want to say something very quick. Good evening, everyone. I am Maestra Yahaira, founder of Munazteca Dance and Art School. We are a nonprofit organization located here in the city of Vallejo dedicated to promote, preserve the dance, the art, the music, the traditions, and the history of Mexico. So with Munazteca, my students, they don't just learn how to dance and how to look pretty like how they are right now. They also learn the whole deal about what they're dancing. So by doing this, I really appreciate it. We're honored, beyond honored to be here and grateful and thankful. We are international dancers, FYI. Just so you guys know, we were in Ensenada, Mexico, back in June 22nd through June 26th, where, as many of you may know, Ensenada is our sister city. So we were doing a cultural exchange trip over there. We are happy and grateful for receiving this honor. And muchachos, ¿quieren decir algo? ¿Quiénes somos? Dos, tres. ¡¿QUIENES SOMOS?

!

Thank you all so much. So we'll come in front here and we'll take a picture together.

We can take maybe, what are we?

Bye.

All right, and while we transition, I'll again just express my gratitude to all of our community groups that just make Vallejo so special as a place, and in particular our representatives that received our proclamation this evening. Thank you all so much. so we had a little bit of i know that's that's actually where i'm headed we had a little we had a little bit of uh noise issue during that last presentation so i'm just gonna remind this is a difficult room and for those of you that are in the audience the the noise carries spectacularly even a whisper, it really carries. Then that back door, if anyone is even remotely near it, the sliding doors will open and we get the hallway noise. So we can just be mindful to try and keep it down and keep those doors closed wherever possible. We'd really appreciate because we have some very special items, some additional special items on the agenda tonight that we want to be able to move through. So after this presentation, we're going to have our first community forum, which is opportunities for members of the public to address the council on items that are not on our agenda this evening. Our first community forum is typically capped at 15 minutes and we are going to have to cap it today. We have a lot of people that I know signed up for community forum. We're gonna try to get through you all a little bit later in the meeting, but we're gonna take our first five now, and then we're gonna try to get to our action calendar as quickly as possible because we have some honorees here as well. So just please bear with us as we try to get everybody heard. Let's go ahead and call our first five speakers. We'll only have time for our in-person folks. For this particular one, anyone online, you'll have an opportunity to speak at the second forum later in the meeting.

Thank you, Mayor. And the first five speakers are, in this order, Michael Cooper, Clarence Isidore, Melissa Gonzalez, Manpreet Singh, and Ciela Onsina.

Good evening.

Hello.

Thank you guys for having me. I wanted to drop by.

You can actually raise up the podium if you want. On the lower right down there, there's a little toggle. There it is.

One, two, one, two.

You know, I'm no stranger to microphones, so I try not to speak too loud, because I'll get real loud.

But anyway, I wanted to come here on a one-year anniversary of the wonderful, wonderful day you guys set aside for us to rename Florida Street, Confunction Street. And it's a one-year anniversary today, and I wanted to just drop by and drop off a few gifts and hats and things to let you guys know how much we appreciate it and how much we're still over the moon about that day. It has been said in Japan, in Tokyo, Japan, we have many fans in Japan, and they've all asked, are you going to say something? Are you going to do something on September 6th? I said, well, it falls on a Sunday, then we got a holiday. So the first chance we got, which is tonight, I said, I'll be back down here to thank each and every one of you for just going through the trouble to put up Confunctions name and to honor us on September 6th. And we preach Vallejo all around the world, not in the states, all around the world. And we thank you guys for recognizing Confunction, and we're going to be doing it for a very long time. Is that okay?

Thank you so much.

I'm all done.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Next speaker is Clarence Isidore.

Good evening, board. My name is Clarence Isidore, proud CEO and head of school for St. Patrick St. Vincent's. But first of all, I will also put on my conductor of funk for confunction to say thank you again for the street naming. Now back to St. Patrick St. Vincent's. I am happy and proud to come back as a new head of school coming out of retirement uh and just serving students you have to do what you like and like what you love and this is what i love so i just want to introduce you to beau westad he is my asb president who will just tell you what's going on at spsv

Thank you. Hello, everyone. My name is Bo Westad. I'm the ASB president at St. Patrick, St. Vincent. Thank you all for having me tonight. I'm here mainly just to talk about kind of what our school is like, how we've changed and really how Mr. Isidore has changed our school. I've seen here tonight just how he greets the people here, the respect he has, the community he has for everyone, and that's brought to the school. He came up to me the other day and asked me to come here tonight and speak with you all, and I felt very, he sees people eye to eye. It's very respectful, and I was happy to see that. And I think there's a lot of great change coming to our school. We want to branch out into the community and be a part of it and reach out more. So we're just here to let you know we're thankful for all you guys do. Everything we're able to run because of you guys. And we're thankful to have our new head of school who's very into the community. And we're ready to be a part of the community and do our part. So thank you for having us tonight.

Thank you so much. And I want, before we call the next speaker, I wanna thank our confunction members again for joining us, for all you've given to Vallejo for being ambassadors, and for the gifts that you left us. We've already had a couple conversations with city staff. To our council members, we're gonna make sure that we adhere to the gift limits, and anything over it is gonna go to a worthy, worthy cause. So thank you, thank you so much again.

Next speaker is Melissa Gonzalez. Yeah, Anne Bergman is the next one after the sixth person.

GOOD EVENING, CITY COUNCIL. MY NAME IS MELISSA AND I'M A RESIDENT OF DISTRICT FOUR. I'M URGING THIS COUNCIL TO DEMAND AN INDEPENDENT AUDIT OF FLOCK BY THE END OF THE YEAR. IF AN AUDIT CANNOT BE PRODUCED, IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT VALLEJO COUNCIL CANCEL ITS CONTRACT WITH FLOCK. AS A TAXPAYER FUNDING FLOCK'S CONTRACT, I DESERVE TO KNOW HOW THE FLOCK DATA IS GATHERED AND HOW IT'S BEING USED IN VALLEJO. THE DANGERS OF ALPR'S HAVE BEEN PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN. The data collected has been used to spy on peaceful protesters, track abortion seekers traveling from other states, deport immigrants, and even stalk romantic interests and ex-partners of law enforcement across the country. There is little evidence to show that ALPRs have an impact on crime reduction. In fact, there have been instances where people have been wrongly accused of a crime due to erroneous identification via ALPR data. Personally, I feel as though I have been dropped into a dystopian future where I cannot go about my life without feeling like my every move is being watched, recorded, and cataloged. I do not believe that anyone in this community or the world at large should have to sacrifice their privacy for a false sense of security. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much.

Next speaker is Manpreet Singh.

Okay, hope that works. Good evening, Mayor Soares, city council members, and committee members. My name is Manpreet Singh, and I'm a lifelong resident of Vallejo. I also currently serve as an AmeriCorps fellow with Sustainable Solano, which is a county-wide nonprofit that focuses on bringing people together to get a healthier, more resilient Solano County. I'm here to discuss and invite you to two of our upcoming events. The first is the Solano County Air Quality Summits. which will be held on October 17th, and will bring together air quality experts, policymakers, nonprofits, and community members to explore the future of air quality in Solano County. The event aims to advance discussion and action to improve public health and environmental justice in communities across Solano County, like Vallejo. During the event, there will be resources and information from other organizations, projects created by youth interns, skills-building workshops, and opportunities to ask experts your burning questions about air quality, development, wildfires, and more. Additionally, there will be presentations from State Agency California Air Resources Board on the biggest sources of air pollution in the county. The event will run from 9 to 4 p.m., and we are inviting City Council members to join us at the event and help shape the future of Solano County's air quality. Spanish language live translation services will also be available and we encourage everyone to register ASAP as space is limited. The second event is the Vallejo Working Group for Sea Level Rise. So the City of Vallejo is a partner on the Solano Bayshore Resiliency Project. WHICH IS A REGIONAL COLLABORATIVE ADAPTATION PLANNING EFFORT TO CONNECT SEA LEVEL RISE VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT AND CITY OF VALLEJO IS AT RISK OF SEA LEVEL RISE AND FLOODING OVER THE NEXT 2015-2100 SO WE ARE HOSTING AN INTERACTIVE COMMUNITY WORKING GROUP ON OCTOBER 10TH AT THE VALLEJO FLOOD AND SEWER DISTRICT WHERE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WILL HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO DISCUSS WHAT SOLUTIONS THEY WANT TO SEE FOR SEA LEVEL RISE AND FLOODING We are calling on all residents of Vallejo to join us in helping shape the solutions and adaptation plan to ensure our shoreline remains resilient, accessible, and thriving for generations to come. Community members will be compensated for their time and their insights. Upon my closing, I'm more than happy to answer any questions about these upcoming events and will leave flyers for anyone interested in joining us for these events. Thank you all so much for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for the work you do as well.

Next speaker is Ciela Oncina.

Hello, good evening. My name is Cielo Encina.

And you can raise the podium lower right.

Wait, raise the podium?

Yeah. Okay. That way everybody can hear you. Can you hear me?

We can. Hi, I'm Cielo Encina. I'm a resident of Vallejo in District 4. I'm also a student at Torrey University in the PA and PH program. I'm here today to express my concerns about the City of Vallejo's contract with flock safety and use of automated license plate readers as a surveillance tool. I'd also like to get an update on when the joint surveillance and police oversight meeting will be. Despite having been installed six years ago, my understanding is that we still don't have data showing that flock cameras are a successful tool in reducing crime. We also have not seen yet an independent audit of how phlox data in Vallejo is being used. Similar audits done in other Bay Area cities have revealed that federal agencies are tapping into ALPRs without permission, which in addition to being a violation of California law, puts our communities at risk. As a healthcare worker, I've seen firsthand the direct impact that increased immigration enforcement activity has on patients' willingness to engage with care. This has led me to become increasingly concerned about illegal use of FLOC data in immigration enforcement. In June, San Francisco suspended their contract with FLOC due to unauthorized data access by federal agencies. And in February, Mountain View terminated its contract with FLOC for a similar reason. I urge the city council to cancel the FLOC contract and reconsider the use of ALPRs and other AI-driven tools for surveillance of our community. Thank you.

Thank you.

We have time for one more speaker. The next speaker on the list is Anna Bergman.

Thank you. I am speaking on behalf of Ms. Jacqueline Jones. To our esteemed city, county, and state elected officials, community leaders, and valued allies, I write today as a lifetime member of Black Women Organized for Political Action, WAPA, with growing concern about the hostility being directed toward Black women who step forward to lead and serve our communities. Across Salona County, Black women in public leadership and community service have faced public denigration, deeply personal attacks, intimidation, and attempts to discredit their leadership. Let me be clear. Black women are not asking to be above criticism or accountability. Healthy disagreement and public scrutiny are part of leadership and democracy. But there is a line between accountability and harassment, between political disagreement and intimidation, and between criticism and rhetoric rooted in racism and misogyny. That line must not be ignored. So today I ask our elected officials, community leaders, and allies a simple question. Where are your voices? Silence carries weight. We need leaders willing to publicly say that racism, misogyny, intimidation, and hateful rhetoric have no place in our political discourse or our communities. Black women deserve the same dignity, respect, and protection afforded to every person who steps forward to serve. To my sisters in Buapa and every black woman serving in elected office, education, community leadership, advocacy, and public service, I see you, I respect you, and I stand with you. And to our allies, we do not need your voices only when it is convenient or when another election approaches. We need your voices now. Black women have earned our seats at the tables where decisions are made. We will not be intimidated away from them. We will continue to lead. We will continue to serve. We will continue to speak. And we will continue working toward a more just and equitable future for everyone. And this was Jacqueline Jones. Thank you.

We have time for one more speaker. The next speaker is River Payne.

And this will most likely be our final speaker. Thank you again for everyone who signed up. We'll make sure to get you an opportunity later in the meeting.

Good evening, Mayor and Council Members. My name is River Payne and I'm a resident in District 4 and I'm a student in the Physician Assistant Public Health Dual Masters at Touro University. Thank you for coming to our orientation and welcoming us. I'm speaking tonight to also urge the Council to consider terminating the flock safety contract and reallocating those funds towards direct community resources such as people that are unhoused. My background is in emergency medical care, and I believe deeply in public safety. However, true public safety cannot exist without public trust. Flock Safety has a documented history of out-of-state data sharing violations that actively compromises privacy rights of Vallejo residents. One example is from January 30th in Mountain View, and federal agencies have illegally accessed data in violation of California law here, as well in San Francisco. Santa Cruz, Richmond, and El Cerrito. Creating a massive corporate-run surveillance net over our main thoroughfares exposes our community to automated mass surveillance without sufficient independent oversight. I urge the council to listen to the concerns of the community and to deflock Vallejo advocacy groups, halt the expansion of the system, and prioritize investments that protect our safety and our consensual rights. Thank you.

Thank you.

all right with that we'll close our first community forum and those that didn't have a chance to speak will have an opportunity both in person and online later in the meeting when we get to our second community forum that's now going to bring us to items seven and eight which are our consent calendar we'll go ahead and open up public comment on our consent calendar items for any members of the public who wish to comment on items a through t on our consent calendar And I am going to make a adjustment to the order on our agenda in order to accommodate some of our honorees, representatives that are here. So once we get through our consent calendar, we'll ask if council members have anything to pull. Anything we pull, I'm going to ask that we take after our action items so that we can get to, first, action item C, which is the Pearl Pinson plaques. Then action item D, which is the honorary street renaming for Mac Dre. And then we'll go back to item A, then item F, and then item B, and then item E. I'll repeat that several times through the meeting. We're just reordering to try and best balance the folks we have in the room and make sure that we get through everything, especially some of our young folks, making sure that we get them in at an early hour. So while we wait, do we have any comments on consent right now in the room?

YES, WE DO, MAYOR. AND I THINK THIS FIRST ONE MAY BE AN ACCIDENTAL ONE. I HAVE RIVER PAIN ON CONSENT CALENDAR.

DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING FOR CONSENT? SO FOR OUR CONSENT SPEAKERS, IF YOU CAN JUST SHARE WHAT ITEM YOU'RE SPEAKING ON. DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU WANTED TO SPEAK ON ON CONSENT?

ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR?

Oh, so then come on up and identify which specific item that is.

Yeah, just let us know the letter of the item so we can find it.

Sorry, say again?

Let us know the letter of the item so we know where to find it.

Oh, it's M, I believe. M, okay. V...

Restoration Family Counseling.

All right, go right ahead. Okay. Good evening, everyone. Long time no see. I, again, am still a student at Toro University as a PA. I also used to work in Solano County as a first responder for medic ambulance from 2019 to 22. And so I would like to also voice my support of the first responders peer support and mental health services contract with Restoration Family Counseling Center to approve mental health services for firefighters here in Vallejo. As I said, I did work in Solano County as an EMT, so I am very aware of the high intensity emergencies that occur in Vallejo. Some of them are still some of the hardest that I hold today. And these emergencies, the exposure to stress definitely lead to burnout and PTSD. First responders still have disproportionately high rates of substance use disorder and suicidality. For this reason, I believe that this should be passed to give access to firefighters and paramedics on the front lines access to peer support and trauma counseling to help lower these rates. As a student and former EMT in this county as well as resident, I urge you all to pass the resolution tonight. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next speaker is Crystal G. I have Lena next.

Yeah, have her come on up. Sure. And you can lower, yep, you got it.

Good evening, members of the City Council. My name is Lina Stanowski. I'm speaking tonight on behalf of my severely disabled daughter, who relies on housing assistance for a safe roof over her head. My daughter's housing voucher was suspended in October of last year. When we requested a formal hearing, our fundamental legal rights to dispute this action and request for reasonable accommodation for her mental health condition were met with total silence. It took 11 months of not stop advocacy to get any response. We finally have approximate hearing date scheduled for the week of September 14th. But let me be clear, this hearing never would happen without the direct personal intervention of members of the Housing Commission. Without them, we would still be ignored. The housing authority claims on paper to be open by appointments only, but in reality, there is no way to schedule appointment. Phone calls go unanswered, emails ignored, and residents are left completely locked out. Furthermore, how this department operates must be thoroughly evaluated and formally investigated. Housing manager Alicia Johns may be held accountable. Managing housing requires more than handling accounting paperwork. It requires communication, empathy, and the capacity to serve our most vulnerable residents who are facing poverty or severe mental illness with true respect and dignity. Tactics of intimidation and cutting off complete communication, as practiced by Alicia Johns, are entirely unacceptable. Our family members are human beings with legal rights, not just the members on the paper vouchers. Management cannot pick and choose which rules to follow while ignoring federal due process and reasonable accommodation laws. We must stop this vicious cycle of pushing vulnerable people into the streets. only to turn around later and spend seat resources trying to pull them off the streets. Prevention starts with administrative accountability. As a parent and a human being, I will not stay silent. I will continue to fight for my daughter and for everyone in our community who's been unjustly disregarded. I am asking city council, and especially city manager, investigate and evaluate housing management, specifically housing manager Alicia Johns, and enforce strict compliance with the federal due process and HUD accommodation laws. Establish accessible functional public communication so citizens are never again ignored for nearly a year. Our most vulnerable residents deserve due process, equal access, and basic human dignity. Thank you.

All right, I know I did pull up the consent item S, which is the HUD required consolidated annual performance and evaluation report or CAPER. I know we have many people here that wanna speak on housing. For this particular item, we will have to keep it focused on that report on the CAPER and more general comments about the department and Section 8 vouchers will have saved for the community forum. So we'll go ahead and call our next speakers.

And Christelle, did you want Lily to speak ahead of you? Okay, Lily? Yes.

Good evening, everyone. This is Lily Hurd.

You all know me? I did not know anything about this comment about housing, et cetera, et cetera, until I walked in the door. The lady that preceded me, I don't know her, but it was a very excellent young lady. I know your grief and pain. I've been doing this, everyone, for 56 years. I was here before any of you were born. I thought about being born. I know all of you know me in the audience, and I'm here to appeal to Mr. Block. I'm going to single you out tonight. I've been doing this forever. You've been here. May 18th was my dad's birthday. You know what's going on.

How long have you been in here?

Five, six years. You know all about Alicia.

SO I'M JUST GOING TO REMIND YOU, WE DO HAVE TO KEEP, FOR THIS ITEM, WE HAVE TO KEEP THE COMMENTS ON SPECIFICALLY THE CAPER REPORT.

THE PACIFIC I THOUGHT WAS TO LET US KNOW ABOUT PERFORMANCE OF ALICIA.

THIS IS A SPECIFIC REPORT.

TELL ME WHAT THE PACIFIC IS, PLEASE.

THE CAPER REPORT.

WHAT IS THE PACIFIC? ALICIA JONES, I THOUGHT, IS WHAT I'M TO TALK ABOUT. IS THAT TRUE?

I DON'T THINK THAT FALLS. I WOULD ASK FOR GUIDANCE FROM OUR STAFF. ASK FOR GUIDANCE. SOMEBODY HELP. I think we're going to have to save the comment for the second community forum.

I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND YOU, MADAM.

I THINK, WELL, IF YOU WANT TO SPEAK MORE BROADLY ON THE HOUSING DEPARTMENT, WE'LL HAVE TO CALL YOU BACK FOR THE SECOND COMMUNITY FORUM. BECAUSE THIS ITEM IS SPECIFICALLY FOR A REPORT TO HUD.

I CAN'T SPEAK ABOUT ALICIA. THIS LADY WAS HERE.

BUT THAT'S NOT THIS ITEM. SO WE'LL HAVE TO HAVE YOU DURING THE COMMUNITY FORUM.

WELL, WHY DID THAT LADY SPEAK ABOUT IT?

BECAUSE WE WERE PULLING UP THE ITEM AND VERIFYING WHAT WAS QUALIFIED UNDER THE ITEM. AND THE PREVIOUS SPEAKER WAS ALSO OFF TOPIC, BUT I DIDN'T CATCH IT IN TIME.

WAS SHE QUALIFIED AND I DON'T? THAT'S FINE WITH ME.

you guys all heard that and that would be coming back yeah i'll call on the city manager yes i i think i would agree with you mayor uh comments should be specific to this item this is a report to the federal government uh and comments related to it should be uh directly aligned to the report itself but as the mayor stated there will be a second round of public comment And if there's something else that you would like to add to your comment on this item at that time, you're more than welcome to do that.

I want to talk about Alicia Jones and her bad performance. That would be the second community forum.

That doesn't fit this item. So we'll have you come back during the second community forum. And all of you know that.

So I'm speaking to her. Too bad. I'm speaking to all of you.

All right. Yeah. All right.

The last speaker for consent item is Crystal G.

I would argue that all of the comments are actually specific to the caper because it does speak to what you're considering tonight and what tenants are living. And I'm speaking right after a landlord and a tenant alike speaking to the total collapse of the function of our housing authority. So it's essential that we do name this if we're, talking about the CAPER, which is the annual review, that performance review that has to get submitted to HUD. It's not a backlog like we've heard last week at the Housing Commission about large pools of unspent funding, money meant to address our housing crisis that you've heard about. And we need to name that this is egregious and especially appropriate to the CAPER consideration. When families are being displaced and these funds are untouched, What's happening? When two residents have tried to share powerful testimonies about the harm that's been endured under the Housing Authority, that's not acknowledged at the Housing Commission. And we were there last week, and the disregard from the commissioner was cold, cruel, and callous, to say the least. We keep hearing as a city and as tenants that we don't have staff, but that doesn't explain people losing housing, doesn't explain vouchers expiring, families pushed into homelessness, or month-long delays that violate HUD timelines that you're responding to today. So today it must be acknowledged that these are structural failures, not so-called staffing issues. And if the housing authority does not have staff, then leadership there has admitted that it can't meet the obligations to low-income families, our seniors, and our disabled residents. You can't cite the lack of staff as a reason for inaction and refuse structural oversight. This contradiction is untenable. We see that tenants are carrying the full weight of this agency that's failing to meet federal requirements, failing to communicate, and failing to prevent displacement. This harm isn't stopping anytime soon. It's ongoing. The failures are egregious. and the city's current approach of dismissive responses, unspent funds, and very vague assurances is not protecting our residents. Let's be clear, it's a crisis and it demands governance that meets the moment. So before you talk about approving this CAPER, hear what's missing from the report, the voices you just heard just now. The reality that the housing authorities actively displacing tenants, losing vouchers, and failing to meet HUD timelines. Last week, our commission chair identified these millions in unspent funds. HUD compliance, it's not just paperwork we're getting through, it's real people that are here tonight. It's not compliance, it's actually much more accurate to describe it as concealment. If we want to remain eligible for federal funding, we have no choice but to confront the failures documented by tenants and landlords alike as well as our commission. This caper has to reflect the truth. The city's not meeting its obligation under HUD standards and oversight is dangerously past due.

Thank you.

Thank you very much. All right. That's it in person for our consent calendar. Do we have anyone online that wishes to comment on the consent calendar?

Through the Mayor, we do have one hand raised for this item.

Let's go ahead and call them and if you can specify initially what item you're commenting on, that would be helpful.

The people, please unmute yourself. Which item on consent did you want to speak on?

People are speaking also on the HUD required consolidated annual performance and evaluation report. Okay. Go ahead.

And just make sure that you connect it to that keeper report.

Yeah, no problem. Supporting Crystal Gallegos of Vallejo Housing Justice, the information that they provided, the housing authority is failing to meet its obligations on HUD. which puts our city in jeopardy of losing our support from this needed department. Millions of dollars are going unspent, meaning people are going to become homeless because of this failure. It isn't a staffing gap. It is structural failures. It is management's inaction. It is misappropriation and concealment, just as Crystal had said, and it cannot go on. Something has to happen. Oversight, investigation, transparency and accountability. You have a landlord and a tenant, both sides of the coin, coming to talk to you tonight to tell you about how it has affected their lives. And it's not fair. As much money as the city is spending on homeless services, this is necessary money. support to keep people housed. And it's not fair for the people themselves, the most marginalized people in our community, disabled people suffering from mental health conditions, people, families with children to, to bear the burden of the failures of the management. City has to step in. The housing commission is ornamental at best in lots of talk and no action and there needs to be accountability. This caper report needs to reflect the true happenings in the housing authority, which it is absolutely a failure to meet its obligations and the city needs to consider that.

Thank you very much. All right, those are our commenters on consent. Thank you again. So I'm gonna look for council members that wish to pull items from consent. I see Council Member Letijoux.

Can we pull item S?

S, all right, I'm hearing item S, which is the caper that we were just speaking of.

That is gonna become item 8.1.

Council Member Matias.

Thank you, Mayor. I want to pull J and it's the other report that's on here. I think it's T. Yes.

All right, so item J will become 8.2, item T will become 8.3. Council Member Gordon.

Yes, I'd like to pull F and YOU DIDN'T SAY K, RIGHT? I LIKE TO PULL K. ALL RIGHT.

ITEM F WILL BECOME 8.4. ITEM K WILL BECOME 8.5. WE ARE GOING TO HEAR THESE ITEMS AFTER OUR ACTION ITEMS OUT OF RESPECT FOR OUR GUESTS THAT WE HAVE IN THE AUDIENCE. I'M NOT SEEING ANY OTHERS. WE ARE GOING TO NEED QUITE A MOTION. VICE MAYOR, ARE YOU READY TO MAKE THE MOTION FOR APPROVAL?

And can you confirm once again the action items that were going in which order?

Yeah, my intention for the action item is to take item C first, which is the Pearl Pinson honoring, followed by probably item D, which is the MacDray Way, and then going back to A.

And then going back to A.

And then coming down to F. And then ending with B and then E.

Okay. Yeah, I got it, I got it. I got it. Are we ready to go?

All right, we're ready for the motion.

Yes, Mayor. We approve the consent calendar with item, where is that? Eight, where is that?

8S BEING ITEM 8.1.

ITEM 8J BECOMING 8.2. ITEM 8T BECOMING 8.3. ITEM 8F BEING 8.4. And then item 8K becoming 8.5 and revising the action calendar to item 9C becoming 9A, 9D becoming 9B, 9A becoming 9C, and 9B becoming 9D, and 9E staying as 9E.

ALL RIGHT, AND THANK YOU FOR THAT. WE UNDERSTAND, MEMBERS, IT'S REALLY DIFFICULT TO HEAR IN HERE, SO WE'RE ALL GOING TO TRY TO REMEMBER TO TALK INTO OUR MICS. I'LL KEEP REFERRING TO THE ACTION ITEMS BY THEIR ORIGINAL LETTERS, BUT WHAT THE VICE MAYOR JUST STATED WILL BE THE NEW ORDER, AND I THINK WE'RE READY TO VOTE. OKAY.

I'M MISSING A VOTE. OH, COUNCIL MEMBER PAUL MINISTER IS NOT HERE. SORRY. Motion carries unanimously with council member Palmeiras absent.

All right. Thank you all. And thank you everyone in our audience for your patience. We are going to save our pulled consent items for the end and move to our action calendar, beginning with item nine C, which I'll ask our city clerk to announce.

adopt a resolution approving the installation of commemorative plaques in honor of Pearl Pinson, one, at the corner of Rice Ave and Home Acres Avenue, and two, along Lewis Avenue adjacent to the Interstate 780 freeway, pedestrian bridge, and approving a letter of condolence in her honor.

All right, thank you very much. Do we have a staff presentation on the item?

Good evening, Mayor and City Council.

I think we need the mic.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council.

We have the, there we go.

So good evening. I'm presenting on both of these items. First one being Pearl Pinson, naming of city facilities. Where am I pointing this at? So Pearl Pinson, as many of you know, is a 15-year-old young woman who was abducted on May 25, 2016, while walking from her school bus near Interstate 780 over the pedestrian overcrossing at Homeacres and Lewis Avenue. And she was abducted that evening, and she has been missing since that time. So over the last 10 years, it has captured the imagination of not only the city, but the Bay Area and much of the country. THE SITE IN QUESTION, THE FAMILY MEMBERS ARE INTERESTED IN PUTTING A PLAQUE ON THE PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE. UNFORTUNATELY, THAT'S PART OF CALTRAN'S PROPERTY. AND THEN UNFORTUNATELY, TOO, THE CITY LINE EXTENDS IN THAT AREA BETWEEN SOLANO COUNTY AND THE CITY OF VALLEJO. AS YOU CAN TELL FROM THIS MAP, THE CITY OF VALLEJO LINE ENDS AT THE HOME ACRES. which prevents the city from putting a plaque closer to the bridge as the family desires. The plaque in question that the family is interested in placing is on the screen. It commemorates not only Pearl and her time on this earth, but also speaks to families about protecting their children from abduction. SHOW YOU THE TWO SITES THAT THE WORK OF PUBLIC WORKS TO IDENTIFY AS POTENTIAL FOR INSTALLING THESE PLAQUES. THE FIRST SITE, WHICH IS THE NORTH SIDE OF THE BRIDGE, WHICH IS LOCATED NEAR THE CITY OF VALLEJO AND SOLANO COUNTY PROPERTY LINE. THE NORTHERN SITE WOULD BE IN THAT LAWN AREA AS ILLUSTRATED ON THE IMAGE. ON THE SOUTHERN SITE, The area that we identified is, again, on the property line near the telephone pole that sits on the line between Solano County and the city of Vallejo. Both of these sites have been reviewed with the family, and both of those sites have been signed off on by the family as being acceptable to them. Again, an overview of the site. So the southern site is illustrated there. to the far left of the screen and a northern site on the far right of the screen. Again, sitting on the border between the city of Vallejo and the county of Solano. Questions?

All right. Thank you very much. Before we see if there are questions from council, I want to offer an opportunity. We have some of Pearl's family members here. I want to invite up her sister, Rose. If you'd like to say any words, come on up.

Good evening, Mayor and members of City Council. My name is Rose Penton-Origuez. I am Pearl's older sister. I've stood here before to share Pearl's story, talk about the impact of her disappearance and how it has affected not only my family but our community. Installing these plaques will mean more to us than you can ever imagine. Tonight feels different because we are here to hear your decision. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure on what to say. To some people, these plaques may seem like just two plaques, but to us, it represents so much more. They would be a reminder of Pearl, a reminder that she was loved, remembered, and she mattered, and also a reminder that she has never been forgotten. Pearl was so much more than what happened to her. She was my little sister. She loved drawing, music, and skateboarding. She had dreams she wanted to achieve, goals she wanted to accomplish, and a dream that she was trying to work towards. She had her entire future ahead of her. Today, many of us are wearing purple and green in her honor. Those colors reflected her unique personality and style. She expressed herself in her own way, including through her green hair dye, which was decided because she loved the Joker. Pearl has never been afraid to be herself, and that's something I will always admire and remember of my sister. She has also had a kind heart. Pearl loved helping others and is always trying to see good in people around her. She believed in kindness and wanted to believe there was good in everyone she met. This is the Pearl I want people to remember, not just the missing girl, not just the name that may have been seen in the headline, but Pearl, the daughter, the sister, and the friend and young girl whose life was filled with promise and possibility. It has now been 10 years since Pearl disappeared, and we are still searching for her. If these plaques are approved, they will be giving Pearl a permanent place in the community where she grew up. They will help keep her name and her story alive while also serving a reminder that she is still missing and that our church continues. But also these plaques become something more than just a memorial. I hope they become a tool to educate, awareness, and prevention. I hope that they remind our community about the importance of child safety and help prevent another family from experiencing the pain ours had to endure. Pearl's story should not be reminded of what happened. It should be inspired to help us protect our children, teach them about personal safety, and stay aware of the people around them in situations, and encourage them to speak up when something doesn't feel right. Even if that one child is safer because someone stops to read Pearl's plaque and learns something new from her story or decides to speak up, then her story will continue to make a difference. I want Pearl to be remembered for who she was, but I also want her story to help others. I would like to thank everyone who has supported my family and helped reach us HELPED US REACH TO THIS POINT. I WOULD LIKE TO THANK CITY COUNCIL, MS. GORDON, FOR LISTENING TO US SUPPORTING THIS REQUEST AND HELPING BRING FORWARD TO SO PEARL CAN BE REMEMBERED IN THE COMMUNITY SHE CALLED HOME. I WANT TO THANK CITY COUNCIL FOR LISTENING TO US, FOR TAKING TIME TO CONSIDER HONORING MY SISTER. NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS TONIGHT, I AM GRATEFUL THAT PEARL'S NAME IS BEING SPOKEN AND REMEMBERED HERE. PEARL DISAPPEARED 10 YEARS AGO, BUT SHE HAS NEVER DISAPPEARED FROM OUR HEARTS. We'll continue saying her name and we'll continue telling her story and we'll continue searching for her no matter how long it takes. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Rose. I can say personally how beautiful and inspiring your family is and how I think heartbroken and moved we are by what has happened to you, but also by the strength that you have shown. And we just thank you for being here and being willing to tell your story and are happy to be part of anything that we can do to help honor Pearl. SO BEFORE WE GET TO QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS, DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC THAT WISH TO SPEAK ON THIS ITEM? ALL RIGHT. LET'S CALL THEM.

THE FIRST SPEAKER SIGNED UP IS ASKARI SAWANDE.

HOLD ON ONE SECOND, MS. ASKARI. WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE A CONNECTION.

Ms. Rose I'm down here because it has affected me as well from the very first time I live in South Vallejo as well as driving down 780 under the under the overpass so I've seen that since 2016. it's imperative that you guys put this plaque up for this family Not only for this family, it's important that you guys hear what they're saying and not just talk about it and move forward. You've heard people saying things like that this evening. It is imperative that you move forward with this. It affects the community. It affects people like myself. We don't just drive under it. It affects us in a daily manner. So I just came down here for these few words for you guys to understand how imperative it is for you to move forward. They are a part of the impacted families. And what you do for them, you need to do for the other families as well, and not just talk about it. So I came down here to say that, not knowing the family, but here I am. I hope you hear what we have to say and do what needs to be done. Ashe.

Thank you so much.

NEXT SPEAKER TO SIGN UP IS BRIDGET DOROTHY.

Good evening, Council. I'm here, of course, to speak on Pearl Pinson's plaques. I have been standing with the family since May 25th, 2016. Pearl was a friend of my granddaughter's, and I didn't know Pearl, but that didn't matter. And just as you see the community coming out that may not know Pearl, that doesn't matter. She's been missing for over 10 years now. And I can count on this hand how many people from the county and the city have come out for 10 years. Four people. And Mayor is one, you know, you're one. Tina Areola and Sharon Henry, who we wish would have won for District Attorney. But that's it, and that's shameful. And I've also gone to the school district TALKED THERE, TRIED TO GET THINGS DONE THERE, UP ON JESSE BETHEL CAMPUS FOR PEARL, AND OF COURSE MAX RUSK, WHO WAS MURDERED UP THERE, WHO THEY WILL NOT ADMIT THAT HAPPENED, BUT YES, IT DID. SO BOTH OF THESE TEENAGERS WENT TO SCHOOL. was 2015 and then of course Pearl was 2016 and we are supposed to be protecting our children and we're supposed to be representing them and we're supposed to be teaching them and showing them how to stand up and how to use their voices and when nothing is done that's what you're showing them in teaching them and that you know that needs to stop that needs to end and i'm not sure if i'm accurate or not but if that vote that was taken right before we started this was for this forum and the votes for the plaques uh... i've also heard a few people saying so again i'm not sure if i'm accurate but if there is a vote no on this I'm going to definitely be shaming that person loudly. And I'm a civil rights activist, and I'm sure you all heard me before. No, she has. So anyway, I just hope this passes. There's no reason this should not pass. We waste money on stuff that doesn't even matter. So this really matters, and so does Mac Dre. This really matters.

THANK YOU.

THOSE ARE ALL THE IN-PERSON SPEAKERS, MAYOR?

ALL RIGHT. DO WE HAVE ANYONE ONLINE?

THROUGH THE MAYOR, NO SPEAKERS ONLINE AT THIS TIME.

ALL RIGHT. WE'LL CLOSE PUBLIC COMMENT. AND I SEE COUNCILMEMBER GORDON WILL FOLLOW WITH ANY OTHER COUNCILMEMBERS THAT WANT TO SAY WORDS OR ASK QUESTIONS ON THIS ITEM.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. THANK YOU SO MUCH THROUGH THE MAYOR. MY NAME IS HELEN MARIA, AS YOU MOST KNOW. BUT ONE TIME I WAS A MOM. who have a student who went to the same school that Pearl did. At that time, I served on the school site council. We were about to have a meeting and we had got alarmed of the situation that happened. All the students were crying. My son Christopher, he was devastated. He knew Pearl for a while. Unlike me, I did not. However, I used to see her face. I am wearing green in honor of her. I'M ALSO WEARING PEARLS AND HONORING HER. WHENEVER WE GO UNDER THE BRIDGE, WE ALWAYS TOUCH OUR CELLING TO LET HER KNOW THAT WE'RE THERE FOR HER. TONIGHT, TO MY COLLEAGUES, THIS IS NOT ABOUT ANYTHING BUT ABOUT PEARL. TONIGHT I'M ASKING MY COLLEAGUES TO SUPPORT THE REQUEST THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO ME. I TOO HAD A SISTER WAS KIDNAPPED WHILE WAITING FOR THE BUS IN SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA. When we got our sister back, it was like we didn't. However, the reason why, it took them two weeks and she was just around the corner. It was my father who found her, no one else. So I am requesting that the city approve not only the creation of the installing of the two plaques honoring Pearl. Financially, I'm asking for support to them. This family has been through so much and money does not come easy. Pearl is a member of our community. Those lives and disappearance have touched many people. Ten years have passed since Pearl disappeared, but her family has never stopped searching for her and all those who love her. Whether you did it through prayer, support, whether you did it in writing, on the post, I read Pearl's comments. She is blessed by it. I believe it is important that our community continues to say her name, remember her life, but do not give hope that she won't show up one way or another. Recognizing that she still is missing, as was stated, is not the only thing we want to remember her by. This request is not about closing a chapter. It's about keeping Pearl's name and her story visible while her family continues to hope, search, and work towards bringing her home. I also want to recognize Pearl's sister, Rose. Her continuing advocacy, no matter how much it hurts, she's asking us never to forget her sister, her siblings, her children, who probably have never met Pearl. By doing this plaque, you're keeping her alive in their heart. Her sister told me that her son resembles his auntie in his actions, his behavior, and it just makes her feel great to see that Pearl still lives with him. I believe that request deserves our support. The two plaques will serve as a lasting reminder that Pearl matters, and she is loved, not was. that she has never and has not been forgotten and never will. Bear with me for these last two important paragraphs. They can always serve an important purpose of our community, bringing awareness to child safety, reminding us that we have responsibility to pay attention, speak up, and do what we can to protect our vulnerable members of our community. FOR THESE REASONS, I'M ASKING MY COLLEAGUES TO SUPPORT NOT ONLY THE INSULATION OF THESE TWO PLAGS, BUT ALSO THE FINANCIAL COST AS I MENTIONED EARLY. THE PURCHASE CREATION, INSTALL THE CREATION AND ALSO INSULATION AND ANY OTHER NECESSARY RELATED EXPENSES FOR THESE PLAGS. MY NAME IS NOTHING It's all about Pearl. This is not about me. It's about her. And I want to thank you for allowing me to read this.

Council Member Latishu.

First, I'd like to say to Pearl's family, I know this has been a long journey, and it continues to be a very difficult journey, and I do pass that bridge every single day. And one of the things that I want in this process, because it's very important, and someone came to the podium and said it, and that was Miss Ascari. regarding all families. And so what I want to see also in this request is that there is a proper policy that provides a proper framework to handle a request such as yours, because we have many other families in our community who have tragedies and who have potentially the same desires. And this is really important from a community perspective. AND SO WHAT I SAY TO THE CITY COUNCIL, TO OUR CITY MANAGER, OUR CITY ATTORNEY, IS WHAT IS THE PROPER POLICY THAT PROVIDES THE PROPER FRAMEWORK FOR ANY TYPE OF REQUEST THAT OUR COMMUNITY MIGHT BRING FORWARD WHERE THERE'S TRAGEDY. WE DO HAVE TO CONSIDER THAT AS WE ARE MOVING FORWARD IN THIS REQUEST AS WELL.

YEAH, THANK YOU. I'll quickly echo that. I think I said what I wanted to say before, which is just the admiration of beauty and strength in your family. And I don't think any of us can possibly imagine what you've gone through the past 10 years and we're just, Grateful for for what you're bringing to us and and that we can be part of of honoring pearl one thing that that did Make things difficult for both myself and Eric in our office was that this did get routed through the ceremonial documents and street renaming policy and that was not the appropriate path for it we made it work and And I am grateful for Rose and the family and everyone. We just slogged through it. We figured out how to fit it into this policy, but that wasn't the right policy. We needed to have something else in place or we needed to be able to be more nimble to be able to handle a situation like this, the cost being one of them. So I already, we spoke earlier and I'll follow up with the city manager to figure out what our options are for helping to find funding to to get this installed um either from Community crowdfunding whatever we can do donations so that it doesn't fall on the family because this is just not the same thing as as the traditional someone that has gone through tragedy and loss is is not the same as a celebratory ceremonial document so I appreciate that that point being raised I don't see any other council members wishing to speak council member Gordon So with that, I believe we are ready for a motion on this item. Oh, nope, Council Member Matias.

Sorry about that, Mayor. So fully supportive, 1,000%, but I do want to see a response from either our city attorney or the city manager on the comment that was made by Council Member Letajew. I'M JUST ASKING FOR A RESPONSE FROM THE CITY MANAGER, CITY ATTORNEY ON THE POINT THAT WAS RAISED BY COUNCIL MEMBER.

WHAT I WOULD SAY AT THIS POINT IS THAT IN TERMS OF A POLICY FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS, SO I'M JUST GOING TO INTERPRET THE COUNCIL'S COMMENTS AS DIRECTING STAFF TO GO OUT AND LOOK AT BEST PRACTICES FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO SEE WHAT WE MIGHT FIND FOR THE FUTURE. IRRESPECTIVE OF THE SENSITIVITY OF THE MOMENT, IN HINDSIGHT, STAFF SHOULD HAVE PUSHED THIS THROUGH THE REFERRAL PROCESS OF THE COUNCIL. BASED ON HOW IT'S EVOLVED.

IT DID GO THROUGH THE REFORM PROCESS. WE VOTED TO AGENDIZE IT AND IT WAS PUSHED THROUGH THE CEREMONIAL STREET RENAMING PROCESS. that that's really the item and I don't know if we need a new policy so much as just the ability to see a situation differently and not try to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Yeah, I think you need a new policy and so that's what I'm suggesting. I'm assuming I'm interpreting this feedback as direction to staff to go out and try to see what we can do in terms of identifying a best practices policy that could be appropriate for something like this in the future.

All right, thank you. Council Member Gordon, quickly, if you have another comment.

Yes, I just want us to remember, yeah, thank you so much for clarifying that. City Manager Black, we did go through the process and already been approved. It was requested at the mic through Pearl, then I asked to put it on the agenda for a scope and it did. But I want to remind us that we have ceremony plats and memorial plats throughout the city of Vallejo, one being the Port of Chicago. WE HAVE VARIOUS ON THEIR ISLAND RECOGNIZING AND WE ALSO HAVE RIGHT HERE JUST OUTSIDE OUR DOOR TO RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUALS WHO HAVE WHO HAVE LOST THEIR LIFE, AND SO I'M NOT SURE ABOUT WHY IT WENT THROUGH THE NAMING OF THE STREET. THIS IS THE FIRST I'VE HEARD OF THAT, BUT I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT WE DID GO THROUGH THE PROCESS, AND SO JUST SO YOU KNOW THAT.

ALL RIGHT, WITH THAT, THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THAT. I THINK THAT'S AN IMPORTANT CONVERSATION, AND THE ITEM BEFORE US IS ABOUT PEARLS, SO I THINK WE'RE READY FOR THE MOTION ON THAT ITEM.

Yes, Mayor. I move that we adopt a resolution approving the installation of a commemorative plaques in honor of Pearl Pinson, one, at the corner of Reese Avenue and Home Acres Avenue, and two, along Lewis Avenue adjacent to the Interstate 780 freeway pedestrian bridge, and approving a letter of condolence in her honor.

All right, and we're ready to vote.

Motion carries unanimously with council member Paul Mayer is absent.

All right, thank you so much. Thank you again, Rose and your family and everyone that came out and everyone that spoke. With that, we're going to move to our next action item, which as we are going out of order is going to be item 9D. I'll ask our clerk to announce this item.

Adopt a resolution approving an honorary street sign designation for the entirety of Taper Avenue from Fairgrounds Drive to Taper Court to be designated Andre MacDray Hicks Honorary and approve a certificate of recognition for the same.

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. DO WE HAVE ANYTHING FROM STAFF ON THIS ITEM? AND IF SO, WE'LL GO AHEAD WITH IT.

YES. TO OPEN UP, THERE IS A SLIGHT CORRECTION ON THE RESOLUTION THAT WE'RE ADOPTING HERE. THE DESIGNATION BY THE FAMILY'S REQUEST IS TO BE MAC DREY WAY HONORARY, NOT ANDRE MAC DREY HICKS HONORARY. SO I WANT TO CLARIFY THAT, BUT QUICKLY RUN THROUGH WHO MAC DREY WAS AND WHAT HE MEANT TO THE COMMUNITY AND THE STREET IN QUESTION. So Mac Dre, born in 1970, grew up in Vallejo, originally from Oakland, got into the music scene, became a rapper, a songwriter, entrepreneur, and raised in the Country Club Crest area of Vallejo. He had significant influence in the music industry with his hyphy movement and influenced quite a few artists over the ages and throughout our community. He's quite a bit of community pride during his life, and his legacy carries through to this day. Tapper Avenue, if you're unfamiliar with, Taper, Taper, Taper Avenue. Taper Avenue, if you're unfamiliar with, intersects Fairgrounds Drive near the North Vallejo Community Center. and runs eastbound to Taper Court. And with that, I'll open it up for questions.

All right. Well, I know we have a huge turnout from the Country Club Crest and broader North Loyola community today. Thank you all so much for joining us, for your advocacy, for putting this forward. When the request first came through, the vice mayor who represents that district and I both gave it the stamp to move forward. We're glad it's finally before the whole council. And my understanding is that we've got quite a few people signed up for public comment.

Yes, we have 12 people signed up.

12 people. So we're going to have everybody up. If we can just keep time in mind, and we'll get everybody up. And please, this is an incredible moment, I know, for the community. So we're excited to hear from the folks that are here. Let's go ahead and call our public commenters.

Yes, our first three speakers in this order are Selena Perez, Miami the Most, and Tom Pangilinan.

Yeah, and my understanding is we keep getting feedback that the mics are just not picking up sound. So when you do come up to the podium, if you can raise it using that toggle on the lower right, just raise it to the right height and just speak really closely into it.

This is fancy. OK. Just let me know when I can speak. OK. Good evening, members of the council. and Vallejo neighbors. My name is Selena, and I'm the executive assistant to Miami the Most. I'm here today to advocate for dedicating a street to one of the most influential figures in Bay Area history, Andre Hicks, known to the world as Magdre. Vallejo is a city rich in culture, pride, and artistic genius, and Mac Dre stands at the center of that identity. He showed local artists how to turn independence into success, laying the groundwork for do-it-yourself music movements nationwide. But more than business, Mac Dre brought us joy. We've seen Vallejo honor its roots through recognitions in the past. Giving Mac Dre his own designated street sign isn't just about celebrating music. It's about preserving Vallejo's rich history, honoring our local culture, and showing the youth that the creativity built right here on these streets matter. Mac Dre loved Vallejo, and Vallejo loved him back. Let's make it official and put Mac Dre Way on the map. Thank you.

Next speaker is Miami the Most.

Hello. My name is Michael Lott, Miami the Most. I'm one of the founders of Thieves Entertainment. Right now, I'm really excited about this, so I'm going to allow my niece to talk for me.

uh... there uh... hello earlier you heard all the commotion in the bank i see the eyes and you guys looking that's because many of us have never been here many of us have never been to city hall but this was an occasion to come down here All of these people will tell you about Mac Dre's legacy. I want to tell you about a product of Mac Dre. I am an entrepreneur, a business owner. I have been on television, done comedy. I'm on Netflix. I've been on Bravo, ETV, and Andre Hicks is part of the reason why. I am what the community can become. He is more than music. Like I said, my uncle, I wasn't even supposed to speak. This means everything to him, and he's very emotional, as you will see many people are. I am here, but if you weren't there, I'm pretty sure you could be here because his legacy has reached all ages, all creeds. I mean, he literally has impacted the community. So if you look here, we had people here for big reasons and still they talked about it. So I could see in your face you already know how important this is. So this will just be an honoring of Andre's legacy. Everyone will come and tell you about how much they love them. I see in your face you guys did too. I have no doubt that this will pass. Like I said, I am a product of what he Just influence. I could have went down many paths, and the people in my community have showed me other ways. And I'm just excited to be here. Like I said, this is our first time being here, so we ruffle. We don't know how our voices carry. But this is what you need. You need the community to show up. And for things like this, we show up. This just shows you how important he is. We will show up. All kind of people from the community and all the things you want to get done, you need the community. And here is the community. We are here to get things done. And Andre Hicks represented that. So thank you so much for your time. Thank you.

Next speaker is Tom Pangolinan, and then followed by the next three speakers of Jordan Jade, Mike Rosenthal, and then Mack Maul.

Good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Coach Tom Pangilinan. I'm a longtime Vallejo coach. I coached over 10 years at Vallejo High and over three years at Hogan. I've been coaching youth sports here in Vallejo for quite a long time. And I'm here to represent the youth of this community. And all these people here behind me are also representing the youth of this community. But I just want to say how big an impact Andre Hicks has had on this community and within the youth for the last 40-some years, and his death has meant so much to us here in this community that this is one of the happiest days of my life if this passes. I'm just going to tell you right now because I know how much joy it's going to bring to this community, not just North Vallejo and the Crest, but the whole community, the Bay Area, all of California for sure, because people have been waiting for something to be happy about in this town within the community. to get excited for, and this is it. So please always remember how loved Andre Hicks was from Vallejo. I can still remember when he would come to the Vallejo Raider football games and support the youth and the kids, and they would all come around him like Elvis Presley. It was the greatest... It was incredible because all the young kids knew who he was. He wasn't scared to go out within the streets of Vallejo and in the Bay Area and spread his love to everybody. He was such a happy person who brought joy to everybody who was around. He was such a difference maker. I told my buddy Baby Bash who's from Vallejo also this evening that I was coming to speak on Andre's behalf and he told me to make sure I told everybody here how excited he was to hear that you guys were considering this and that he would be here for the ribbon cutting when that happens. Everybody here knows Ronnie Ray, Baby Bash, Bish. He was a protege of Dre. He says always how much he looked up to Andre Hicks and he made him who he was. So please, with all your love for everybody here in this community, consider doing this for us. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Jordan Jade.

And you can lower it on the lower right. There's a little toggle to lower it. Yep, there you go.

I think that's good. Yeah, okay. I hope I didn't break the mic. Hold up. Good evening, council members. My name is Jordan Jade. I'm an independent music artist, entrepreneur, proud Vallejo homeowner, and native resident. I'm here today in strong support of Item 9D, the honorary naming of Mac Dreway. Mac Dre was one of my favorite artists growing up and remains the biggest musical influence on me today. As an artist myself, his impact is personal. He helped show that an independent artist can create their own sound while being unapologetically yourself. Turn your passion into a business, encourage entrepreneurship, and make an impact far beyond the Bay Area. Today, when I make music, I recognize Mac Dre as someone who helped create the foundation that allows artists like me to believe we can represent this city and still reach people everywhere. Vallejo has an incredible music history. We've already honored E-40, another one of my greatest influences, with E-40 Way. I believe it is only fitting that Mac Dre's undeniable contribution to not only our city, but also hip-hop culture, be permanently recognized as well. This is bigger than just naming a street after an artist. It's about recognizing Vallejo's cultural history and making sure the people who helped put our city on the map are remembered at home. Mac Dre represented Vallejo everywhere he went. I believe Vallejo should proudly represent him in return. I respectfully urge the council to vote yes on item 90 and approve Mac Dre away. Thank you. And you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Mike Rosenthal.

How's everybody doing? My name is Mike Rosenthal. I'm an artist from Vallejo. My rap name is K.O.B. And I wrote a little something. Good evening, everyone. I'm honored to be here today to speak about someone whose impact on the Bay Area goes far beyond music. I'm here to speak about Andre Hicks, better known to the world as Mac Dre. Mac Dre deserves his own street because he wasn't just a rapper. He was a voice for our generation, a pioneer of the Bay Area sound, and an important part of the cultural history of Vallejo and the entire Bay Area. Mac Dre showed us that you didn't have to leave where you came from to make an impact. He took the experiences, personality, humor, style, and struggles of Northern California, turned them into music that people across the world can understand and appreciate. He helped create a sound and a culture that became known as the hyphy movement. His influence still is heard today in music, the fashion, the cars, the slang, the dances, and the independent spirit of our Bay Area. His greatest legacy isn't just the music. It's the people that he inspired, the artists, We continue to look at Mac Dre as proof that you could build something from your community on your own terms and create something that lasts. His story represents creativity, resilience, independence, and pride in where you come from. Naming the street after Dre wouldn't glorify the mistakes of his past. It would recognize the cultural contribution he made and the positive influence his art continues to have on the generations after him. A street bearing his name will become more than a sign. It'll be a permanent reminder that Vallejo's contribution to Bay Area culture and a hometown artist who became an international icon without ever losing his connection to home. Mac Dre gave the Bay Area a soundtrack. He gave people a style. He gave people a movement. Most importantly, he gave us all something to be proud of. Mac Dre deserves his own street, not simply because he was famous, but because his legacy is part of our history. He gave me an opportunity, and thank you. Appreciate y'all.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Mack Maul, and followed by the next three speakers of Cassandra James, Letitia W., and Boobie S.

Good evening, Madam Mayor and Honorable Counsel. My name is Jamal Rocker, better known as Mack Maul, and I am Mack Dre's namesake. I am proud to say that I was born and raised in Vallejo. I represent the Country Club Crest community and this nation. I come here today in regards to the naming of Taper Street to Mac Dre Way. I believe that Andre Hicks is very deserving of such an honor. Mac Dre is a giant in Bay Area and California music. Top artists such as Drake and Kendrick Lamar have been influenced by the music and the style of the Vallejo-raised Mac Dre. Magdre Andre Hicks was a selfless person. He helped start my career and helped countless of young people get their start in the music business and be able to change their lives and provide for their family and friends. I thank the council for the time and I ask humbly that the council make Taper Street Mac Dre way because Andre Hicks is truly the pride of Crestside and she'll be recognized as such. Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Cassandra James.

Good evening mayor, council members and staff. Tonight I'm going to speak with colloquialisms. So I'm Cassandra James and I so happen to be the Solano County supervisor that represents North Vallejo. Including the neighborhood I live in, the Country Club Crest. I'm here tonight as a proud homeowner in the Crest. And I am here, and I'm deeply honored to stand before you because community members, the Cuddys, actually asked me to come and speak. And I want to be clear. This is more than a street name. This is a moment for hip hop. This is a moment for Bay Area history. And this is a moment for Vallejo. But most importantly, this is a moment for the Crest. I live in Mac Dre's backyard. I take Taper Street to go home. I live in the community that helped shape him, the community that gave him his voice, the community that gave him his story. And his story traveled. His music became the playlist of the Bay Area. His sound reached across California, across the country, and around this world. We see that legacy woven throughout our community celebrations every single day. Just take a look at 707 Day. A celebration of who we are, a celebration of where we come from, a celebration of Vallejo culture, creativity, and resilience. And at the heart of that celebration is a sound, a spirit, and a legacy. And a legacy that MACDRE helped build. Magdre is a part of the foundation of the 707. His influence is woven into the music, the language, the style, and the pride that make the 707 what it is. But what makes this movement so powerful to me is not just how far Magdre went, it's where he came from. Because Magdre showed us that you don't have to come from a community that everybody understands to come from a community that produce greatness. He showed people in the Crest and communities like the one I grew up in, in Hunters Point, that where you come from does not determine how far you go. He proved that maybe we were just too hard for the radio, but we were never too hard for success. And that is what we're recognizing tonight. We're recognizing creativity, resilience, and culture. We are recognizing a community that has contributed something so powerful to the world as a proud homeowner as a proud parent raising her boys in this community. As someone who understands the responsibility of representing the community, I believe that government should recognize the history that the communities have been carrying for generations. Sometimes leadership is about building something new, and sometimes leadership is about having the courage to say, this already matters, this already has value, and this deserves to be recognized. MacDray Way is that recognition. So tonight I ask you to follow staff recommendation of approving the street naming after him. Honor MacDray, honor the Crest, honor Vallejo, and honor the Bay. And let the name MacDray stand as a reminder that the legacy we celebrate was built right here. Thank you. Thank you.

Next speaker, next speaker is Latisha W. Good evening, mayor, city council members, family and friends, and fellow Valero residents. My name is Latisha and I am a proud, I'm very proud to say that I am a Vallejo native, born and raised. I'm also a retired disabled veteran and it is my honor to stand before you today representing my hometown and speaking on behalf of someone very special to our community. My family and my friend, Andre Hicks, also known as Mac Dre. Andre and I grew up in Vallejo. We attended all the Vallejo schools. But he was also very close friends with my uncles and my family. He was a very funny and humorous guy who made many people laugh. Better yet, he was very smart and creative. And he spent, you know, many days working on his music and many nights working on his music. But in addition to that, he spent many days and nights at my grandpa's house on Leonard Street in the Country Club Crest. My grandfather, Ozzie Bowler, who was also a disabled veteran and honored by this city as a disabled veteran, one of the chapters here he was named after. So for me, this is more than simply recognizing someone from my hometown. This is very personal. I had the opportunity to witness the person Mac Dre, the character Mac Dre, and the connection he had to the Valero community. Andre Hicks is a Vallejo-raised legend. When we talk about legends, we are talking about people whose names and contributions become part of the history of a community. Their impact doesn't end with them. It lives on through the stories we tell, the memories we share, and the generations that follow. That is why I believe naming a street Magdre Way in Andre Hicks' honor would be a meaningful way to preserve and continue his legacy. A street sign bearing his name would be more than a sign. It would serve as a permanent reminder of a Vallejo's son who was raised here, who was connected to this community, and whose story deserves to remain as a part of Vallejo's history. As someone who was born and raised in Vallejo myself, I understand how important it is for our community to recognize our own. We should honor the people who helped shape the culture, the spirit, and the identity of our city, especially while there are stories that can be still shared by the people who knew them personally. Today, I'm asking the city of Vallejo to consider giving Andre Hicks the recognition he deserves and helping ensure that his name and his legacy continue to be remembered for generations to come. Andre is one of our own. He is a Vallejo legend, and legends deserve to live on. Thank you for allowing me to represent my hometown and to speak on behalf of my homeboy, Andre Hicks, also known as Mac Dre.

Next speaker. Thank you. Next speaker is Boobie S., followed by the last three speakers signed up, Frankie A., Sherrod Hicks, and Chris Kelly.

How y'all doing? I ain't got to say too much. They said a lot. I've got the pearly ghosts on me. My name is Harold Smith. They call me Booby. I'm a professional. Mac Dre is the dopest. Like we got Jeff Gordon's, we got all the other ones. You got to honor the dopest ones. His spirit got to live forever. I'm actually going to just keep his life going. I ain't going to go on no extra spiel. I'm with the whole crew. So y'all know our spirits is here. And y'all already know his history. Much love.

Thank you.

Next speaker is Frankie A.

Good evening. Good evening, everybody. How are you all doing tonight? Okay. Well, we're talking about a good friend of mine. You know, he is Vallejo. Mac Dre is Vallejo. He did so much for even our community, turkey drives, toy drives, you know, just things that he did for his community. He loved his community just so he loved his Vallejo area. Believe me, all these people wouldn't be here tonight talking to you guys about doing this for this gentleman. He loved his community. He loved his people. Believe me, he loved this community. We wouldn't be out here tonight talking about Mac Dre. This gentleman is Vallejo. He is Vallejo. To some people that didn't know him and got to know him, man, that gentleman knew how to make somebody feel good. His heart was general. Let me tell you, when I first got to hear Mac Dre music and I was living in Vallejo, I was like, whoa. That's one of our people. That's one of Vallejo's people. He put so many people on the map. He put Vallejo on this map. He went city to city, town to town, country to country to perform and talk about the Vallejo community, our town, your town. Please, put it to considering in doing this. There's a lot of people that looked up to Mac Dre. These people right here that's sitting all here. All these people. Performers are here. Big people are here to talk about Mac Dre. So please, find it in your hearts and do this for my brother. Thank you, and thank you for taking your time out.

Thank you. Next to last speaker signed up is Sherrod Hicks.

How you guys doing this evening? My name is Sherrod Hicks. I'm the son of Foster Hicks. He's a former vice mayor, city councilman, school teacher in Vallejo. And I'm Mac Dre's Andre Hicks' first cousin. I want to thank you guys for considering naming the street after my cousin. Dre loved Vallejo, and he loved the crest, and he represented it throughout his whole life. And he deserves that. And on behalf of the Hicks family, I hope you guys consider that.

Thank you.

Last speaker signed up is Chris Kelly.

Good evening, everyone, city council. I am standing here tonight and it's a bittersweet moment. I'm standing here on behalf of my brother Mario Romero. I'm standing here to support the naming of a street after Max Ray. I'm standing here on behalf of my brother who would be here. A lot of people don't know this, but when I buried my brother Mario Romero, Andre Hicks' mom and siblings buried their brother as well. So I'm standing here because what a lot of people don't realize, something very important, before there was Open Vallejo, before there was the Vallejo Sun, or anybody reporting about the things going on in Vallejo, the crimes against black men from the Vallejo Police Department, Mac Dre was reporting it in his music. He was telling what was really going on, how it felt to be a young black man walking down the streets and being preyed upon. So while this is a beautiful, wonderful moment, a lot of people have never been here to City Council. I've been coming here for 14 years since my brother was murdered by the Vallejo Police Department, in addition to many others. And it's a tragedy on his bloodline because he was born an uncle of Mac Dre. So although he died at 23, he was born an uncle. First went the grandson, Andre Hicks. Then went the son, Mario Romero. And then went the dad, John Wilson. May they all rest in peace. I really hope and pray that in the same way that the people come here for this, that you understand what Mac Dre wanted. He wanted for all of us to be able to walk down the streets, for our sons, our daughters, our young black men to feel safe in the city of Vallejo, and that has yet to happen. So we still got a lot of work to do. The naming of the street is the beginning. It is important that we show up. It's okay to be down to ride, but you gotta be down to walk too. I've been coming up in here for 14 years, and it ain't just my family. But the things that Mac Dre was talking about in his music were real. They were real. And I don't want that to be lost on anything. So I stand here for my brother, who is my family. And the Hicks family is his family. And I say, pay attention. Show up. He wasn't just talking about something that wasn't going on. very beautiful man, talented, stolen from us, like so many others. So a street is just the beginning. But if we love him and we care about him and we know what he wanted, then we know what we need to do, and that is to demand more from our city, to make sure that our sons can walk down the street without being preyed upon and murdered. by an authority that is supposed to protect us. I grew up in the Crest as a small child before I moved to South Vallejo. Those were my people. So I got people in the Crest and people in the South. The whole Vallejo is my family. And we are a family and we come together, but we have had so much tragedy, so much loss, so much failure by a city that has tried to bury us that we spent a lot of time just picking up the pieces and trying to keep ourselves going and still trying to convince our kids to have hope and move forward. So with that being said, I hope that you guys all vote to name this street after Andre Hicks. He deserves it. And I hope us as a people, we continue to stand up and fight so that we can be safe in our own city. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right. Those are all of our speakers in person. Do we have anyone online wishing to speak on the item?

Through the mayor, yes, we do have three speakers online.

We're going to take our first online speaker, and then we have one more in-person speaker. So, sir, if you would act well, actually, let's go ahead and take our one more in-person speaker. If you could introduce yourself, and then we'll take our online speakers.

How y'all doing, man? My name is Drip Damone Jr. I run an independent media outlet called Player Circle Podcast. I want to be clear, I'm not from Vallejo. I'm not a Vallejo native. I'm from Oakland, California. I'm speaking today because even more than two decades after his passing, Mac Dre has changed my life and opened doors for me and created opportunities that just a year ago, it was just visions in my journal. Through my independent research on my journey, I've connected with artists, people, family, from Vallejo, across the Bay Area, far beyond. No matter who I spoke to, they all had the same thing to say, and they all said Dre left a permanent mark on their life. Some told me how he inspired them, others told me how he changed the way they carried themselves, expressed themselves, or believed in themselves, or believed in what was possible for them. I can't think of anybody more iconic in the Bay Area than Dre that deserves this. Mac Dre represents the Crest, he represents Vallejo, but he also extends throughout the Bay Area. Like I'm from Oakland and I've been arguing about Mac Dre since I was 12. I lived in Fairfield and I moved back to Oakland and they didn't know who Mac Dre was. So I've been arguing since I was 12 years old that this is the dopest to ever step foot in front of a mic. Naming a street in his honor would preserve more than a memory as a legendary artist. It would show every young person from the Crest, Vallejo, Oakland, and throughout the Bay Area that somebody who came from where they came from can become so influential that a hometown would name a street after him in his name. This street will also tell every child that walked past that greatness is possible. You can leave a mark on this world too. I can stand up here and talk to y'all for hours, to be honest with y'all, about how dope this person was, about how great he was, and about the lives that he touched. But I really just want to touch on that one thing, that when every little kid walk past that street sign and see Mac Dre Way, they gonna know that it's possible for them too. So for those reasons, I fully support and honor Mac Dre by Mac Dre Way, and I ask that y'all do the same. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, let's call our online speakers.

Thank you, Mayor. First speaker, Rio, please unmute yourself. You have the floor.

Can you hear me?

We can.

Yes. All right, perfect. So I'm not originally a Vallejo native, but I live in the community, but I also have had a chance to actually meet Mac Dre, Andre Hicks in person. I stayed in Sacramento, so he he traveled all across northern Cal. The biggest thing that I can remember was the impact that he had on us. I was a kid and my mom was not fortunate enough to be able to afford for me to play football. He was aware of that and he put up the money for me and all of my friends in the neighborhood so we could play football. Not only that, he brought his cleats, gloves, and this is the type of person that you guys would be honoring. He was more than music. He was involved in the community, but he never asked for applause for it. He did everything out of the kindness of his heart. He also showed us how to walk. He never encouraged us to be like him or anything. He always wants to know what we dreamed of and told us that long as you could dream it and see it and believe it, you can achieve it. And I always stuck with me and that's why I've, I've made an impact on the way I raised my children. So he wasn't just a rapper. ACTIVIST, HE WAS A NEIGHBORHOOD FATHER. AND HE RAISED AND HELPED A LOT OF KIDS NOT TAKE THE WRONG PATH IN LIFE. SO IF YOU ALL VOTE YES, YOU GUYS WILL BE DOING THE RIGHT THING. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

NEXT SPEAKER, THE PEOPLE. PLEASE UNMUTE YOURSELF. YOU HAVE THE FLOOR.

Yes, Mac Dre deserves to have Taper renamed in his honor. Dre loved Vallejo and repped the crest enthusiastically. His music and his legacy have helped create fame and visibility for the city of Vallejo. His name is known across the nation and all over the world as the pioneer of the hyphy movement, and his contributions have helped build the culture of the Bay Area music scene. and he is a testament to the power of independent music. MacDray has long been a household name in our Vallejo communities and was loved, beloved by the people. But it's important to note that when MacDray was making the music that is now the hallmark of our city and the Bay Area, he was not loved by the city. As a matter of fact, he was targeted by the VPD and spoke truth to power in his music about city corruption and the brutality that young people faced by the hands of VPD. Andre Hicks is truly a Vallejo legend and absolutely deserves the honor of having Taper named in his memory. But if we are to truly honor Magdre, Andre Hicks, we must begin as a city to care about young Black men beyond the fame and beyond the music that they produce. Mario Romero could have been a Mac Dre. Willie McCoy, also known as Willie Bow, could have been a Mac Dre. And there are so many young people who could be Mac Dre. And in order for that to be true, Vallejo must begin to tangibly show that they care about its young black men and begin to protect them. Absolutely, we must honor Mac Dre in that way. but we also must look at our city and look at the history. And we need to care about our young Black men now, not because they have made fame, not because they have, their name has traveled across the world, but because we actually care about them. Please name, taper, Mac Dreway in honor of Andre Hicks, but also please honor his life and his legacy by loving the children of Vallejo.

Thank you.

Last online speaker, phone number ending in 071. Please hit star nine on your phone and unmute yourself. You have the floor.

Good evening to the Madam Mayor. and to the honorable council people.

My name is Stan Muhammad. I am the manager and was the manager to a young black brother named Matt Dre. This is my first public speaking on Andre Hicks. I met this young man in 1989.

I decided to move to Vallejo from Venice, California. And upon my arrival, I noticed that there was no areas for young people to have a controlled environment so they can have a good time. And I remember booking the Omega Boys Club. And we had nearly 150 youth all under the age of 18 in the building. And a lot of young people run up to me and say, Stan, Mac Dre is in the building. Can he perform? And I said, where is he at? And he was near the stage. I met him for the first time and I said, brother, get up there and do your thing. Mac Dre, get on the stage and the place go wild. And I'm just listening tonight, man, about the impact. And so the impact for me is I didn't know anything about managing artists.

But me and Mac Dre got very close after that night.

And I became his business manager without even knowing the business. And I had a strong desire at this time in 89 and 90 to make Mac Dre one of the biggest artists in the world. And here it is a couple of decades later, thanks to Miami the most, I'm having the opportunity and the privilege and the honor to speak about a young man who was bigger than just a rap artist. Matt Dre had one of the biggest hearts of any human being that I ever came in contact with. So I ask tonight, this is the least you all can do, is to honor our beloved brother with the naming of a street, But I think we need to take it beyond just the naming of a street and create a foundation that Vallejo, along with Wanda and others, Miami the Most and others, can begin to have a foundation in honor of Mac Dre after we get this street name, where we can begin to identify other young people that's in Vallejo that need to be mentored, need to be counseled, need to be directed towards something positive. So tonight, Mrs. Mayor and city council, I lend my voice to this recommendation to adapt the resolution and approving an honorary street sign designation for the entirety of TAPER from the fairground drive to TAPER court to the designated, designating that area Andre Madre Way. And I'm looking forward to traveling up from Los Angeles when it's time to do the unveiling of this. But again, this is a mere token, right? This could never bring back our beloved brother. But I will say this. This will be a cement, right, that folks can come by and see Madre's name. So thank you all for putting this on this action item agenda. I am looking forward to coming back to Vallejo, which was my second home because Matt Dre made it my second home. So thank you all for bringing this item tonight. And I just ask that you guys consider unanimously voting yes for this resolution. Thank you.

Thank you very much. All right.

That wraps our speakers, Mayor.

All right. So I'll say two things really quickly before we'll move to comments from council, and then we'll take our vote. I thought a little bit. We talked to some people about this leading up to it, but had thought a little bit before today about the significance of this, because it is hugely significant for Vallejo. But I think... I don't think we need to explain that because I think the people that showed up, the words that were shared, the comments that were shared, I think that pretty much just embodies how significant this is. And somebody said Mac Dre was Vallejo or Mac Dre is Vallejo. This is Vallejo. This council meeting is Vallejo. I mean, this is just... I don't know. I've been mayor for a year and nine months. This is the best council meeting we've had. The representation we've had from folks out here, the proclamation with the youth. People ask me, what is it that's so great about Vallejo? Like this. It's that intangible. It's that community. It's everybody showing up. So to all of you that are here in City Hall for the first time, this is my second part of what I want to say, welcome. Thank you for being here. You are welcome any time you want to come by. You are always welcome in the mayor's office. Please come to meetings and speak up or say hi. We're very happy to welcome you here. So thanks for coming out to Vallejo. to these chambers for the first time. It's a little formal. You have to wait for your item, but hopefully it went smoothly and you had a good experience. So thanks to everybody that commented. This is hugely significant. Obviously, I'm in support of it and looking forward to the event. I'll open it up to my colleagues on council. I see Councilmember Gordon.

Good evening, everyone. I want you to know the first time, first of all, I want to say welcome to Vallejo. I heard you all back there with the motorcycles. I knew that this was a special moment, and I'm so happy to look out to you all. I didn't meet Matt Dre here in Vallejo. I met him in Sacramento. Those know him best. That's right. So he did not just only, as it was stated before, his voice went everywhere. So when I met him in 1989 and 1990, it was 1998 and 1999, I was a coach for a nonprofit called Crossover Basketball. And we had the honors to have him come out and support us in Sacramento. So he walked up. And I didn't realize I'm like 5'11". And right off the bat, I had the honors for him to call me Auntie, even though we looked like we were the same age. But I am a mother of four. and a grandmother of nine, and I just turned 60. So my children said, oh, we want to play for their competition to perform at the Sacramento Monarchs, and also for the Sacramento Kings, because we get to do that. And so they were like, oh, we want to play these dance, right? T-H-I-Z-Z. And thank you. But no, I'm saying it to you the way I said it. Because at that time, the only thing I was listening to was gospel. And so I went to go and listen to it. And the next thing I know, they already knew the dance. And they're teaching this OG the dance. And so I say to you that I didn't know his history of what he did, what he didn't do. I just know that he made an impact on these children's lives. You know, but the point was that you said earlier is that his voice went everywhere. His voice went to old school, new school. He went to people's voices that his voices went to all of us. He changed the way we thought about things. And then I looked him up at the time because, you know, I got to present it to the OGs that his music can be played and they listened to it. And of course, you know, we had to get the clean version. And so, but he made a difference to us. In Sacramento, California, I come to Vallejo and then lo and behold, I find out, like I did Jeff Gordon, who I met in Tennessee, I met, I find out that he is from here. And so I am telling you now that it is a great honor to look at, I wish you could see what I can see. The people on the TV can't see what I see. This room is full of love. And I just want to say for you all that I want to thank you for showing up. I want to thank you for the testimony. I want to say thank you for making this ask because he has changed so many lives. And I just want to say thank you for that. I want to say one thing important. In 1989, when I first met him, he was very humble. I almost thought he was shy because he was so quiet at the moment. But then when he performed, I saw him come alive, and he believed in what he was saying. But you remember how he says, you curl your face like you what? Like you smell something, right? He said it was to let people know you didn't have to know how to dance. Just move. And I want to end on that. Thank you so much, and I am looking forward to supporting it.

All right, Vice Mayor Matulik.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. AND AS THE PROUD REPRESENTATIVE OF DISTRICT TWO THAT COVERS THE RANCHO AREA, COLLEGE PARK, AND ESPECIALLY THE COUNTRY CLUB CREST, YOU CAN HEAR THE PASSION AND THE LOVE COMING OUT OF HERE FROM EVERYBODY THAT LIVES IN OUR DISTRICT. BUT UNFORTUNATELY, WHEN I MENTION, I'M FROM NORTH VALLEJO, AND I REPRESENT THE RANCHO, THE COLLEGE PARK AND COUNTRY CLUB CREST, SOME PEOPLE GIVE ME THAT NEGATIVE CONNOTATION OF WHAT THAT REPRESENTS. But as you can see from the people in here, the Crest, Rancho, and all of District 2, there is more good there than there is bad going on over there. And so, and we have that in the representation of Supervisor James sitting over there. C.C. Sabathia from the Crest. The Hicks family. And now, and now, and people like Orlando Graham. And people, and people. And Reverend Summers coming from that area too. So there is, as I point out, there is a lot more good coming out of North Vallejo than there is all that negativity that's coming up from there. And I'm glad to be adding Andre Hicks, Matt Dreway to that name being added to all of North Vallejo. So... So, but the last thing, and speaking to the bureaucracy of this and how we have to kind of look at our policy of how this coming for so long, especially for those of us that have been asking, why is it taking this so long? Last thing I got to say, it's about damn time.

All right, my friends. I'm actually going to take a picture of the audience because I feel like everybody needs to be able to see what we see. Okay, I didn't realize this was going to be such a thing. All right. All right, everybody ready? One, two, three. Oh, that's really good. Everybody got it? All right.

You all are gonna see the energy we see from up here. All right. Hey, we still have to vote. Everybody's got to sit back down. We still got to vote.

We're all right. We're good. We got it. We are ready for a motion on the item.

We just have to vote first.

We need to actually state the motion, and then we have to vote.

So just give us a second.

I move we adopt a resolution approving an honorary street sign designation for the entirety of Taper Avenue from Fairgrounds Drive to Taper Court to be designated Mac Dre Way and approve a certificate of recognition for the same. All right, we're ready to vote.

Motion carries unanimously. There it is.

All right. We're gonna take a short recess. So we'll just go into recess and we'll be back in about 10 minutes.

Can we take a photo? Hey, y'all wanna come up here and take a photo? Let's take a photo.

Let's take a photo.

Come up here and take a photo.

All right, one minute. Everybody can make their way back. All right. Are we ready?

Dawn, are you ready?

All right.

Okay, I'm gonna go ahead and call us back though. We gotta start.

All right, I'm gonna go ahead and call us back to order so we can get back to our agenda. And we are going back to action item A. I'll just ask our audience again to just remember how the noise carries. Thank you so much. I'll ask our clerk to announce item 9A.

Public safety update receipt of 60 day report and action to discontinue standalone schedule for combined quarterly town halls.

All right. So we'll open up public comment on this item and I'll turn it over to our chief and sheriff for the presentation.

Thank you, Mayor. Good evening. Jason Ta, Vallejo Chief of Police. Tonight we're going to just provide you all with a 60-day public safety update. So a lot of these numbers are just going to be updated from the last update that we did two months ago. And then also we're requesting tonight for council's consideration to discontinue the standalone update every 60 days. The intention of the department is to have a community update every quarter and then that way we can update the community directly on public safety. Also talk about staffing numbers as well as our reform status. SO THE INTENTION THERE, AGAIN, IS TO HAVE JUST A COMBINATION OF ALL OF THOSE THREE TOPICS AT THE SAME TIME AND CONDUCT IT RATHER A LITTLE BIT QUICKER SO THAT WAY THE COMMUNITY CAN GET THE UPDATES WITHOUT HAVING TO WAIT FOR AN ENTIRE COUNCIL MEETING. SO I'M GOING TO START GOING INTO THIS PRESENTATION. THERE IS ONE SLIDE THAT I THINK YOU GUYS MAY HAVE IN FRONT OF YOU WHEN WE GET TO THE REFORM SLIDE. I'LL JUST REFER TO THAT JUST VERBALLY. So our numbers, current, are just looking on the far right column. Total staffing is 87. We just swore in, actually this morning, two officers. So that number reflects those two that we swore in this morning. We have about three officers on some form of injury or modified duty. So that brings us to a total working number of 84 officers. 42 officers are in patrol. Five patrol supervisors. We have 10 officers in the field training program. And then we have four officers in various stages of the academy.

Next slide here.

Somewhat of a repeat from two months ago, so we are continuing to use these strategies to maintain and increase our staffing using all-star recruitment to get more awareness on our recruitment efforts, recruitment retention referral program that you all approved a couple of years ago. We have still two civilian human resource extra help recruiters that we use for recruitment booths and other recruitment activities. And we're doing ongoing training for the oral panels, the physical fitness testing, and the written examination. So that is ongoing. We meet regularly with HR to conduct our recruitment strategies. And just for context, in 2024, we backgrounded about 97 candidates. In 2025, we backgrounded about the same, about 96. And then we're looking for some funding to revive some of the feeder programs that were successful in the past, which included our explorer and a cadet program. SO THESE ARE SOME OF THE CURRENT REPORTING STRUCTURES THAT WE PARTICIPATE IN, STARTING WITH THE TOP, WHICH IS WHAT WE'RE DOING TODAY, THE 60-DAY PUBLIC SAFETY UPDATE. EVERY MONTH WE MEET WITH OUR SURVEILLANCE ADVISORY BOARD, OVERSIGHT BOARD, ON HOW WE UTILIZE SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY. WE MEET MONTHLY WITH OUR POLICE OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY COMMISSION, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS POAC. I MEET MONTHLY WITH MY CHIEF'S ADVISORY BOARD, THE CAB. WE HAVE OUR PUBLIC SAFETY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETING, WHICH WAS JUST RECENTLY CHANGED TO BIMONTHLY. WE STILL MEET WITH OUR AD HOC POLICE REFORM COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE MONTHLY. I ATTEND THE TWO BY TWO MONTHLYS AND THE NAACP MEETINGS MONTHLY. AND THEN THE OTHER ENGAGEMENT EVENTS ARE SHOWN BELOW, NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH, BUSINESS WATCH. WE HAVE A NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACT TEAM, WHICH USUALLY IS DEPLOYED AFTER A CRITICAL EVENT. AND THEN WE HAVE JUST RECENTLY COMPLETED OUR COMMUNITY POLICE ACADEMY, AND THEN WE STILL ENGAGE WITH OUR YOUTH WITH BCUSD AND OTHER SCHOOL-RELATED COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS. Quick update on our operations monthly report. So I'm just going to highlight a couple of areas. This is for the month of July. We have not published the month of August yet. So I'll just start with the top right. So you can see the number of felony arrests and number of misdemeanor arrests. So total arrests for the month of July, 232. We did have an officer-involved incident at the end of July that resulted from a carjacking and robbery. And I'm just going to go to the very bottom right, and that's our abandoned vehicles. So just a couple of short years ago, we had about 4,000 vehicles in the list of pending, and now we've got it down to 432. So we're doing very well with some of our abandoned vehicle abatements. Next slide. This is the bottom half of the operations report. So I'll just highlight some of the noticeable gains and decreases. So we are seeing very good gains in sexual assault offenses. So we've shown a 49% reduction. We see a significant reduction in robberies as well, 51%. Burglaries and breaking and enterings are down 21%. Larceny is down 24%. Towards the bottom left, you'll see that auto burglaries as well as theft cases are down 40%. And then shootings are down 34%. Where we are seeing a trend either flat or raising is domestic violence at the very bottom. So as we had talked about previously, we are working on a domestic violence initiative to increase our gun violence restraining order program as well as develop a lethality protocol. And we just recently completed an RFQ so we can get a good vendor selected as we expand our domestic violence intervention and prevention programs. And then just at the very top, for the homicides, we are level with where we were last year. We did have in the month of July three unsheltered related homicides that brought our numbers significantly higher. So that may be a one-off, but we are trending at the same amount we were last year this time. Just a summary on the average response time. So as you can see on the very top, that's from September 2024 to August of 2025. We're using that as a benchmark to compare this year, September 25, to August of 2026. So you can see the numbers in the average response time in minutes have been significantly improved. So I'll just talk about the bottom. TABLE, WHICH SHOWS THE MOST RECENT TIMES. WE HAVE A 6% INCREASE IMPROVEMENT IN PRIORITY 1'S, 54% IMPROVEMENT IN PRIORITY 2'S, AND A 45% IMPROVEMENT IN PRIORITY 3'S. AS YOU SEE, YOU CAN COMPARE THE PRIORITY 2'S AND 3'S FROM LAST YEAR COMPARED TO THIS YEAR. So at the very top, for example, 240 on priority twos compared to 110 recently. That's still 1.8 hours, though, of response time for priority two. So even though that's a significant improvement, that is by no means what I believe is acceptable yet. So we're still working to try to improve that with staffing. And then same thing for the priority threes. It went from 378, which is about 6.3 hours, down to 207, which is about three and a half hours. So significant improvement, but by no means acceptable yet. Just touch real quick on abandoned vehicles. We did talk about that in the operations report. So again, from 2024, there were about 4,000 vehicles on that list. We've got it down to about 495. You can see the staffing associated to the program. One police assistant, police cadet, five police, I'm sorry, one senior police assistant, one police cadet, five patrol police assistants. Strategies we're using are very conventional, toe sweeps. We have dedicated personnel to add more personnel to deal with the problem or the issues, and then it's a top discussion right now in the Public Safety Subcommittee, and it has been for many months. WE ARE WORKING ON A NEW ROTATIONAL CONTRACT AND EVIDENCE PROCESS WITH THE CITY ATTORNEY'S OFFICE. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO POTENTIALLY BRING NEW TOW COMPANIES SO THAT WAY WE HAVE MORE STORAGE CAPACITY AND THEN ALLOW US TO CHANGE THE ROTATION TO SET UP DIFFERENT STANDARDS. SO STANDARD TOWS COMPARED TO ABANDONED VEHICLE TOWS. That way we can kind of separate RVs from standard vehicles and looking for a way to accelerate RV impounds. So that way we can increase our capacities for RV abandoned vehicles. Next slide. I'm going to turn this slide over to the sheriff.

Thanks, Chief. So Brad Dwell, your sheriff. Good to see you, Mayor, Council. Momentous night. A lot going on. But yeah, so I'll keep it very concise for you all. Our response times have been really consistent through all these months. We continue to do that. We continue to serve. We continue to clear the calls in our area of responsibility. Over the last couple months, what I will add maybe is something we've adjusted to is just that it's been the summer months there's been increased activity so we had an increased presence during hours and days of the week in order to combat that and partner with Vallejo to just have really more of a visible presence so everybody knows we're there so that that's really uh the change that we've had over the last couple months and the relationships continue to be very good and so thank you thank you Sheriff

And just one more slide before we go into just a quick reform update. So some of these programs, you guys have already heard about Vallejo Vision. So that's a focus deterrent program that we just recently started to implement. So it's still in the very, very early stages. So I don't have too much to report out on that yet. We are scheduled to have a meeting with some of our stakeholders for our next level of sex trafficking discussions as we start to develop a procedural kind of plan to roll out our sex trafficking, human trafficking reduction initiative. And then as we had talked about, we're still working on domestic violence enhanced protocol. That's in process. We did graduate in, it began in March and we graduated in May, some candidates for volunteers. So we are implementing those candidates in various areas. OF THE CITY AND THE DEPARTMENT. ONGOING IS NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH AND BUSINESS WATCH. WE WERE WORKING WITH SERGEANT HOLLIS AND THE SCHOOLS TO INCREASE SOME OF THE TRAFFIC SAFETY IN CERTAIN AREAS AS WELL AS THE KIND OF SAFE START TO SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE DO ANNUALLY. WE ARE COMING TO THE CLOSE OF OUR PUBLIC SAFETY PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM THAT ENDS THIS MONTH. SO WE'RE FINISHING UP A COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STRATEGIC PLAN THAT THEY HAD HELPED US SET UP. AND THEN I'LL TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE POLICE REFORM. WE'RE MOVING INTO YEAR THREE. SO WE'RE JUST GOING TO ANTICIPATE HAVING A YEAR-END ANNUAL REPORT FOR YEAR TWO COMING OUT IN THE NEXT MONTH OR SO, AND AS WE WORK ON THE YEAR THREE WORK PLAN INTO SOME OF THE DIFFERENT PARAGRAPHS THAT WE HAVE NOT WORKED ON THUS FAR. SO THE NEXT SLIDE, THIS, OKAY, YOU DID ADD IT, MANNY. THIS IS THE UPDATED ONE. All right, so we had an update for you all last, I guess it was early August. So this really represents changes from basically early August to basically now, so just a month. So if you just kind of look at the right side, the updates are just kind of highlighted. If you look at some of the green numbers, that's where the numbers have changed. So I'll just kind of go through the narrative highlights. SO THERE WERE TWO REFORMS THAT MOVED FROM IN PROGRESS TO SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE ACHIEVED. SO THOSE WERE BOTH USE OF FORCE CATEGORIES. ONE MOVED TO FINAL REVIEW WHICH IS JUST BEFORE SUBSTANTIAL COMPLIANCE SO THAT IS ALSO IN OUR USE OF FORCE CATEGORY. We had three additional reforms move to in progress. So these represent two in use of force and one in search and seizure category. We had one original OIR recommendation, so that was the original 45. So that was recommendation number 44. So that governs policy change through the POAC. So now POAC approves policy changes, so that is REC 44 that is in progress for being complete soon. And then we are starting to draft new search and seizure policy 312. So that's 16 new policies that we are drafting. So with that, I'm gonna conclude and we can answer any questions you all may have.

All right, thank you very much. Why don't we go ahead and take public comment on this item and then we'll get questions from council. Do we have anyone in person?

None, Mayor.

All right, do we have any commenters online?

Through the mirror, none at this time. Oh, never mind. We just had one go up.

All right. Let's go ahead and call them.

Phu, please unmute yourself. You have the floor. Phu, you are unmuted. You have the floor. Go ahead. GO AHEAD.

I HAVE A QUESTION. IT'S BEEN REPORTED IN THE MEDIA RECENTLY THAT CHIEF JASON TOPP POINTED SOMEONE TO HIS CHIEF'S ADVISORY BOARD WHO HAD AN INCIDENT WHERE THAT PERSON, KATIE MEISNER, ASSAULTED SOMEONE DURING A NATIONAL NIGHT OUT EVENT. AND I'M CURIOUS IF THE CHIEF IS GOING TO TAKE ANY ACTION TO REMOVE THAT PERSON FROM THEIR BOARD OR IF THERE WILL BE ANY OTHER SORT OF ADMINISTRATIVE ACTION THAT'S TAKEN PLACE. IT'S HARD TO TAKE SOMEONE SERIOUSLY THAT THEY'RE FOCUSED ON REFORM IF THEY'RE NOT WILLING TO TAKE ACTION TO REMOVE SOMEONE LIKE THAT OR APPOINT SOMEONE LIKE THAT TO THEIR BOARD. THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

NO OTHER SPEAKERS AT THIS TIME, MAYOR.

ALL RIGHT. WITH THAT, WE'LL MOVE TO QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FROM CITY COUNCIL. COUNCIL MEMBER MATTIAS.

Thank you, Mayor. So I want to touch on a few quick points. Number one, recruitment. So 87 sworn and I think you identified, Chief Todd, that there's another three, possibly four in the pipeline. Can you speak to what work is underway? Where do you forecast the number to be on December 31st? And what does that partnership with the Sheriff's Office look like as it's drawing to a close? So I want to just sort of present a picture of what Vallejo should expect as we head into the new year, because I've gotten some questions about that.

Thank you, council member, for the question. So we have, as you mentioned, we have 87 currently. We have four in the academy. So assuming all of the academy trainees successfully complete the academy, they will then move to the field training program. So that will bring our numbers from 87 to 91. And then so that gives us a bubble of about eight because now our full-time employee maximum number is 99. So that will give us eight that we can hire and then either put through the academy or if we get a lateral, then we can put them straight into FTO. As context, in 2026, when the sheriff first started, we had 80, eight zero. So we're a plus seven from where we were. Currently, we enjoy a plus eight with the sheriff. So we have six deputies, we have a sergeant, and then we have a lieutenant. Although the lieutenant really is not line level, they can be for the sheriff's office. So you can add like a plus eight, right? So we are... KIND OF RIGHT THERE WHERE WE WERE IN JANUARY OF 2026. SO WE DO ANTICIPATE BEING ABLE TO HIRE THOSE OTHER EIGHT. THE CITY MANAGER HAS ALLOWED THE DEPARTMENT TO CONTINUE TO RECRUIT SO THAT WAY WE HAVE A HIRE READY LIST. SO ONCE WE LET'S SAY FOR INSTANCE IF SOMEBODY DOES NOT COMPLETE THE ACADEMY. we can then pull off the hire ready list and put them directly into the next academy. So there's no downtime on the hiring process. So I'm pretty confident that we'll have to see the numbers with the folks in the academy. We had five in the academy. We lost one recently. Historically, we lose about 30%. So I'm hopeful that we can get at least three out of that. That'll bring us to 90 and then We will likely be a plus seven by this time next year.

And then next I have a, it's going to be a question followed by a comment. So for this one, can I ask Assistant City Manager Conley to come up to the podium, please? So I have a question. You worked in tandem with City Manager Black in developing our budget. SO THIS IS A SPOILER FOR THE ITEM THAT I PULLED OFF CONSENT. SO CAN YOU SHED SOME LIGHT ON THE POSITION ELIMINATION THAT WAS RECOMMENDED BY CITY STAFF. JUST PRESENT A PICTURE AS TO WHY THAT WAS DONE SPECIFICALLY FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. AND WHAT IF ANY SAVINGS Is that generating, is it not generating any savings? Just want to go back in time, and there's a reason why I'm asking.

So as it relates to the development of the fiscal year 26-27 budget, there had been previously 15 sworn positions that had already been, funding had been removed from those from the prior fiscal year. And then the proposal was to remove funding from approximately, I believe, 14 other sworn positions to bring the total down to 99, with understanding that, on average, the police department was having a a total hiring of close to three to four sworn officers per year after they go through the entire process. So with that statistic, we looked over the last three years of the hiring rates. We said that would still provide, I believe, 11 vacancies over this next fiscal year for them to fill, with the understanding that if they exceeded that, that council would be willing to potentially

consider increasing funding to provide for more officers and we would just try to figure that out with the budget process and is it fair to say two quick follow-ups is it fair to say that for some period of time those positions were budgeted for but were not filled because of our staffing general staffing challenges

Correct. There was close to, I think over the last two fiscal years, close to 60 or 70 unfilled general fund positions.

Okay. What was happening, and some of my colleagues, my senior colleagues can attest to this, was that money, 60 to 70 positions, whatever the number was, was going to the police department, but the positions weren't filled, so the dollars were kind of being spread around as they needed to be spread around. Is that a fair statement?

Let me clarify something. 60 positions across the entire city, I would say there was probably more like 32 positions in the police department. But yes, that had gone unfilled for a number.

So whoever was in Mr. Black's seat, there was a certain amount of savings that were being generated and they were being used to plug holes wherever those holes were. Is that a fair? Correct.

Okay.

So the reason why I'm asking these specific questions is because item T, and I've also seen it on our printed media, and I've also seen it in recordings recently, where there is this narrative going around that we, the Vallejo City Council, was eliminating police officer positions. Not true. Not true. We were... That money was always there. I don't remember the last time we had 131 officers. I wish we did. And everybody on here said that if we had that problem, that's a great problem to have. We will sign off expeditiously. But what was happening instead was what I called at the time, and you guys can go back and look at the tape, kabuki math. That was going to the police department, and then it was being used for other purposes. So we want to just use some forecasting and appropriately manage our agency going forward, which is why we made that change. I'm spending time on this today because it is very I don't want to say dangerous, because that's a strong word, but it is very concerning for us as an agency to say we're recruiting cops, we're prioritizing public safety, we want business, we want this, we're laying all the groundwork to grow our economy. And then on the other hand, there's this narrative that we, for some reason, are cutting police officer positions, because that's not... what this council has been saying for 18 months. We've taken vote after vote after vote to address that. So I just want to spend time just on that today because it's been going on for too long and I would just encourage our journalists, members of the public, to really, you know, dial in on what we're seeing in meetings because otherwise, you know, It's just creating a false perception of what we're actually trying to accomplish to keep our residents safe, keep our businesses safe, and attract economic development to our town. There's my big point. And then the last point to the chief, very grateful that you guys are making progress on recruitment. At the same time, I want to make sure that you guys are prioritizing and have a specific initiative to attract more female officers to the department. I know that there's been work over the past decade around it, but we need to be surgical in attracting more female officers. So I look forward to partnering with you and the public safety committee to really key in on how we can make that happen and how we can partner with you to bring more female officers to the department. As to the cadence of the meetings and general reform questions, I will come back after everyone else has had a chance, but that is my soliloquy for this evening.

Council Member Latijou.

Thank you. Thank you both for the report. And as it relates to the cadence that you're requesting, ON SEPTEMBER 1, I SENT AN E-MAIL TO YOU, TO MY COLLEAGUE AND TO THE MAYOR, PARTICULARLY TO MY COLLEAGUE ON THE SAFETY COMMITTEE AND TO THE MAYOR WHO IS ALSO ON THE DOJ SUBCOMMITTEE. YOU'RE ASKING FOR A QUARTERLY CADENCE. AND ONE OF THE QUESTIONS I HAVE, FIRST OF ALL, IS IN THAT QUARTERLY CADENCE, Where does the DOJ subcommittee lie in this work? Because just like I'm on the safety committee, we have opted to have, we started out with having a meeting once a month because that's where the work really happened. We've made a lot of progress on some key initiatives that we have been working all together with. And when I look at the DOJ piece today and when you've talked about it in the past, There's not quote unquote significant progress. However, I know how lengthy some of that work is. And I think it would be better served if you're talking about having a quarterly meeting, how is the subcommittee involved in that quarterly meeting? And what work are you all doing together to get that work done, to bring it back to the dais. Because while you might would like to go to a quarterly meeting, where's the oversight that we're responsible as a full body around this work? And versus being a passive, PARTICIPANT BEING ON ZOOM OR SOMETHING AS SUGGESTED, THAT DOESN'T FULFILL THE REQUIREMENTS FROM A POLICY PERSPECTIVE. AND WHERE I DO BELIEVE THAT IT FILLS THAT OBJECTIVE IS BY HAVING THE SUBCOMMITTEE A PART OF THOSE QUARTERLY MEETINGS. HOWEVER, YOU AND THE DOJ COMMITTEE CHOOSE TO DO SO BY ALSO BRINGING IN YOUR COLLEAGUES FROM THE DOJ, THE DOJ SUBCOMMITTEE AND YOURSELVES IN THAT WORK. THAT'S THE ONLY WAY THAT I'M WILLING TO AGREE THAT YOU MOVE TO A QUARTERLY PERSPECTIVE. BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE THOSE MEETINGS, LIKE WHEN YOU'RE BRINGING THESE REPORTS, I WOULD HAVE TO AGREE, I'M LOOKING AT THEM, BUT I'D LIKE FOR THEM TO BE I JUST THINK THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME MORE A DIFFERENT WAY OF HOW IT'S BEING REPORTED AND PART OF THAT WORK GETS DONE IN THE SUBCOMMITTEE AND WE HAVE FOUND THE SUBCOMMITTEE, THE SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE, I BELIEVE IT'S BEEN VERY VALUABLE. and I've heard community speak to some of the initiatives that we're working on where they're seeing advancement in our sex trafficking, our human trafficking work, and other work. And I've heard it from numerous places within the community. And so, but that has been all that work where we're constantly meeting has made a difference. So what is the proposal other than just saying, oh, I want to move to this quarterly meeting, a town hall meeting, where is the subcommittee and where have you all talked about that?

I'LL ANSWER FROM MY PERSPECTIVE ON THE SUBCOMMITTEE FOR THE REFORMS. SO THE ORIGINAL INTENT OF THAT SUBCOMMITTEE WAS REALLY TO RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT AND SOMEHOW COMMUNICATE IT BACK TO THE BOARD AS A WHOLE. I THINK THAT WAS THE INTENT OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE AS WELL TO SOME DEGREE. Well, there was my understanding that there was discussion at some of these boards that there would be a full kind of overlap meeting where the rest of the council could get the update. So if that's incorrect, then I'll move on to what my INTENTION IS FOR THE TOWN HALL BECAUSE THE SUBCOMMITTEE, WE TALKED ABOUT AT LEAST REPURPOSING ONE OF OUR MEETINGS SO THAT WAY WE COULD MAKE IT MORE PUBLIC. FOR EXAMPLE, THE LAST ONE WE TALKED ABOUT HAVING HALF OF IT IN-HOUSE AND THEN THE OTHER HALF PUBLIC. I THINK THAT IF WE REPURPOSE THAT QUARTERLY MEETING, THE AD HOC COMMITTEE CAN ALSO PARTICIPATE IN THAT. THAT WAS WHAT I REMEMBER WE DISCUSSED FROM THE AD HOC MEETING TO REPURPOSE ONE OF THOSE SO THAT WAY THE PUBLIC COULD ALSO ATTEND, GET THE UPDATE. CITY COUNCIL THAT IS NOT ON THAT AD HOC COMMITTEE CAN ATTEND IN A PASSIVE MANNER OR YOU COULD LOG ON AND LISTEN TO IT AT A DIFFERENT TIME AS WELL. SO THAT SEEMINGLY WILL GET THE INFORMATION OUT TO THE PUBLIC BETTER THAN WE'RE CURRENTLY DOING. NOW THE REASON WHY I WANT TO COMBINE IT IS BECAUSE AS I HAD MENTIONED EARLIER IN THIS PRESENTATION, WE HAVE A LOT OF BOARDS AND COMMITTEES. AND SO WE'RE HAPPY TO DO THIS, BUT IT IS BURNING STAFF OUT AS WELL. SO IF WE'RE ABLE TO COMBINE SOME OF THESE THINGS, MAKE IT EFFICIENT SO THAT WAY WHEN THE COMMUNITY DOES GO TO ONE OF THESE TOWN HALLS, THEY GET EVERYTHING THEY WANT TO KNOW ABOUT WHERE PUBLIC SAFETY STAFFING IS, WHERE CRIME AND SAFETY ARE WITH NUMBERS AND ALSO WITH REFORM UPDATES. AND THEY DON'T HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL 10 O'CLOCK AT NIGHT TO HEAR IT. SO IT IS SOMETHING THAT'S MORE CONVENIENT, I BELIEVE, FOR THEM. I THINK IT CAN ALSO GET THE WORK THAT WE'RE WORKING WITH THE AD HOC COMMITTEE DONE AS WELL IF WE REPURPOSE IT TO FIT THAT CADENCE AND ALSO IT'S BETTER FOR STAFF TIME BECAUSE WE HAVE VERY LITTLE STAFF. WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO THIS WORK BUT I ALSO WANT TO BE VERY MINDFUL OF REDUNDANCIES.

SO THE SUBCOMMITTEE IS HERE. AND MY QUESTION AGAIN IS HOW WILL THE SUBCOMMITTEE OR WHAT HAVE YOU ALL AGREED AS A SUBCOMMITTEE TO INTERACT IN THIS TOWN HALL MEETING? AND WHERE IT IS REALLY A WORKING MEETING, ARE YOU HAVING WORKING MEETINGS SIMILARLY TO WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING IN THE PUBLIC SAFETY? AND WE HAVE SKILLED BACK. WE HAVE AGREED TO MEET EVERY OTHER MONTH NOW FOR THE SAFETY COMMITTEE TO GIVE BACK SOME TIME TO YOUR STAFF. I AM INTERESTED IN KNOWING HOW THE SUBCOMMITTEE FOR DOJ CAN INTERACT WHERE IT'S VALUABLE FOR MY COLLEAGUES TO BE A PART OF THAT PROCESS.

AND I'M OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS ON HOW FOLKS FROM THE SUBCOMMITTEE WANT TO GO ABOUT WITH THAT UPDATE TO THE COMMUNITY. SO COMPLETELY OPEN ON HOW YOU ALL MAY WANT THAT STRUCTURED.

All right, I'll hold my, well, give us a second.

And then I just have one last question before you chime in, whoever's gonna chime in. And I really would like, I touched really quickly and not very clear, is, YOU KNOW, AS IT RELATES TO THE REPORTING, IT'S REALLY HOW CAN THE REPORTING, WHICHEVER FORMAT WE END UP AGREEING TO GO TO WHERE THE REPORTING IS MUCH MORE ROBUST THAN IT IS TODAY. BECAUSE AT THIS POINT WE'RE GETTING WHAT PERCENT ARE WE DONE and where it is in the different buckets that we have. And so it's really how can that reporting be more meaningful and robust, whether it's we continue this every 60 days or we end up with another format. And you don't need to necessarily answer that question. It's just food for thought.

All right. I'm going to save my comments for the end. So I'll go to the Vice Mayor and then Council Member Bergenzer.

Thank you Mayor and thank you for the report. First quick question I had is the one concern I have from the data that we've been getting over this period of time of getting these updates are hearing the deaths that are, vehicular deaths that have been happening. And so I'd like to see if we can get a deeper dive into whether that's through the VPD or traffic safety or traffic engineers of the the reasons behind it, is there human error from the city side or is it a human error from the vehicular side or the pedestrian side where some of these fatalities are happening and is there anything that we may be able to do from our end to potentially impact some of these and prevent some of these in the future? And I know we're kind of looking at that with the Sonoma Boulevard, with some of the road diets happening there. It's those type of conversations that I'd like to get a better understanding, because the more I see the reports of the fatalities, whether it's vehicular or vehicular pedestrian, or is it from a chase, through trying to catch a perpetrator or something like that, if we have a deeper dive of what those analytics are, that may be able for us to get to an understanding of how we could potentially prevent a lot of these, whether it's a no-chase policy, or whether it's something to that extent type of stuff, or is there something mechanical, or are there interventions we can do to our roadways to prevent some of these type of fatalities that have been happening? So I think that's a future conversation, or better understanding from an analytics standpoint. And... kind of piggybacking on to where my council members are talking about the cadence of the town hall. So I'm all for the efficiency portion of it. But when we talk about efficiency of the lessening the number of meetings, but in my mind, we're almost increasing the length of that one meeting because now we're increasing it for three months of information that we need to update to the to the community. And when you say town hall, I'm assuming I anticipate it being a MORE PUBLIC INTERACTION THERE TO WHERE THERE'S GOING TO BE A LOT MORE PUBLIC COMMENT. SO I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE WE'RE THOUGHTFUL ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF THESE MEETINGS AND THE TYPE OF INFORMATION OF HOW WE'RE GOING TO BE DISPLAYING. I KNOW WE'RE GOING TO BE GETTING THESE UPDATED REPORTS, BUT HOW DO WE HAVE THIS AS A TRUE TOWN HALL TO WHERE THERE'S FROM THAT COMMENT THAT THERE IS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND WHAT ARE THE TYPE OF WHAT'S THE STRUCTURE OF HOW THAT INTERACTIONS GOING TO BE HAPPENING.

YEAH, NO, I APPRECIATE THE COMMENTS, VICE MAYOR. I THINK, THOUGH, I ANSWER BOTH. I KNOW THAT SOME OF THE FATALS THAT WE HAVE LOOKED AT, WE TALKED ABOUT THAT IN THE PUBLIC SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE. WE DID KIND OF A DEEP DIVE ON THAT. WE DIDN'T LOOK AT THE OPERATIONAL SIDE OF PURSUITS, SO THAT'S CERTAINLY ONE THING THAT I THINK THAT WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO DISCUSS THAT IN A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL. THE SECOND, THE CADENCE PART IS When you look at, and you guys are getting updates on staffing numbers, you're getting updates on reforms, they take a long time. So if you're doing monthly updates, you're seeing very incremental changes that are somewhat, I don't want to say insignificant, but they're so small that you almost want to look at a cadence where at least you can kind of see that trend in a little bit, a longer period of time, two to three months, I think would be somewhat ideal. JUST BECAUSE STAFFING TAKES A LONG TIME TO DEVELOP. REFORMS TAKE A LONG TIME TO FINISH. THESE PROCESSES ARE NOT VERY QUICK. AND THEN WITH RESPECT TO CRIME DATA, I MEAN, WE CAN LOOK AT IT. IT'S ALL AGGREGATE. SO WE CAN LOOK AT IT MONTH TO MONTH, QUARTER TO QUARTER, YEAR TO YEAR. So I think that three months should work out pretty well. We can make adjustments if it seems either too long or too short.

No, I understand that as more of an efficiency standpoint, but I think when we're going over that period of time, as opposed to the numbers and seeing some of these bar charts right here, I think a graph over that period of time or over a six-month period, I think that may be able to be a lot more graphically easily to read to see some of that incremental. UPDATES FROM THAT STANDPOINT. SO THANK YOU FOR THAT.

THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. I WANT TO JUST QUICKLY TALK ABOUT, JUST MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S CLARITY. WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT A TOWN HALL, THAT'S A SEPARATE MEETING FROM THIS COUNCIL MEETING UPDATE. IS THAT CORRECT, CHIEF?

THAT'S CORRECT.

OKAY. SO I THINK WHERE THE CONFUSION IS, AT LEAST WHEN WE MAYBE CORRECT ME, THE REST OF YOU, IF I'M INCORRECT, BUT DURING THE REFORMS MEETING, WE TALKED ABOUT FOR THIS PARTICULAR COUNCIL MEETING, IT WAS GOING TO BE ON A ROTATION BASIS OF DOING EITHER THIS STAFFING UPDATE OR DOING A REFORMS UPDATE, BUT IT WASN'T Is that how you remember it, Mayor? Yeah. I don't remember talking about doing a quarterly, which I'm not against. I'm just saying that that was my understanding as we were going to do a rotation during this meeting of having it be updates on staffing, and then the next one would be updates on the reforms. BECAUSE IT'S VERY DIFFICULT, YOU KNOW, THE PURPOSE OF THE REFORMS SUBCOMMITTEE WAS REALLY TO MAKE SURE THAT THE COUNCIL HAD THEIR, AT LEAST A SUBCOMMITTEE HAD THEIR PULSE ON WHAT WAS HAPPENING WITH REFORMS. SO IF THERE WAS THINGS THAT YOU NEEDED QUICKLY, WE COULD ACTIVATE AND GET IT TO THE COUNCIL FAST TO GET YOU WHATEVER YOU NEEDED, RESOURCES OR FUNDING OR WHATEVER YOU NEEDED AS PART OF THE THE MURPHY CONTRACT AND THINGS. THAT WAS PART OF THAT WHOLE CONCEPT OF WHY THAT REFORMS SUBCOMMITTEE WAS FORMED. AND I THINK THAT THE PROBLEM WITH THE REPORTING TO THE COUNCIL IS THAT IT IS A SLOW-MOVING PROCESS. YOU KNOW, WE'RE SEEING PROGRESS. AND OF COURSE, AUGUST, YOU GUYS HIT IT OUT OF THE BALLPARK WITH ALL THOSE UPDATES, WHICH WAS PROBABLY ONE OF YOUR BEST MONTHS ON THE REFORMS. BUT LIKE, THAT BEING SAID, THAT YOU KNOW, THAT ACTION DOESN'T HAPPEN AS QUICKLY AS MAYBE SOME OF THE PUBLIC SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE ACTIONS HAPPEN. AND SO THAT'S WHY I THINK IT'S ALMOST LIKE TWO DIFFERENT DISCUSSIONS. THE REFORMS IS VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE HIGH ACTION, THE PUBLIC SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE VERSUS THE REFORMS THAT MOVE KIND OF SLOWLY. SO I THINK THAT WE COULD CERTAINLY DO A QUARTERLY UPDATE OF ALL THREE. DO YOUR POLICE UPDATE, YOUR STAFFING, DO THE REFORMS. BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, JUST KIND OF AS A HISTORIAN, YOU KNOW, WE STARTED THESE MONTHLY UPDATES BECAUSE WE WERE UNDER AN EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION, AND THEN AFTER WE ENDED THAT EMERGENCY PROCLAMATION, WE WENT TO THE 60 DAYS, AND WE DECIDED WE WANTED TO KEEP IT UP BECAUSE WE WANTED TO HAVE OUR PULSE ON HOW THE SHERIFF'S CONTRACT IS GOING, AND WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE HAD CURRENT UPDATES AND ALL OF THAT. SO I THINK THAT'S WHY THIS CADENCE CONTINUED ON. NOW, IF WE NEED TO REDUCE THIS TO BE QUARTERLY TO THE COUNCIL, I MEAN, WE CAN CERTAINLY TALK ABOUT THAT, BUT I think there's just confusion on what you're actually asking for. Are you asking to stop doing these 60 day discussions with the council? Yes. And only have a quarterly update?

Combined quarterly, because our partnership is over in three months. So, yeah, so there would be only one more 60-day update until that partnership expired.

Yeah, so. That comes down to the discussion of whether we want something to come regularly to the council or whether we want to hope that we all can attend that quarterly meeting and watch it on video and not be able to participate. I think it's really the question. And I, you know, I kind of feel with what Council Member Lettege was saying that there is concern about being a passive participant in listening to the updates for the safety committee as well as the reforms committee and not being able to actually comment or be a participant in that meeting. So I think that's something we need to discuss further and not just jump blindly into it. But my final comment I do want to say is, aside from all of that, is that I have heard so many positive things in the community about the visibility of the Vallejo Police Department, of the Sheriff's Department, and CHP being around in our city. Seeing the patrol cars out, seeing people driving around, just having a presence in this community has gone a long way and people have made a lot of comments about how they feel that there's just so much more of a police presence and they're appreciative of at least the people that I've talked to. So I just want to make sure that you both were aware of that. Thank you.

I'm going to go over to Councilmember Gordon.

Good evening. Thank you so much for this report. We say that because we don't say it lightly, because like you just said, your time is very stretched. But however, I am 100 percent in transparency. I know it may be a lot, but believe it or not, I think the reasons why we are HAVING POSITIVE COMMENTS LIKE YOU STATED AS WELL AS I'M RECEIVING, ESPECIALLY IN DISTRICT 6, IT'S BECAUSE NOT ONLY, NOT EVERYONE CAN COME TO ALL THE VARIOUS MEETINGS, YOU KNOW. SO YOU COMING TO THIS COUNCIL, POLICYHOLDERS, MAKERS, ARE, IS CRUCIAL. AND SO I'M NOT FOR eliminating these 60 days report because we get inundated with questions, right? And I'm able to say, hey, go to YouTube because you can see the report yourself, right, hearing it from you. So I'm 100% in support. Make sure I understood what you said. Just making sure I understood that. And then the second thing I want to point out is I am very concerned of the, a lot of accidents that are happening. Um, death is happening. I was at Tennessee and to Walla me and oh my gosh, I barely missed getting hit. And I don't know why, but that seems to be a target place. RIGHT. IT'S JUST LIKE, AND, YOU KNOW, WE NEED SAFETY LIGHTS THERE FOR THE PEOPLE ACROSS THE STREET. BECAUSE, LIKE, THESE CARS SEE A RED LIGHT, SAY JEFF GORDON, YOU KNOW, RED DON'T MEAN GOLD. AND THEN THE THE I GUESS IT'S A CROSSWALK RIGHT THERE BY YOU KNOW ON THE OTHER SIDE OF 31 FLAVORS THESE GUYS JUST DON'T SEE THESE PEOPLE STANDING THERE THEY'RE STANDING THERE FOR LIKE A LONG TIME AND THEN I GO INTO DISTRICT SIX IT'S THE SAME THING I THAT'S WHY I'M SO HAPPY THAT CAL TRANS DID BOOTS ON THE GROUND AND WE'RE GOING TO HOPEFULLY NARROW THAT IN ALL THE WAY TO CARQUINEZ BRIDGE BUT IT IS CRAZY AND I I WORRY ABOUT THE KIDS GOING TO GRACE PATTERSON, LIKE, YOU KNOW, LIKE, I DON'T WANT NOTHING TO HAPPEN TO THEM LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO MY SON WHO WAS 17 AND GOT HIT ON THAT STREET. SO I HOPE THAT WE CAN GET MORE OF A REPORT FROM HIGHWAY PATROL, FROM SHERIFF DEPARTMENT, BECAUSE THEY'RE THERE, OF HOW MANY ACCIDENTS ACTUALLY HAPPENED FROM THE CARQUINEZ BRIDGE TO HIGHWAY 37 ON I HAD THE HONORS TO SIT. WE HAVE LOST FOUR PEOPLE IN ONE YEAR. FROM CARCANA'S BRIDGE TO CARTOLA PARKWAY ON HIGHWAY 29. I LIKE TO SEE MORE. I ASKED FOR IT BEFORE, BUT THEY STOPPED AT LEMON. IF I CAN GET IT ALL THE WAY TO CARCANA'S BRIDGE, THAT WOULD BE GREAT SO I CAN JUSTIFY WHAT MY ASK IS REGARDING SAFETY LIGHTS. uh you uh sheriff i i really appreciate your officers because we literally meet once a month it me once a week it's not intentional but i told you i drive my my district and we literally we literally meet i have the white SHARE VEHICLES THIS WAY AND I HAVE THE BLACK SHARE I'M REFERRING TO THE VEHICLES BY THE WAY GOING THIS WAY AND I'M RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE AND WE'RE DISCUSSING ABOUT CONCERNS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT THEY SHARE WITH ME AND SO I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT PARTNERSHIP So I hope you go back and tell them I said thank you. They know what I look like now. So it's like my car, they wave at me. But they brought out something that I didn't know was going on. And in that, I was able to meet what called the owner to my hotel. You know, I want to call it out on air, but, you know, there. And so, um. And I appreciate that transparency. And I was able to call the owner and he was not aware of all that was happening there. So they came boots on the ground themselves. I'm and, um, you know, to the property and looking at a whole different facing, but it took you all to be part of that community to help me with that. And I know that's something that people may not want to hear, but I just want to say, um, I mean, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to take up too much time to say that, but I wanted to, I promised them that I wanted to say thank you to them.

All right, I'm going to, because I'm seeing some second round lights, I'm going to make a few comments and a suggestion and remind us that it is 1030 and we have three more action items and five pulled consent items. So we're going to have to start making some decisions about going faster. With respect to this particular item of the updates, I am very much not in favor of discontinuing the updates to city council. This is the place where the decisions get made. This is the only body of all of the bodies that are receiving updates from PDE that actually has the authority to set policy and make decisions and give direction, which I think brings me to, and the buck stops with us, right? The buck stops with us via the city manager, to the police department. This is the only meeting that all of us are at. So this is where those discussions need to happen, whether it's 60 days or quarterly. The reason we're having these 60-day updates is because we wanted an accountability mechanism bringing in the sheriff that we wouldn't just have the sheriff in town for a year and then drop back down into where we were. And I think we've made good progress and I think part of why we've made that progress is because we've been pushing it here and having this on our agenda consistently. I do think we have a problem with respect to our ability to operate subcommittees. And I look for guidance, city manager and I have talked about this on multiple occasions. I'm looking for guidance from the city manager because I am a firm believer in subcommittees. What they're designed to do is allow a subset of council members to get more in depth into an issue. without having the entire council present and then take recommendations and bring them back to council for adoption. A subcommittee is not designed to be a decision making body or to make policy or drive policy. So the fact that we don't have a mechanism to agendize things, we, this two step, I mean, we've just the chaos of our broader ability to function as a council has prevented our subcommittees from being functional in the sense that I can't speak for my colleagues, but the four of us that aren't on the safety committee have absolutely no idea what has been happening at the safety committee. There's never been an update. nothing's ever been brought back to us nothing's ever come for a vote and so if there have been initiatives that have been pushed by the safety committee if they were things that needed council direction they never came to this council or they might be things pd was already working on and didn't make it back to us in form of an update that's not the committee's fault that's not the committee's responsibility that's our collective responsibility with our city manager to put structures in place so that committees are working to develop policy if it needs a council vote it comes to council the ad hoc which is very different and i appreciate my colleagues comment the ad hoc reform subcommittee has been the opposite we have encountered issues where we have needed council action and we have had to bang our head against a wall for months and months and months on end to get something on an agenda for a vote to the point where we waited for almost a year to get a position approved for a civilian program manager, which cost the taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in ongoing contract for Danny Murphy. We already got Danny Murphy's contract approved. That came from our subcommittee, but it was pulling teeth and we ended up, I had to ram it through the budget. So what I'd like to do for this item is the 60 day, 60 day, 90 day, I don't care. The updates still need to come to council. This council still needs to have authority and the buck still needs to stop here. There's other ways to disseminate information. I'm a huge fan of town halls. I think we need to have town halls on reform. I think we need to be way more transparent about reform. But I also think we need to continue and have a follow-up discussion about how our public safety subcommittees interact because the way that we're operating right now is grossly inefficient for both PD and this council. We're not utilizing them as best we can. The other two things that I was going to say, mentioning the SAB and POAC as reporting mechanisms, both of those commissions were created out of need because there was misconduct and the community needed a source of accountability. So those have very specific purposes that they need to be there for accountability. So I wouldn't lump those in with updates to community. Those are very specific things. and with respect to reform we've been trying the councilmember gunser councilmember gordon and i on our our subcommittee we've been trying to get some type of reform public meeting town hall out to the community now for probably over a year and finally suggested i suggested as a last last dish effort well if we have to we'll just open one of our meetings up to the public At least that'll get something out there. I am all for quarterly reform town. I think we should do quarterly reform town halls or six month reform town halls. It's actually a requirement of the DOJ that we do community meetings on reform. We haven't done that. We're near three now and haven't done that. So I just think there's a lot of structural stuff that we need to look back, zoom out and look at all of these pieces holistically, which I appreciate this conversation starting through that. But I want to kind of emphasize two things. We're not going to build trust unless we're out in the community and the buck stops with this council. So both of those things still have to happen. There still have to be updates to this council and there still has to be meaningful engagement in the community and we need to figure out how to utilize our subcommittees in a way that's productive, that doesn't confuse staff about who's giving what direction and that doesn't overburden the PD staff who are doing multiple things with multiple committees. I think we've got some work to do. So with that, I'll stop there. I see lights from Councilmembers Matias and Bergenzer. I'm going to suggest that we be very brief, and I'm prepared to, I'm not in support of discontinuing the reports to Council, and I would be supportive of continuing a discussion on our broader subcommittees and cadence for community engagement and kind of have that collective discussion together. So I'll turn over to Councilmembers Matias and Bergenzer, and then I'll, again, I'll encourage us to move quickly so we can get to our next item.

THANK YOU, MAYOR. SO I'M JUST GOING TO MAKE A QUICK POINT ON THIS BECAUSE I DIDN'T COMMENT ON IT IN MY PREVIOUS ROUND. HERE'S THE ISSUE I'M HAVING IN FULL TRANSPARENCY, AND I THINK I'VE SAID THIS BEFORE IN OTHER CONTEXT. SO AGAIN, I APPRECIATE ALL THE UPDATES THAT THE CHIEF'S GIVING. WE HAVE A VEHICLE, AND THAT IS THE PUBLIC SAFETY SUBCOMMITTEE. TO MORE MEANINGFULLY DIVE INTO THESE UPDATES. THOSE MEETINGS ARE PUBLIC. THEY'RE TELEVISED. EVERYBODY KNOWS WHEN THEY HAPPEN. THEY CAN GO IN. THEY CAN SHARE THEIR CONCERNS. YADA, YADA, YADA. WHEN IT COMES TO THE AD HOC COMMITTEE, I HAVEN'T HEARD FROM YOU GUYS IN OVER A YEAR AROUND WHAT WORK IS HAPPENING THERE. AND IF THERE HAVE BEEN ISSUES AROUND issues with staff or bottlenecks or whatever the case may be we have a section on our agenda where we can report out on things each one of us has that ability and opportunity so i think what i want to sort of stress is like i think we need to talk more about reform so if these So if we're going to keep these updates every 60 days, maybe it should be 20% on the operational side, and then the rest of the time it should be on reform. Because I have no idea what work has taken place other than what you share out or if we ask follow-ups. But I do have an expectation, just in full transparency, I have an expectation that To hear from you guys in some way, and by you guys, I'm talking about the three counselors that sit in that ad hoc committee. If for some reason those meetings are not working, how do we televise them so that people can tune in and they're also aware of what's going on? How do we put accountability structures in place? We haven't had that conversation, and it very much feels like any time... we have an item on reform a lot of folks understandably come in very frustrated to the meeting and then we just all sit here and at least three of you know have some semblance of what's going on at a more intimate level but what happens is the seven of us are just here silent like we don't none of us know what's going on with reform and so i would love to hear from you guys more on what's happening in those meetings If we need to take some action to televise those ad hoc meetings or to change the structure, let's do it. And let's also offer feedback to the chief so that these presentations can be more geared towards where there's a lot of concern, which is around reform, because we don't hear much about it. And even Jensen Hughes, when they come in and I've given them this feedback directly, they come in, they do a town hall. We don't hear from them for like months. And then they come in. It seems like they read off of talking points, and then anytime the public asks them any questions, oh, I don't know, maybe, yeah, we'll have to get back to you. So there's always this cloud around police reform, and it should be the number one thing we should be pumping out every single day. every single week, and we all need to be responsible for that. I can't, I don't think it would be responsible to just say, oh, that's on staff. When we meet here regularly, and it's something that the public is consistently bringing up, and then we just stay silent. So... Yeah, if you guys, if you guys can kind of color the picture just so since we're talking about it, that would be helpful. Just so that if there's any changes that need to be made, we start making them like ASAP. Because I don't think it's also fair to public, the public, most importantly, that we don't get information out and we tell them where we're at with this work.

We'll go to Council Member Bergenzer.

Sure. Like I said before, if you were listening, the Reforms Act action is very slow. There's not updates every week. There's not updates every month. I mean, it's very slow progress. So to have the chief come and present every... MONTH OR EVERY 60 DAYS ON THE REFORMS, I THINK WE WOULD, IT WOULDN'T BE FRUITFUL. SO I AGREE, I THINK THAT WE SHOULD LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, EVEN THE SUBCOMMITTEE COULD MEET BIMONTHLY, JUST LIKE THE SAFETY COMMITTEE, IF THAT HELPS YOU WITH YOUR WORKLOAD, BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THE WORKLOAD IS HARD. I ALSO THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, WE COULD STILL, WE COULD DO INSTEAD OF EVERY 60 DAYS, WE COULD GO QUARTERLY FOR THIS MEETING, HAVE AN UPDATE TO THE COUNCIL AS WELL AS TO THE COMMUNITY, THE TOWN HALL. But I think that comparing the actions of the two subcommittees is not fruitful because they're two very different things. Like I said before, the reforms are slower moving. It's a lot of tedious work. There's a lot of detail. And to get into, if you want to sit through some of those meetings, it's very detail-oriented of all of the actions that are happening. And just to, so it makes it difficult to do an update when we have these meetings here. I think if we had a time where we could have updates specifically on public safety and police reform, I think that'd be a good idea, maybe the quarterly meeting. But I don't think at the end of a council meeting is the time to just throw in some information on reforms. OR PUBLIC SAFETY. BUT I THINK LIKE THE MAYOR SAID, I THINK BOTH SIDES FEEL LIKE WE'RE NOT HEARING ENOUGH INFORMATION AND IT MAKES IT VERY DIFFICULT. SO I THINK THAT THAT'S MY SUGGESTION IS TO MOVE THE REFORMS TO BIMONTHLY JUST LIKE THE SAFETY COMMITTEE TO HELP WITH WORKLOAD AND THEN JUST DO QUARTERLY UPDATES TO THE COUNCIL AS WELL AS THE TOWN HALLS. I WOULD ASK EVEN THOUGH I'LL PUT YOU ON THE SPOT, BUT FOR THE SHERIFF EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE NOT ON CONTRACT IF YOU COULD STILL PARTICIPATE IN THOSE QUARTERLY UPDATES JUST TO HAVE A PULSE ON WHAT'S HAPPENING IN VALLEJO THAT WOULD BE THAT WOULD BE REALLY HELPFUL AND AND THE COMMUNITY WOULD APPRECIATE THAT I THINK AND THOSE ARE MY COMMENTS THANKS ALL RIGHT I SEE COUNCIL MEMBERS GORDON AND LETTERS YOU THEN I'M GOING TO WRAP US UP

THANK YOU. I WAS JUST CLARIFYING TO MY COLLEAGUE'S CONCERN. I HAVE REPORT OUT FROM DOJ, NUMBER ONE. AND NUMBER TWO, CHIEF TODD DID. MAYBE YOU PROBABLY DIDN'T KNOW BECAUSE HE, WHEN HE DID THAT GRAPH, WE SAW THE EXACT SAME THING IN OUR DOJ. SO WE DID ASK CHIEF TODD TO REPORT OUT. AND SO HE DID A COMBO. YOU RECALL, I THINK A COUPLE MONTHS BACK, HE DID. AND I KNOW BECAUSE I GET THEM RIGHT HERE. SO MAYBE YOU DIDN'T REALIZE IT BECAUSE WE TALK ABOUT IT. GENERALLY WHEN HE DID IT FOR US. BUT OUR DOJ, IT'S MORE FROM WHAT I GATHER OF A SUPPORT. HOW CAN WE SUPPORT WHAT IS BEING ASKED OF THEM? AND IF YOU RECALL, HE WAS TELLING US WHILE BACK THAT out of the, what I think you said, 20, you completed 26 of the ask, can you clarify? Remember here, he did that a couple months back, you did that report. It was the same thing.

Yeah, that was back in August, when the police report, yeah, update, correct.

Yeah, so maybe you probably didn't know that, but that's what that was from. And then I did one back, but I think you were not here at that time. But I wanted you to know that. It's more of a support, how we can help them, help our chief and the team meet the goals of the DOJ. That's what that was for. And, yeah, I do agree. It would be nice to hear from the DOJ and what, you know, themselves here may be, TWICE A MONTH, TWICE A YEAR, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WHEN THEY COME HERE, IT DOES COST THE CITY, IF I'M NOT MISTAKEN. SO I THINK THEY SHOULD ALSO REPORT OUT. AND THEY DID SAY THEY HAD A TOWN HALL MEETING, AND THAT THEY SAID THAT THE COMMUNITY DID NOT FEEL THAT WE WERE BEING TRANSPARENT OR THE POLICE WAS BEING TRANSPARENT, AND THAT'S WHY HE DID IT, LIKE, A COUPLE MONTHS BACK. THANK YOU.

I'm going to go to Council Member Letijoux, and then I think we should consider continuing this item and taking the item where we have a consultant that's been waiting in the audience for three and a half hours. Council Member Letijoux.

So just to acknowledge Council Member Bergenzer's comment, I RECOGNIZE THAT REFORM TAKES A LONG TIME. THIS IS NOT LOST ON ME. AND JUST LIKE I SAID, MY ONLY REAL QUESTION IS HOW DOES THE DOJ SUBCOMMITTEE PARTICIPATE IF YOU'RE GOING TO DO TOWN HALLS? WHAT IS THE INTERCONNECTION IN ALL THE WORK? THAT'S WHY THE SUBCOMMITTEES ARE FORMED. AND THAT'S MY ONLY QUESTION AND THAT'S WHAT I POSTED IN MY EMAIL AND WANTED A RESPONSE TO. And so that's what I'm asking us as colleagues. However long it takes, I get it's going to take a long time. But I will also say we have had community come and say the reporting is not meaningful. And so how do we ensure, whether it's a quarterly basis, whatever it is, what does reporting look like to make it meaningful? And while you're understanding what each one of those reforms that you're working on, you and your team understand that, This committee that's working with you should have some understanding of what those different reforms are. I see how they trickle in to the POAC as well, and it takes a really long time. But how do you summarize and talk about what is that reform when you're talking about these different columns of what we're doing? So that it's meaningful when it's reported out, wherever it's reported out, and this committee, how are they working with you? So that everyone understands that. So those are my comments. And if we have to bring this back and have a discussion about how we're going to really do this, then we need to do that. Because this is the only place that we can discuss all of these different things. And as it relates to the safety committee, I want to say this. The safety committee, as my colleague said, it is live, on camera. And anyone on this committee, on this council can watch them. We are only interacting with the reforms that the police department already has and reports out and has been reporting out here in our different council meetings. We have not asked them to do brand new initiatives.

I'M DONE. MY SUGGESTION, WE'RE ON THIRD TIME THROUGH. I'M TEMPTED TO PAUSE THIS ITEM AND START ITEM D, GO AHEAD, BUT WE'RE REALLY IN TROUBLE. WE'VE GOT THREE MORE ACTION ITEMS AND FIVE CONSENT ITEMS.

I PROMISE YOU, THIS IS QUICK. SO I'M NOT AS ELOQUENT AS COUNCILMEMBER LETTED YOU, BUT I JUST HAVE TO REPEAT THIS, RIGHT? SO I HEARD MAYBE YOU WEREN'T HEARING, MAYBE YOU WEREN'T LISTENING, MAYBE YOU WEREN'T HERE, MAYBE THIS OR THAT. I JUST HAVE TO SAY, IF WE WERE DOING A BANG-UP JOB REPORTING ON ALL THIS STUFF, YOU WOULD NOT SEE AS MUCH COMMUNITY COMING OUT FRUSTRATED asking us what are we doing around reform. That's really what I'm trying to get at here. So I'm only asking for feedback so that we can get to a place where we're doing a better job reporting out. Because again, if we were really doing the thing, you wouldn't see all the questions you're seeing repeatedly from community and the frustration. That's all I'm saying.

Well, you're saying what I've been saying for over a year on that committee, is that there's not been nearly enough direct report out to the public, and it starts with this council. I gave my word to everybody that we would have a follow-up conversation on reform at this council this fall, and I do still fully support making that happen. So my suggestion, I don't know that we have a motion on this item. I certainly don't support discontinuing the reports to council. I'm tempted, unless someone does have a motion they want to make, to just... PAUSE THIS DISCUSSION AND WE'LL BRING BACK A VERSION OF THIS DISCUSSION AT A FUTURE MEETING, UNLESS, VICE MAYOR, DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A MOTION?

I CAN SAY WHAT WE'VE GOT ON THE AGENDA AND VOTE ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, OR IT SOUNDS LIKE WE WANT TO TABLE IT FOR...

I MEAN, I'M TEMPTED TO TABLE IT.

LET'S TAKE A STRONGER VOTE FOR TABLING JUST SO WE GET IT ON THE RECORD.

YEAH, DO YOU WANT TO TAKE A VOTE RIGHT NOW? WE'LL MOVE TO TABLE THIS AND BRING IT BACK, BRING BACK A BROADER DISCUSSION AT A FUTURE MEETING. I made a motion and we're voting.

For tabling.

Sorry, I might not have been close enough to the mic. The motion was to table this and bring it back at a future meeting for all the broader discussion.

So when are we going to bring it back? Because I want to say this with all due respect to the chief and his request. What is the timeline to bring it back?

You've got to have your mic on.

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW, WITH ALL DUE RESPECT FOR THE CHIEF'S REQUEST, WHAT IS THE TIMELINE THAT WE'RE GOING TO BRING THIS BACK FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION? THAT NEEDS TO BE A PART OF THE MOTION AND COMMITMENT.

I MEAN, IT WOULD BE AT THE SOONEST MEETING WE CAN GET IT BACK, BUT I KNOW THE 22ND IS PACKED, SO IT MIGHT HAVE TO BE TWO MEETINGS. WE WOULD HAVE TO CHECK THE AGENDAS FOR THE UPCOMING MEETINGS.

YEAH.

If the issue is the lingering request, I mean, I'm happy to move that we continue the 60-day reports.

27th is what I would say, October 27th.

Would be when we could get it in.

Yeah, because the 22nd is crazy.

September, you mean, September 27th.

September 22nd is crazy, and October 13th is just as crazy. Yeah, so October 27th would make more sense.

Yeah. I think we have to yeah, and then we just have to do another 60 day update basically Yeah, I think we're just move yeah We're voting to to continue this discussion in October and in the meantime we would be continuing the 60-day report outs I

One more vote. Motion carries unanimously with council member Paul Mara's absent.

All right, thank you. That's going to bring us to item F, 9F. I appreciate everyone's patience on this. I'll ask our city clerk to announce this item.

adopt a resolution one improving a consultant and professional services agreement with rc design collaborative llc dba site lab urban studio for the preparation of the downtown vallejo specific plan and vallejo waterfront specific plan for an amount not to exceed two million nine $9,400, approving an environmental consultant agreement with Stantec Consulting Services Inc. for an amount not to exceed $265,914 for related environmental review. And three, authorizing the city manager to execute the agreements.

All right, thank you. We will open a public comment on this item and turn it over to our planning team for the presentation.

THANK YOU AND GOOD EVENING. MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL, HECTOR ROJAS, LONG RANGE PLANNING MANAGER, AND I'M JOINED BY OUR DIRECTOR, KRISTEN POLLITT. TONIGHT'S STAFF IS ASKING THE COUNCIL TO APPROVE THE CONSULTANT AGREEMENTS FOR THE DOWNTOWN VALLEJO SPECIFIC PLAN AND THE NEW VALLEJO WATERFRONT SPECIFIC PLAN AND THE ASSOCIATE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW THAT GOES ALONG WITH THAT. We're excited and eager to begin this work. Downtown and waterfront are two of Vallejo's most important visible areas, and these planning efforts will give the city, the community, and property owners a shared framework for guiding their future over the coming decades. FOLLOWING A COMPETITIVE RFP AND CONSULTANT SELECTION PROCESS, STAFF SELECTED A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM LED BY SITE LAB URBAN STUDIO WITH STANTEC LEADING THE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW AND INFRASTRUCTURE ANALYSIS UNDER A SEPARATE AGREEMENT. SO WHY ARE WE UPDATING THESE PLANS? THE CITY'S EXISTING PLANS FOR THESE AREAS WERE ADOPTED IN 2005 AND 2007, SO THEY'RE NOW NEARLY 20 YEARS OLD. And although these areas established important foundations for these two areas, much has changed since then, including Vallejo's economic conditions, infrastructure needs, regional transportation priorities, climate-related challenges, and state laws that govern housing and development. These updates will bring both areas into alignment with our Vallejo General Plan 2040. and allow us to plan for downtown and waterfront as distinct but closely interconnected districts. The work is of course funded through a $2.4 million One Bay Area grant award that's administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. That funding gives us an important opportunity to undertake a comprehensive planning process that's grounded in public engagement, market feasibility, and infrastructure realities. At a high level, the objective for this project is to create plans that are both visionary and implementable. We want to support a vibrant, walkable downtown and waterfront districts that capitalize on Vallejo's ferry service and other transportation assets, strengthen economic activity while preserving and enriching the area's character, and expand opportunities for recreation, the arts, and multimodal mobility. THESE PLANS WILL ALSO ESTABLISH CLEAR OBJECTIVE STANDARDS FOR ADDRESSING DENSITY, BUILDING HEIGHT, DESIGN AND URBAN FORM IN THE TWO AREAS. THOSE STANDARDS WILL PROVIDE GREATER PREDICTABILITY WHILE ENSURING THAT FUTURE DEVELOPMENT REFLECTS THE COMMUNITY'S VISION AND THE UNIQUE CONTEXT FOR THE AREA. Finally, work will bring the plans into compliance with current state laws and regional policies, including MTC's transit-oriented communities policy, which supports housing, jobs, multimodal access around major transit hubs, such as our Vallejo Ferry Terminal. So now switching over to the project team, we're recommending tonight, they are a highly experienced and multidisciplinary team. Woody Hanson of SiteLab will serve as the overall project lead, and Trevor McKenzie of Stantec will lead the environmental review and infrastructure work. And Dave Javid of Plan to Place will lead the community engagement program. As you can see on this slide, the core team will be supported by specialists in transportation, economics, market feasibility, anti-displacement strategies, historic resources, climate resilience, and plan implementation. City staff will manage the overall process and there will be multiple opportunities for participation by the council. the Planning Commission, advisory committees, stakeholders, and the broader community. So with that, I'd like to turn the presentation over to Woody to introduce the other members of the consultant team and continue with the proposed scope, engagement approach, and anticipated project schedule.

Thanks Hector and good evening council members and mayor. My name is Woody Hanson, I'm a principal with SiteLab Urban Studio and we are an urban design and planning firm based in San Francisco and we're honored to be selected for the work on the waterfront and downtown. We're excited about the multifaceted team that Hector introduced and that we've assembled who have a proven track record and commitment to the Bay Area as well as past work in Vallejo. The contract for the downtown and waterfront specific plans have been divided into two, one for drafting the specific plans and the other to lead the environmental review for the projects. All consultants that you saw on the previous slide are contracted via the specific plan contract to ensure continuity throughout the planning process. Additionally, ESA and Farron Piers are contracted to Stantec through the environmental contract. The specific plan will go through the tasks listed here. The project initiation and management will be the kickoff meetings and regular cadence of project management. Existing conditions and opportunities and constraints will be the analysis that sets the framework for how the plan moves forward. Community engagement, which I'll discuss in more detail, brings community members into the fold to give meaningful feedback on how the plan can evolve. The vision, guiding principles, and alternative development creates alternative pathways the plan could go and move forward with a preferred plan being selected of those. The draft specific plan occurs after the preferred plan has been established and will include a number of chapters including mobility, objective design standards and others. Infrastructure financing and implementation strategy ensures that this plan is actionable and sets the infrastructure on a path forward for success and redevelopment. And then adoption and final plan preparation is when we come back to you all for your approval. The environmental contract is focused on community engagement, which predominantly focuses on this body and the environmental review itself. So maybe a little bit about us. At SiteLab, we shape cities with the belief that vision is a collective act. We see complexity as an opportunity, whether it be a large-scale master planning effort, a resilience and adaptation project, or public realm improvements. Our work has been predominantly focused in the Bay Area. Our experience ranges from city-led specific plans at Richmond Hilltop Mall and the Brisbane Baylands to redevelopment projects in the private sector like Pier 70, which you're seeing here on the screen, which is a 28-acre former ironworks site on the San Francisco waterfront. Pier 70 was approved by ballot measure, and since the streetscape has been built out, readying itself for new development, and historic buildings 12 and 15, which you're seeing on the screen, have given new life with a brewery, a bakery, maker spaces, and events spilling out under the structural frame of the old building, 15 here over 22nd Street. You can see the waterfront there in the background and connections to the bay, which weren't there prior. Our work brings creativity and collaboration to today's most pressing urban challenges. As mentioned, we're working on Richmond Hilltop Mall, making a generational shift from the island that is that shopping center today into a connected neighborhood and reviving it as a regional destination. We're also pivoting resilience challenges such as the San Francisco seawall into an opportunity to rethink the city's waterfront experience, including how we use the pier buildings, the streets, and the public space. And supporting that experience and activity in our cities is what motivates us. We're actively working in our downtowns and neighborhoods to create vision plans and deliver implementation projects. In 2022, we developed the Public Realm Action Plan for downtown San Francisco to boost economic recovery post-pandemic through the public realm investments. We've delivered on an early implementation project at Leedsdorf Alley, which you're seeing here on the left, which has hosted events and supported adjacent businesses, one of many of the strategic items in the plan. On the right, you're also seeing that we're reimagining Santa Clara Street through downtown San Jose, which is pushing how movement and place intersect on main streets through our cities. So, coming back to this project. For downtown and the waterfront specific plans, we have developed an integrated process, tracking tasks across phases in a process that supports plan evolution and meaningful engagement activities. Phase one starts with analysis and research. We build and learn from the contextual and concurrent work, such as the general plan update, Solano Bay Shore Resilience Program, Sonoma Boulevard-specific plan in the housing element. In phase two, we move into developing concept alternatives that inform a preferred plan, which inform strategies. In phase three, we draft the specific plan itself. Environmental review occurs with our partners at Stantec and implementation planning. During that period, we engage the community throughout. Each of the phases of development I just talked about also corresponds with the season of engagement. Season one is our first chance to be present in the community and hear more about the experience and perception of downtown and the waterfront today. What's working and what's not working? How do future improvements and development address displacement concerns and retain authenticity of communities who support downtown and the waterfront today and in the past? Season two enables feedback on core principles of the plan and alternative concepts, and season three guides refinement of the preferred plan and informs more detailed aspects of plan components, like what people want to see in their open spaces. We will be engaging and analyzing the overall study area, not siloing the conversations between the downtown and the waterfront, as the previous specific plans did for various past circumstances. While the specific plans will be drafted separately, we aim to make this a single and comprehensive conversation about the area designated by MTC as a priority development area, because that's the way we hope it is experienced. Additionally, at your recommendation, we will be exploring other potential opportunity sites south of the plan area. Across our work, we've identified some consistent threads that feel relevant to the opportunity ahead of us in Vallejo Downtown and Waterfront. We aim to embrace stories and creatives, reflecting the artists who remain active in downtown and the multiculturalism of communities who have been and remain in the area. We want to reinforce what's authentic, that may be structural and physical, such as a building or artifacts, interpretive in art, or programmatic, maybe like the dancers who were here to open the meeting tonight, or a hyphy celebration, maybe. Who knows? And we also want to build momentum with early wins, with an eye on implementation, not just at full build-out, but from day one. We want to prioritize physical connection, which means connecting transit to transit and downtown to waterfront. And we want to prioritize also connecting amongst people and right-sizing the program of our open space to meet the need of the events and the everyday. And we want to start where things are working. How do we align priorities to reinforce and grow the existing successes and the partnerships that exist in downtown today? So with that, I'll hand it over to Trevor to talk a little bit about the environmental review process, and then I'll come back to talk about anti-displacement work as well as engagement.

Thank you, Rudy.

Good evening, everybody. My name is Trevor Masensky. I run Stantec's planning practice in the US West. Sorry for the delay and stutter there. It's been a long evening. My track record in history with Stantec is on about 15 years. I'm proud to say every single one of those years, I've actually been supporting the city of Vallejo in a magnitude of different projects. We've supported, actually, probably my favorite one is the Batman ride at at your theme park, which is the one that my kids like the most on my resume. So we'll go with that. But beyond that, our experience a little bit about Stantec is we're an organization of about 30,000 people around the globe. We're an architecture engineering services organization. What that really means to the Bay Area is we bring about approximately 500 people to the greater Bay Area. I have some operational responsibility over our Walnut Creek office. With that being said, we support a number of communities not only within the county preparing Short-range and long-range planning projects, notably specific plans and complex base reuse redevelopment actions. We're supporting you on Mare Island in preparing the EIR there as well. And we have some history and track record preparing a number of mixed-use and infill development projects around the Bay as well. So for those that have not participated in a complex CEQA process, the idea around the approach here is to make sure that we have a comprehensive environmental review which incorporates all the city's wants and needs related to redevelopment and entitlement so that we can kind of streamline future development so you're not stuck at kind of that environmental review gate, that we can anticipate what needs to be done so that if there's a market force that wants to support it, that the document will cover it. This bug does not like me. Sorry about that. But the strategy for environmental review will actually adapt relative to the planning process. So as Woody had mentioned, in the event that there's additional parcels or a study area which is added, we will make sure that it is captured in the environmental review so that you have one comprehensive environmental review document. We're not fragmenting the environmental review. And with that being said, there's a number of key focus areas which are incredibly important to the community and the council, whether it's sea level rise or adaptation related to sea level rise, whether it's the historic nature of the downtown core or whether it's related to the community's concerns. We're going to be able to address all that through the environmental review process. And we want that feedback not only from the council but also the community. At the end of the day, we're going to have a really robust book report is what I like to tell everybody. All the chapters will evaluate the resource considerations that are required by state law, as well as provide the community a framework for understanding and the council for understanding what your decision means and what the potential environmental consequences are. With that, I'll hand it back over to Woody.

Yeah. Thanks, Trevor. So a component of the RFP that led to our selection and the process ahead of us, wow, that really is attacking me, is including an anti-displacement component to the project relative to the downtown specific plan in particular. We are working with BAE Urban Economics and Redwood Public Law as our partners who will be leading the anti-displacement work for that downtown specific plan. BAE will lead the feasibility study, which will evaluate the potential for displacement. And Redwood Public Law will evaluate potential policy approaches associated with protections for those facing displacement pressures. Both firms have done this work in the Bay and elsewhere. The citywide rent stabilization and just cause for eviction policies as well as the right to thrive study by the Vallejo Housing Justice Coalition provide important background for the assessment of downtown displacement pressures and potential strategies. The team will assess displacement risk before advancing growth. We will consider a wide range of strategies amongst the palette of what we can consider here. and then we will tailor strategies on how they would impact downtown itself. Redwood Law additionally will be available to support the city attorney's office on those strategies and converting them into ordinances. Throughout the project, as I spoke about before, we're going to be doing significant engagement through the three seasons of engagement I highlighted. We'll be working with both Dave Javid at Plan to Place, as well as Selena Perez, also known as the executive assistant of Mr. Miami. And both will be our engagement partners through this process. To introduce our approach, I'll walk through the next couple of slides, which will expand participation in the specific plans themselves. We aim to maximize our reach and expand the audience where we can. So the what of our engagement will include setting a foundation that helps people understand when they are engaging in the project through outreach materials and branding around the project as well as a website. We'll be developing that engagement strategy immediately from go. And then we'll be tapping into the local experts by establishing advisory committees and creating stakeholder focus groups to inform the project. And then our aim is to meet people where they are. We wanna be able to maximize our reach and therefore we're going to be doing a combination of public workshops, pop-up events, create toolkits for others to be able to support pop-up events including staff, and expanding the reach from a language perspective as well through multilingual content. And the who is a lot of people. We recognize that there are a lot of very active stewards of making Vallejo, Vallejo. We want to welcome all of these groups to the table. We want to have them support the advisory committees. And we also have a budget set aside to support involvement in the project. We anticipate the project being on an 18 to 24 month schedule to complete the three phases as discussed, and our team is looking forward to getting started. The schedule indicates the first season of engagement would occur in early 2027. So next steps is contract execution would occur immediately after this. We would have a team kick off in site walks, you'll see us around town. We would establish our engagement strategy which includes creating those advisory committees and creating the website and communication strategies. We'll review documentation and initiate that existing conditions assessment. And we'll initiate that anti-displacement research, which is something we heard through this process, is very important to initiate as soon as possible. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Woody. And through the mayor, I just wanted to add one point of clarification as it pertains to the anti-displacement policies. Although this work is looking specifically at the waterfront and downtown areas, the anti-displacement strategies that will be developed would potentially apply at a citywide scope. So I did want to clarify that the anti-displacement ordinances that will be developed as part of this wouldn't just be limited to the downtown and waterfront. They would have to apply citywide. WITH THAT, I WILL TURN IT OVER FOR QUESTIONS.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH. WHY DON'T WE START BY TAKING A PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE ITEM?

YES, MAYOR. WE HAVE ONE SPEAKER SIGNED UP. CHRISTINE WATSON. CHRISTINE WATSON, ARE YOU STILL PRESENT?

IT DOESN'T APPEAR. WHY DON'T WE CHECK ONLINE?

NO SPEAKERS ONLINE WITH THEIR HANDS RAISED.

Why don't we go ahead and see if council members have questions or comments. I'll check one more time for Ms. Watson specifically in case she has logged on online or comes back into the room. Do any council members have questions or comments? Council Member Matias.

Just one, and it's just a follow-up. Thank you for the presentation. It's just a follow-up to that last comment you made. So you're saying there's going to be anti-displacement policies. They're not localized to the downtown area. They're more broadly for the city. How does that tie into timelines we've shared with our housing advocates vis-a-vis the package that we're supposed to get this fall? What is the interplay there?

So thank you for that question. You'll note that I think earlier last month we had sent a memo to the council regarding renter protections and the just cause for evictions policies that are under consideration. I think staff is planning to have a special study session with the council on September 29th. uh... when we get into more detail about what those policies actually entail uh... we're hoping to get feedback uh... from you as the council into what things we need to take into account as we develop and look into the strategies as part of the downtown and waterfront specific plan uh... one thing that i would say in terms of how the timing works is that AS WE VISION WHAT THE LAND USE PLAN IS GOING TO BE FOR WATERFRONT AND DOWNTOWN AND TAKE THAT COMMUNITY INFORMATION OR ENGAGEMENT INTO ACCOUNT. BASICALLY THAT IS GOING TO BE FRONT LOADED IN TERMS OF THE SCHEDULE. SO WE'RE NOT GOING TO BE WAITING TOWARD THE END TO ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY ON RENTER PROTECTIONS. WE'RE GOING TO START THAT AT THE BEGINNING. And I think there's gonna be a point where those protections, those policies are ready to move forward even if the specific plans are not fully developed or approved. So we're not gonna be beholden to adopting the plans before these policies take effect. I think that that's been made very clear that these policies are really important now and not 24 months out. SO WE'RE GOING TO USE THIS PLANNING PROCESS AS A VEHICLE TO FUND THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, TO FUND THE DATA AND ANALYTICAL SIDE OF THINGS AND SORT OF HAVE THESE WORKING IN A PARALLEL FASHION. HOPEFULLY THAT ADDRESSES YOUR QUESTION.

YES, THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION. I'M WONDERING, I KNOW THAT THE PREVIOUS PLANS WERE WRITTEN LIKE 20 YEARS AGO, BUT THEY WERE VERY ROBUST, AND I KNOW THERE WAS A LOT OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN WRITING THOSE PLANS, AND SO I'M WONDERING IF THERE'S, FIRST OF ALL, IF THE CONSULTANTS HAVE READ THROUGH THOSE PLANS SO THAT WE'RE NOT I mean, I don't want to waste a lot of time. Is this really going to take three years when we already have a comprehensive plan when not much has happened on the waterfront in the last 20 years? So and I think a lot of the things that the community wanted are still things that community wants today. So I'm hopeful that we're not gonna just regurgitate the same plan and it's gonna take three years to do so in which we don't have a way of moving forward even if we have a plan. So I know it's a multifaceted but A, has the consultant already reviewed our current plans and B, will we have an executable plan of how we're gonna move forward once the plan is rewritten 20 years later.

Thank you for the question, Councilmember. Yes, I've read them and I will probably read them five more times before I see you next time. What I would say is the plans that exist haven't resulted in implementation. And one of the core pieces of why we approached this project is because we want to think about implementation from now through full build out. So one of the elements that we actually added to the scope after the interview was an interim place making strategy. So how do we start? with what works and deliver near-term public realm improvements that are low cost and support people's daily lives. That's one piece. The other is including in the assessment a feasibility analysis, which BAE Urban Economics will also do. So they'll do the anti-displacement, but also the feasibility piece, sort of an oxymoron there. And they will help us understand what's working in Vallejo, what's penciling, what's not penciling. We recognize that a lot is not penciling. And with our background in building typologies, we'll be looking at how we can make it more achievable to deliver on development in Vallejo as part of this.

And will we have to wait three years for that to actually happen? Or will you be delivering some of that as we go along this process?

I think part of what makes this process even more unique is that I THINK IF YOU LOOK AT THE OLDER PLAN, IT DIDN'T FOCUS ON LOOKING AT OPPORTUNITY SITES WITHIN THE AREAS. WITH THIS NEW SPECIFIC PLAN PROCESS, WE HAVE BUDGETS SET ASIDE SO THAT ONCE WE GET COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT GOING, DETERMINE WHAT WE WANT TO SEE, WE CAN LOOK AT THESE SPECIFIC OPPORTUNITY SITES LIKE THE PARKING LOTS THAT ARE NEXT TO CITY HALL AND LOOK AT WHAT POTENTIALLY COULD BE BUILT THERE. MAKING POTENTIAL URBAN DESIGNS AND PROTOTYPES THAT WE CAN THEN TURN AROUND AND WHEN THOSE GET IDENTIFIED AS SURPLUS PROPERTIES AND WE GO OUT AND MARKET THEM TO DEVELOPERS, THERE'S ALREADY THE HOMEWORK OF WHAT ARE THE SITE CONSTRAINTS, WHAT WOULD MAKE A PROJECT PENCIL ON THE SITE. SO I THINK IT MOVES THE NEEDLE A LITTLE BIT FURTHER AND LOOKS AT MORE SITE SPECIFIC DETAILS IN THAT WAY.

And if I could just add one other piece too, part of the community engagement aspect includes the stakeholder outreach, which we're specifically looking to meet with developers to not only get their input on the feasibility, but also maybe generate some interest so that when we get time to implement this plan, maybe we'll have some folks who are already interested in moving forward and investing in those areas.

Great. Thank you very much.

Thanks. You already kind of answered my question, so I'm going to jump in and then we'll go to the vice mayor. I was going to say something similar, which is really, you know, I think in Vallejo we have this tendency to make plans and update plans and never really get anything out of them. And I would hate to... I don't wanna not do the work. When I first saw this, I'm not gonna lie, I really had a reaction to the price tag. I appreciate that it's grant funded. We'll be expecting something quite robust for this amount of money, but I would hate to have to wait two to three years to start activating some of these sites. And so I am encouraged by what you just said, but had kind of almost a follow-up question for our city staff and our city manager, which is, are we still going to be hitting the gas in terms of trying to activate, for example, the old post office site and getting people in our vacant buildings downtown? Is that available to us while we build up this plan?

That's a great question, Mayor. This clearly is going to be a fantastic exercise, but we're not going to be waiting for three years. We're going to try to get whatever we can out of the ground as quickly as we can and when we can. We're going to support this, but This is not gonna lead what we're gonna be doing because we've gotta do something right now. We can't wait. Three years is an eternity in today's world.

And we got this grant three years ago.

And this grant was awarded three years ago. So it just took three years to get from the grant to this and then another three. So as long as it's all compatible and we can still move, I appreciate your response.

It's all going to be compatible. My aspiration would be for us to be successful and they have to find ways to work around us.

Yeah.

In terms of our success.

Let's aim for that. Thank you. All right. I'll go over to the vice mayor.

thank you for that and i know um council member matias is sitting in the back there having a conversation but i think this is um and he and i have had this conversation to where and i've had this with our planning commission of of this sounds like the ideal project for the planning commission and the economic development team to start collaborating and working with this being part of the community engagement part where we actually have um our our um council members I'm sorry, not council, but commissioners on both those commissions to be part of that community engagement to where they've been working on these type of ideas and concepts and the fact that we're at the conceptual programmatic stage, I think this is where we could potentially get a couple of steps ahead and get the insight of our commissions that are doing this actual work and I think this gives us WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THE COMMISSION'S THE FIRST BITE OF THE APPLE TO PROVIDE INPUT AND FEEDBACK BEFORE IT GOES OUT TO THE GENERAL COMMUNITY WHERE THEY HAVE A SPECIFIC UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SHOOTING FOR AS A GOAL. SO I WOULD LIKE TO SHOOT THIS. I HOPE WE'RE ABLE TO GET THAT COMBINED PLANNING COMMISSION ALONG WITH OUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT TEAM TO BE PART OF THAT first conversations or initial conversations to kind of lead us towards a path to where before we get all this input from, to help us focus before we get out to the community that way. So thank you.

All right, let's check one more time for public comment.

Yes, we do have a new speaker that signed up, Crystal G. And did our other speaker turn up online?

Not at this time, Mayor.

So we'll take Crystal and then we'll close public comments.

I'll be really fast. I didn't plan to comment on this. I just, I comment on this all the time, so I won't bore you. I just want to say that it is genuinely encouraging to finally see the planning department on board, the consultant for the downtown and waterfront specific plan. We know here it's long, long overdue, but I want to acknowledge that the department really has been trying to correct the past gaps and bring the city current on our really long neglected obligations and just want to acknowledge no single staff member can do this on their own or even pair. So it's really a strain to see this consultant team committed to working cleanly and collaboratively and naming lots of community leaders and experts and bringing on community leaders like Selena feels really encouraging. SO IT DOES FEEL LIKE A STEP FORWARD. WE'LL HAVE EXPERTS ON ANTI-DISPLACEMENT STRATEGIES AT THE PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING TOMORROW AND IN ANY FUTURE MEETINGS ON THIS TOPIC. AND JUST WANT TO, THE URGENCY HIGHLIGHTED BY COUNCIL TONIGHT IS REAL. AND THE ANTI-DISPLACEMENT STRATEGIES ARE KEY AND REQUIRE THE DECISIVE ACTION, WHICH IS SOMETHING WE REALLY HOPE TO MOVE FORWARD ALONG WITH OTHER COMMUNITY EXPERTS. I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT. THANK YOU.

All right, we'll close public comment and I think we're ready for a motion on the item.

Sorry. I move we adopt a resolution one approving a consultant and professional services agreement with RC Design Collaborative, LLC, DBA, SiteLab, Urban Studio for the preparation of the downtown Vallejo specific plan and Vallejo waterfront specific plan for an amount not to exceed $2,009,400 Two, approving an environmental consultant agreement with Stantec Consulting Services Incorporated for an amount not to exceed $265,914 for related environmental review. And three, authorizing the city manager to execute the agreements.

All right, we're ready to vote.

Motion carries with Council Member Matias to post.

All right, thank you all again, and thank you for staying with us into the evening. We have two more action items that will be quick. We can try to get through them. We also have five pulled consent items, three of which absolutely have to be adopted tonight. IF COUNCIL MEMBERS MATIAS AND MATULIK HAVE THEIR MEASURE P APPOINTMENTS, WE CAN JUST KNOCK THOSE OUT RIGHT NOW. SO WHY DON'T WE JUST TRY TO KNOCK OUT BOTH OF THESE ITEMS. SO LET'S GO AHEAD TO ACTION CALENDAR, ACTION ITEM 9B. I'LL ASK OUR CLERK TO ANNOUNCE 9B.

Adopt a resolution making appointments to the Measure P Oversight Committee for District 1 vacancy and District 2 vacancy.

All right. We're going to open up public comment on the item. And I'm going to ask, we'll start with District 1. I will ask Council Member Ortiz, his nominee for the commission.

I think it goes without saying, outstanding interviews, outstanding applicants. I know my colleagues probably have an opportunity to review those interviews recently and just makes these decisions incredibly more difficult.

Sorry, we were just, there was just a comment that we should probably hear public comment before we announce the selections. My bad. But no, that was me. No, that was me. Is there anyone wanting to comment on this item?

No one signed up for it, Mayor.

All right, how about online?

It's true, the Mayor knows speakers online at this time.

All right, let's go ahead, Council Member Ortiz.

I want to encourage the applicants to continue to apply. I actually see a home for each one of you in one of our commissions fairly soon, hopefully. But my nomination will go, and with that, my nomination will go for Ms. Wang in District 1.

All right, and Vice Mayor Matulak.

And unlike Council Member Matisse, mine was a lot easier to pick because I only had one applicant, so I will go ahead and nominate that one applicant.

All right, I will move that we adopt a resolution making appointments to the Measure P Overcut Committee with Ming Wang representing District 1 and Melton Geronimo representing District 2. We are ready to vote.

Motion carries unanimously with Council Member Paul Marazza.

All right. Thank you all, and congratulations to our new MPOC appointees. Let's go ahead to action item 9E. I'll ask our clerk to announce this item.

Introduction of an ordinance amending section 2.27040 of the Vallejo Municipal Code to allow appointment of surveillance advisory board members who reside outside of a particular council district.

All right, and this came at the request of council at the last meeting, so I think it's fairly straightforward. It's one line X'd out in the ordinance. City Attorney Nebb, did you have something to, did you have a presentation or something to share on the item?

No, only that this follows the request by the council to take the provisions that are in the POAC ordinance for application of choosing outside of your district if there are no applicants within the district or nobody to be selected within the district. And it will make it easier for us to have a full contingent on that body. So that is the sum total of my report.

That is it. And let's check for public comment. Anyone in person?

None in person.

Anyone online?

No speakers online at this time.

Go for a motion on the item.

So before we vote, I have a question.

GO AHEAD. SO WITH THAT, WHAT MEASURES ARE WE TAKING ARE COMMITTED TO TAKE WHEN I KNOW ONE OF THE ISSUES I THINK HAS BEEN WITH THE SAB WHERE THERE WAS A HARD TIME BRINGING SOMEBODY IN. what kind of what are we committed to doing to really advertise and um get to a place where we say okay it's just not working because there's a purpose for districts there's a purpose for creating an equitable way for each district to be represented so what's our GENERAL EFFORT IN GETTING TO THE PLACE WHERE WE SAY, OKAY, IT'S REALLY NOT WORKING. I MEAN, BECAUSE WE ADVERTISED SEVERAL TIMES FOR THE SAB.

I BROUGHT THIS FORWARD BECAUSE THE SAB WAS DIFFICULT. MY INTENTION WOULD BE THAT THE DISTRICT PERSON WOULD STILL PICK FROM, THEY WOULD HAVE THE FINAL SAY WHETHER THEY WANT TO ONLY SELECT FROM THEIR DISTRICT OR IF THEY WANT TO MOVE ON AND SELECT FROM OTHER DISTRICTS TO MAKE SURE THERE'S A QUORUM. BUT ALWAYS THE DUTY STILL LIES WITH THE DECISION BEING MADE BY THE DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE, THE DISTRICT COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE.

Okay, so just question, is that very clear in this amendment? I'm asking the question. I want it to be said because I think it's important.

Yes, if you look at the italicized language under the membership and quorum, it says, however, if in the opinion of the appointing council member, there are no qualified candidates. So with that, it is the decision-making authority of the appointing council member whether there is another qualified candidate from within the district or they need to select from without.

Okay, thank you for reading that in. All right, Vice Mayor Matulak.

Yes, and I think this is a similar conversation that Council Member Matias and I have had of other commissions and boards that fall under the same thing where they specifically can only pick for that. And I think we need to look at that similar language for those other commissions and board that fall under that same type of restriction.

And we reviewed this earlier and the MPOC requires a voter, would require a referendum vote because it was approved by vote and the other two, POAC was already like this, we just adopted SAB. So this will take, I think this will take care of the ones we have control over. So we've already read the motion. Can we restart the vote, please, if everybody's all right?

Sorry, who made the motion? Vice Mayor Mayer. Vice Mayor, okay.

All right, we're ready to vote.

That's the wrong title, hold on a minute. All right, go ahead, vote, sorry.

Motion carries unanimously with Council Member Paul Mayer's absence. All right. Thank you. We're going to go back to consent. The first item that was pulled was item 8S, which is now item 8.1, Adopt a Resolution Approving the HUD-Required Consolidated Annual Performance and Evaluation Report, CAPER, for FY2526, Addressing Affordable Housing and Community Development Needs in the City of Vallejo. I'll turn it over to Council Member Ledejew, who pulled the item.

Thank you. So first of all, I'm going to quickly talk about what the purpose of the CAPER is. And it's a report really to tell us whether we did what we said we would do, what we told HUD we would do, and we're reporting out on those different measures. And it is a required report, and we do need to submit it. But I will say that compliance is not the same as performance. AND THE REPORT DOES ACKNOWLEDGE ITSELF THAT THERE'S STAFFING SHORTAGES, THAT THEY'RE SIGNIFICANT AND LIMITED OUR ABILITY TO DELIVER PLAN PROGRAMS AND RESULTED IN ACTIVITIES BEING DELAYED OR DEFERRED. that doesn't preclude the fact again as i talk about performance that doesn't preclude the fact that tonight not only tonight but very con it's been continuous and continues to grow we continue to have more complaints about how the housing authority is performing when i first came on this council I talked about the performance of the housing authority, the need for staffing, what can we do to ensure that we're adequately staffed and that our residents are being served. This is particularly very important from a perspective of ensuring that we remain in control as a city of our housing authority versus HUD coming in and taking over our housing authority. So we really need to ask ourselves, do we currently have the capacity and the systems necessary to serve people well and deliver what's needed? And if we don't, what are we going to do about it? to get to that place where we are able to serve in an appropriate manner, where staff are answering calls, where staff are answering their emails, where vouchers are issued on time, where payments are issued on time. And am I assessing it? I'm not assessing it. I'm assessing what I'm hearing from the public, what I'm reading from the public, and the emails that I personally receive from the public. And when I also look at our report, we have numbers that are concerning that are reinforcing concerns that are being brought forward as well. We said that we were going to assist 18 households with rental assistance and we haven't been able to serve. Our number says zero. We have planned two homeowner rehabilitation households, and we have not been able to do that. We have approximately $1 million in available CDBG resources, and I think 291 of those dollars have been expended. So for me, this is not simply about are we making our report to HUD, but it's about understanding what's not working, Okay, what's not working or what is working and how are we going to correct it? And so what I'm looking for before this body says, yes, we're going to approve this report that does need to be approved for HUD. What's going to happen in the next 30, 60, 90 days to improve the service of the housing authority? We cannot continue to have our residents coming to this body and making the level of complaints that have been brought forward to this body. what are we going to do differently what has been planned because i have been talking about this for 18 months i have almost been here for two years while our city manager understandably you have not been here for two years you've only been here for a very short period of time and i fully understand that and i'm going to acknowledge that however we are at a place where we no longer can I'm going to say this. Pacify by we're going to get to this. We're trying to do X, Y, and Z. I don't have enough staff. We can't continue to say that. People's housing is in jeopardy. We have not met the plans that we told HUD that we were going to meet. This is not year one, but even in year two, we have not met those plans. I was on that committee before I became a council member, and we still were not meeting those numbers. And our council member, my colleague to my right, was my liaison, and he knows that for a fact. So what are we going to change in 90, 60, 30 days? We cannot have the same responses. And I'm going to say this, we cannot be defensive to our commissions, to our constituents, because we are not able to meet our goals. We cannot be upset because of how individuals feel they are being treated, because when we don't respond, when we are not making progress, it does say we don't care. And they don't care that we don't have enough staff. I just have to be very plain about it. So to our city manager, what are we gonna do in the next 90, 60, 30 days about the housing authority?

Okay, so thank you, council member. All of your points are beyond valid, beyond legitimate. So what we're going to be doing is looking at some sort of a, A SIX-MONTH SORT OF RECOVERY PLAN, OKAY? AND THE IDEA IS TO OBVIOUSLY WE'LL BE ASSESSING AS WE ARE ASSESSING RIGHT NOW, WE'LL CONTINUE TO ASSESS, BUT WE'RE LOOKING AT QUICKLY DETERMINING WHAT CAN WE DO WITHIN THE NEXT 30 DAYS, THE NEXT 60 DAYS, THE NEXT 90 DAYS, ALL THE WAY THROUGH THE NEXT SIX MONTHS. We're looking at systems. We're looking at processes. Again, because at the end of the day, this is a report, as you said, yes. These are processes. But the most important thing is that we're dealing with people, okay? People who need help. They need the support. And we have a moral obligation to provide that support. And so in essence, we're going to set up a six month plan that has tasks and milestone dates associated with them, okay? That's gonna involve people, that's gonna involve process, it's gonna involve systems. And so we will work with the team, we will work with staff, I mean, to say that this is a priority would be obvious. It's a priority. It has to be a priority, not only because we need to do a better job of providing the support to the people who need it, but there are threats out there. There are political public policy threats out there that we have to get ourselves in a better position to be able to even anticipate those and to be able to deal with those while providing that level of safety net support. So short response to your question, working with the assistant city manager will be working with the director and we will develop at least a six month. I'm calling it a recovery plan. Okay. With task milestones again, you know, what are some interim quick things that we can do to, to stabilize certain things? You know, uh, I, I'm interested in people being able to experience counter service. you know, something as novel as counter service. I'm interested in people being able to, I mean, again, it's a bureaucratic program by design. And so it's going to be paper intensive or process intensive. But the key is how do we mitigate some of the friction that the customers have to go through?

So can I ask a question? Yes. First of all, I'd like to know how we can have reporting on that plan. And additionally, I'd like to understand what is precluding the city from bringing in a contractor to help get things caught up. We're not even doing basic things. We're not answering the telephone. I know for a fact, I know what I'm talking about. We're not answering the phones timely. We're not answering emails timely. That's very problematic when we are serving the most vulnerable population in our communities, our community, and we are serving the most under-income individuals in our community. So what is precluding this city, I said this 18 months ago, from bringing in contracted help. No different than what we did when we were leasing up Broadway and we needed that assistance. What's precluding the city from being able to bring in assistance?

Nothing is precluding us. We made an attempt a few months ago to do something from a procurement standpoint, but we did not have accurate information. And so we pursued something that we should not have pursued. However, we've already had discussions. The director can talk more about the plan to bring in on an emergency basis. SOME OUTSIDE SUPPORT TO PROVIDE TEMPORARY STABILIZATION SUPPORT TO THE DEPARTMENT. SO THAT'S A PART OF THE PLAN.

OKAY. SO LET ME ASK ONE OTHER QUESTION BEFORE SHE RESPONDS. IN ADDITION TO, YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS QUESTION, Do we have staff, all staff, on board five days a week at this point? We are not performing, so where are we each and every day, eight hours a day? Are all of our staff back in that department every day?

Well, the director can speak to this more accurately. Uh, it is my understanding that, uh, the department is at half strength at this point. Okay. Uh, we've already made changes in terms of the overall telework policy and process for the city in general that applies to the authority. Uh, again, And so the key is, is to get this temporary support in while we're recruiting for the permanent positions. Okay. So that's going to be a part of the plan. Uh, I want to see people coming in and out of the doors for service. Okay. You know, uh, so hopefully that answers your question.

So is there anything precluding that the doors open five days a week? Even with half strength, there are bodies that command the door.

That is, I believe, I believe that the assistant city managers had discussions with the director about that very issue in terms of daily coverage.

Okay. So I'll turn to the assistant city manager and to the director to fill in.

Through the chair, I just want to ask a clarifying question because what I'm hearing is housing authority, HCV-related items, and I'm hearing information about the grant program. So I want to be clear on what I answer first.

First of all, they're really interrelated. to all the work that you do because they serve a particular community, the very community I'm speaking to. So we can talk about HCV and we can talk about that report as well and they're intertwined. And so what I'm most interested in is how are we going to move the agency rather than saying I don't have enough staff, that's not good enough for the public. How often are our doors open? How are we managing our emails? What are we going to do in the next 90, 60, 30 days to close some of these gaps that we're having?

Okay. Thank you. So to close some of the gaps, what we have in place is as it relates to our emails, we have a extra help administrative clerk who assist us with our emails and our phone calls. and all of our documents that we receive as it relates to scanning those documents into our software system.

So can I ask you a question? While you might say you have help answering, looking at emails, phone calls, scanning, scanning is one thing, but emails and phone calls, Are we just taking messages and then forwarding them on? Are we answering them? And what's the SLA, the service level for making sure in 24 hours? I'm just giving an example. In 24 hours, you're going to get a return call with someone who's knowledgeable to give you an answer. The same thing with an email. What is that time frame?

The timeframe for email response, those calls, I'll start with the phone calls. The phone calls are received by our administrative clerk and those phone calls returned within 24 hours. We do not have a backlog of phone calls that we've received. And if we receive them, they're addressed by the clerk or it's forwarded over to a housing specialist or the supervisor for assistance. And if it's an email, those emails are returned within 48 hours. The goal is 48 hours, but there are times that it may take a little longer depending on the content of the email and the information that's being requested.

Okay. And how are we logging those? How do we know every email that comes in and every phone call that comes in?

So we do not have a system, a call center. We do not have a call center. So I depend on staff to follow the directive to return the phone calls within the required period of time. To track that information, I do not have a system in place that I can check to see if all phone calls have been returned within that period.

How about emails?

Emails, they're requested to return the phone calls and the emails within a certain period of time. And if it escalates to my attention, then I follow up with staff to find out what happened and when they did respond. Most of the time, the emails are responded to if it's assigned to a housing specialist. However, we do have vacant positions, and those emails are actually forwarded over to the remaining staff as well, which compiles housing. the amount of work that they have on their regular caseload. But they are assigned to respond to those emails within the same period of time, which it also can take some time to get to because of other pressing items.

Okay. And so when you say you don't have a backlog of calls, they're getting, you're assuming that they're being returned because you don't, I don't know what system do you use. Do you use Guardi or do you use?

Every single phone call is logged by date and time manually in an Excel spreadsheet because we do not have an actual system that can capture the phone calls. So we use our Excel sheet and every call is logged.

Okay.

So we don't have a CRM? We don't have a CRM system, no.

Okay. Go ahead. I just want to, I'm tracking the conversation.

Okay, so you wanted information regarding the CAPER? Can you tell me about our open door? Oh, okay, sure. So... Right now, our doors are still closed, but we do have our appointment only on Tuesdays and Thursdays where the public can schedule an appointment with one of the existing housing specialists or the supervisor. They can use a barcode that is on the door, is on the email communication, and it's also on our website where they can scan the barcode. That bar, when they submit the information, is reviewed and that information is transferred over to a staff member. AND THEY ARE SCHEDULED TO COME IN ON A TUESDAY OR THURSDAY.

I'M GOING TO STOP YOU RIGHT THERE. I WANT EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM TO HEAR WHAT WAS JUST SAID AND TELL ME HOW THAT SOUNDS TO OUR PUBLIC. I AM SERVING THE MOST VULNERABLE POPULATION And yet on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I get to come and see you potentially, and I get to scan a barcode or whatever the case may be. How does that sound to all of us? I just, I wanna, I am making this really real because as a council member, who, we all know what I do, who serves the most vulnerable population in any city I serve, to say that I don't have open doors, I can't come to a government building that provides me with a critical service, and it has been for how long we have been doing this, And I need to make an appointment to see an individual who works on my caseload. It sounds horrendous to my ears. What are we going to do? Not in the next 30, 60, 90 days. What are we going to do immediately that I don't have to necessarily make an appointment, that I can get in my car or walk or get on a bus and come down and see someone who's going to help me and the staff are actually in the office? We have a responsibility. This can't continue on. I'm saying that as a council member, we need to do something differently immediately. This sounds horrible.

Okay. Let's continue through, um, through the chair. And as it relates to the consultant, because I do recall the conversation where you asked about consultant services being provided as it relates to answering calls and phone calls and answering calls and emails and actually manning the front, the front desk, that discussion was, was held with the previous, uh, assistant city manager as it relates to how that would, how that would work um we rfp was issued and due to whatever reason it was pulled and so i cannot give you an answer as to why that did not happen but i can say that a consultant working at our front desk will not ADDRESS THE ISSUE. SO LET ME, I'M GOING TO CUT YOU OFF. I'M QUITE WELL AWARE OF THAT.

OKAY. BECAUSE I DO THIS EVERY DAY, AS YOU KNOW. I KNOW THAT A CONSULTANT, AS IT RELATES TO THE FRONT DESK, ISN'T GOING TO RESOLVE THAT. BUT I'M GOING TO SAY THIS TO ALL OF US, INCLUDING YOU. THERE'S NO REASON WHY OUR DOORS SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE CLOSED. THEY HAVE BEEN CLOSED FOR QUITE SOME TIME. YOU, I'M GOING TO SAY THIS TO THE CITY MANAGER, BECAUSE I CANNOT SAY THAT TO YOU. The housing authority staff need to be directed to open the doors and be at Everyone everyone on staff from the top to the bottom. We need to open our doors and we need to start servicing our staff our Constituents no different than when we ask for the same for the City Hall We can't continue to have those doors closed They need to be open and everyone all hands on deck need to be there because whether if you're an eligibility worker or you can you can rotate staff to the front desk so forth and on there are things there are things that we can do to begin to mitigate what's coming to our doors we're not going to be perfect but we can do things some things and we're not doing those things we're opting not to do those things you can't tell me that you can only be open two days and you come to my doors tuesday and thursday That's not a solution. That's not even a consideration that we're saying we care enough about you to expend as much time as we possibly can doing all the things. I'm not satisfied. And I'm only one council member. And the other thing is when we talk about call centers, We don't have a CRM, so that's one system issue. Because we should know every call that comes in the door, how they're being answered, and when they're not being answered. So what are we gonna do different? There has to be something that we can say tonight that we are going to do different, starting tomorrow, or at least by Monday morning. I DON'T KNOW HOW MY COLLEAGUES FEEL, BUT THIS SOUNDS HORRIBLE AS A COUNCIL MEMBER, AS A LEADERSHIP BODY. WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO DIFFERENT STARTING MONDAY MORNING?

I'M JUST GOING TO REFER TO THE DIRECTOR TO PROVIDE A RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION.

OKAY. SO CURRENTLY, BEFORE I ANSWER THE QUESTION REGARDING WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO ON MONDAY I will say that we are actually, we just recently hired an administrative clerk for the front desk. Due to budgetary constraints, we have two positions for administrative clerk, but we can only afford to hire one. And we're using an extra help to backfill in the meantime. We recently hired a housing specialist to assist as well. with our caseloads and to address our public. What we can do Monday, I cannot guarantee we can open the door on Monday because I don't have adequate staff. I have staff that's out on leave and I only have two and a half bodies.

So director, I'm gonna say this to you. I only have two and a half bodies to do the work. Okay, director, I'm gonna say this, but I'm gonna say it to the city manager. We can't keep saying we don't have enough staff. It's not acceptable. It's been too long. What are we going to do different on Monday morning, city manager? We're going to do something different on Monday morning to serve our clients.

We're going to start working on the procurement process.

Because it's been two years. I've been talking about this. And I know you're new.

We're going to start working on the procurement to get the stabilization temporary support resources in as soon as we can. We're going to expedite filling whatever vacancies that there are. We're going to... we're going to start developing that 90, 120 plus day plan. Again, with tasks, with milestone dates in terms of when we're gonna get something done. That's about all we can do at this point is to develop an aggressive recovery plan that is action-oriented, work on an emergency procurement to get some temporary support help in, and as soon as we can do all of those things is probably when we can fully open up the doors and begin to look and feel like the entity organization that we should be.

SO I'M CURIOUS AND MAYBE OUR ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER KNOWS THIS FOR A FACT. WE BROUGHT IN A CONTRACTOR TO GET US THROUGH LEASING UP BROADWAY. IS THAT CONTRACT STILL ACTIVE? or if it's expended, can we add additional dollars? We need to do something now.

Yeah.

So thank you for the question. Nongo Conley, Assistant City Manager. So that was a LECA, I believe, and we still have an active contract with them. So why can't we use that contract?

I'm asking because I don't know what's precluding us from using it.

TO PROVIDE EMERGENCY STAFFING. YES. PRIMARILY BUDGET.

OKAY. STOP RIGHT THERE. SO CITY MANAGER, WE HAVE AN ACTIVE CONTRACT THAT I GUESS NEEDS SOME ADDITIONAL DOLLARS TO IT. WHAT CAN WE DO TO ADD DOLLARS TO THAT CONTRACT TO BRING IN A NEEDED SERVICES WHERE IT'S BANDIT SUPPORT, WHATEVER THAT SUPPORT NEEDS TO BE TO START MOVING THIS AGENCY FORWARD. FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT 90 DAYS WHILE YOU'RE PUTTING TOGETHER A PLAN.

Right. So we just step one is we put together an effective scope of work to present to them to propose on if they're interested.

So I don't know that they have to propose when we already have an active contract with them.

What I'm getting at is this is going to be a different scope of work than what they're doing at Broadway. So therefore we've got to identify what the scope of work is so that they can price it for us. So we get them a scope of work. They submit a response to it with a price proposal. Then we know what we need to come to you to ask for in terms of funding support. And so that's what we would do. We would put together a scope of work, get them to respond to it, assuming that they would be amenable to it. I don't see why they wouldn't be amenable to it. And we have a proposal that has some sort of technical element to it from them, but mostly pricing. And that way we would set up a council item and get it on the first available agenda for you all to consider. And assuming you approve it, we execute a contract and they go to work the next day or whatever days after that contract award.

So they've, I just want to say this, they've done other work, other typical housing authority operational work prior to working on leasing up the Broadway. So they have helped them, the housing authority, do day-to-day operational work where they have been short-staffed, so forth and on. So it should not be... What is your spend authority? What is your spend authority?

Mine is up to $100,000. Okay.

So what I want to say to my colleagues is I don't know if we can, rather than us waiting for another meeting for this to come back and on and on and on, is there a way that we can consider saying, okay, giving a potential up-to amount for the city manager to negotiate for a scope of work so this can keep moving on.

My recommendation, I think that's a fantastic suggestion. You're recommending giving the city manager forward authority to- For this particular project. For this particular project. I would say, I would say, And please jump in if you think that this is too much or too little, I would start out at probably. $300,000.

Okay.

Yeah. But the key is we will still have to bring it.

No.

Right.

I mean, it makes, so from my perspective, it makes, from what I know about the work and understanding the industry, it makes, did you want to say something? I was going to let you finish your sentence and then I have a thought. Sure. It makes sense to me, the dollar amount that you are projecting, BECAUSE FROM MY PERSPECTIVE, FROM WHAT WE HAVE BEEN ADDRESSING THIS FOR TWO YEARS, WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING IMMEDIATELY. IT'S BEEN TOO LONG.

YEAH, I'M GOING TO JUMP IN, BECAUSE I WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE DO STILL HAVE FOUR ITEMS, AND WE'RE GOING FAR OFF OF THE CAPER REPORT, SO I THINK WE MIGHT HAVE AN IDEA FOR SOMETHING TO COME AT A FUTURE MEETING. BECAUSE I LIKE THE IDEA OF PREAUTHORIZING, BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S FEASIBLE UNDER THIS ITEM. I DON'T THINK WE CAN GIVE THAT DIRECTION RIGHT NOW.

SO WHILE WE'RE BEING VERY LEGALISTIC, I'M FINE WITH THAT, BUT WHAT I WANT TO SAY FROM A RESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE, THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR ALMOST TWO YEARS. And so where is it going to come back? This is serious. Where is it going to come back? Because this is important. We're talking about people's housing. I see the emails. And I'm pinging the city manager. And there are things that are seriously not getting done and they are, it's not healthy and helpful. Right. I just want to, I need to say that because I want to put this on the record. Go ahead.

Yeah. Okay. So we could do this kind of in a staged fashion. Okay. I have up to a hundred thousand dollar contracting authority. We can go ahead and move out on this just under my authority. And, uh, uh, although they would probably come into you at the same time anyway in terms of timing, we can go ahead and do the work to put something in place. We can basically use my authority to serve as the basis for initiating the procurement, okay? And so probably the first meeting in October provided that we can get this firm to move this quickly, we can have something back to you to approve. And so they can be starting work in October.

One moment. You have the $100,000 authority, but we have not identified the funding source. So just to put it out there, we generally would have to do a notice to amend the budget, and then we'd have to take the secondary action to actually reserve the money. FIRST QUESTION IS CAN WE DO A NOTICE AS A CONSENT ITEM OR DOES IT HAVE TO BE ACTION? WE CAN DO IT AS A, AND THEN ON THE SAME AGENDA, COULD WE DO A CONSENT AND THEN AN ACTION FOR THE BUDGET OR DO THEY HAVE TO BE TWO SEPARATELY? IT HAS TO BE TWO SEPARATE MEETINGS.

YOU CAN DO A NOTICE OF INTENT TO AMEND ON CONSENT. YOU COULD DO BOTH ON CONSENT BUT IT DOES HAVE TO BE TWO SEPARATE MEETINGS. SO YOU COULD BRING FORWARD THE NOTICE OF INTENT ON THE 22ND.

SECOND AND THEN THE NEXT ONE, THE FIRST OCTOBER MEETING. CORRECT.

BUT MEANWHILE, WE COULD BE WORKING ON THE CONTRACT AND MAKING SURE THE CONSULTANT HAS THE TIME AVAILABLE AND ALL OF THE STUFF THAT THE CITY MANAGER JUST MENTIONED.

SO WE WILL PLAN TO GO AHEAD AND INITIATE THE PROCUREMENT, KNOWING THAT WE'RE GOING TO BRING IT BACK TO YOU WITH A RECOMMENDED FUNDING SOURCE AND AMOUNT, AND WE WILL TRY TO DO THAT AS EXPEDITIOUSLY AS POSSIBLE.

Yeah, Council Member Matias, go ahead. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Yeah, no, thanks. So I'll be quick because we got to go, but I also put a call in to the city manager. I don't remember if it was today or yesterday. I've lost track of time, but, you know, I don't really talk about my – personal life or any of that but I was sharing with him just on a very personal level that there was a moment in time where I received that benefit and you know for you to get notices that you're gonna lose that benefit and you're gonna lose housing when you're just getting by, $5 gas, rising groceries, job loss at a scale we haven't seen because of disruptive technology is very traumatizing. And every passing month, that we don't do something, we are actively, and I know some folks don't like this kind of language, we're actively contributing to the displacement. The only place that some folks have called home. So, I say that all to say that I appreciate, Councilmember Lettaju, that you've made a point to stress what is a very real emergency and I wouldn't I would actually Want to see our mayor vice mayor and the city manager put this on the agenda from here on out until we see Substantial progress because we've been talking about this For as long as I've been on the dais. We have not really made meaningful progress and this is also economic development This is also, you're talking about people's lives. You're talking about their ability to stay and thrive here in community. And I don't think we're actively doing enough. And I've said this again, if we can just provide basic services to our residents and that's we've already we would have done our job we have not been providing basic services when it comes to roads public safety job creation even housing for years and that's why you see the frustration that you see and so um i know you have that authority mayor i would put that on the agenda from here on out until we can signal the public that we've made uh substantial progress on our housing because it's just something that's getting worse and as you heard tonight yeah they said oh we're going to make sure we send those anti-displacement policies to you guys but I saw a project plan that goes into 2028 so next thing you know we won't see that for another two years even though they said oh we'll get them to you as soon as possible so this is our emergency of our time we've dealt with public safety we've made a lot of progress we need to make PROGRESS ON KEEPING PEOPLE HOUSED AND ON CREATING OPPORTUNITY FOR FOLKS. AND I DON'T THINK WE'RE BEING AS SERIOUS AS WE CAN BE AS A COUNCIL AROUND IT. SO THAT'S JUST MY SUGGESTION TO KEEP THAT CONVERSATION TOP OF MIND AND TO KEEP SOME FORWARD MOVEMENT.

I WANT TO LET THE CITY MANAGER GET IN.

SO WHAT I'M SAYING TONIGHT IS THAT WE WILL GO AHEAD AND GO THROUGH THE PROCESS THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS TO GET SOMETHING SET UP AND IN PLACE THAT WE WILL BRING TO THE COUNCIL FOR APPROVAL AND IN PARTICULAR FUNDING FOR THE ITEM. WE'RE GOING TO GO THROUGH THIS PROCUREMENT EXERCISE, ALTHOUGH WE DON'T HAVE THE FUNDING AVAILABLE AT THE MOMENT. but we know that the council will take an action that will include funding. So we can do that. We can do that.

I'll pay for it. So really seriously, I want to, I want us to be mindful of something that this body may not really understand about HUD. The condition of our housing authority, places us in a position of potential receivership. I want to put it on record because I've been talking about it. And it's very important. This is serious. And we don't want that to happen. It's very important. So that's my last statement about this whole issue.

All right, we do have to get this CAPER report in. So we need to take a vote on that, and it sounds like we have a go-forward plan. We had already took public comment on this item, but just checking to see if there's anybody that has their hand raised online or wishes to comment in-house that hasn't already commented on the item. SPEAKER 1, SPEAKER 2, SPEAKER 3, SPEAKER 4, SPEAKER 5, SPEAKER 6, SPEAKER 7, SPEAKER 8, SPEAKER 9, SPEAKER 10, SPEAKER 11, SPEAKER 12, SPEAKER 13, SPEAKER 13, SPEAKER 14, SPEAKER 14, SPEAKER 15, SPEAKER 16, SPEAKER 17, SPEAKER 18, SPEAKER 19, SPEAKER 21, SPEAKER 22, SPEAKER 22, SPEAKER 23, SPEAKER 24, SPEAKER 24, SPEAKER 25, SPEAKER 26, SPEAKER 26, SPEAKER 27, SPEAKER 27, SPEAKER 28, SPEAKER 28, SPEAKER 29, SPEAKER 30, SPEAKER 31, SPEAKER 31, SPEAKER 32, SPEAKER 32, SPEAKER 32, SPEAKER 33, SPEAKER 34, SPEAKER 34, SPEAKER 34, SPEAKER 35, SPEAKER 36, SPEAKER 37, SPEAKER 37,

Sorry, through the Mayor, before the motion, I just want to make sure, because I agree with Council Member Matias, I think this needs to come on every agenda, so if that can be part of the motion, that we have this as a topic of discussion until this is substantially resolved, I would support that, so I wanted that to be part of the motion.

Yeah, okay. I don't know, I'm going to ask. You can come up if you want. because it was a pulled consent item. Yeah, I'd like to speak.

I've been here since seven with you guys. We've all been thugging. Those of you who don't know me and are not familiar with my face, my name is Rachel Stoyanovski. Most people call me Chop. I am here on behalf of the community. I am here on behalf of my mother who was up here fighting diligently. I didn't come here with a speech. I came here to talk to you guys eye to eye, human to human, because everybody here comes from a mother. And everybody here understands that two very, very powerful things in their own lives are their mothers and their community, which both of mine are extremely, extremely down bad right now. So I'm really coming to address you guys from a way that you can understand this. As a human person and not as someone who comes up here and gets paid to wear a suit and has a title for whatever the fuck you do. Thank you for your contributions. Excuse my language. I'm frustrated. But you guys need to understand what's happening here. I welcome you to the challenge of being the new city manager. You are probably well aware that our past of city managers hasn't been spotless, which is why we now have you here. So thank you for coming. Thank you for your diligence tonight in trying to move actions forward. I do hope to see that this happens more than words. To your point about what's actually happening for CAPER, I know that this is not just public comment. there's a lot more than a minute and a half i want to say to this so i'm going to try to bear with you guys because we've all been here and we're all ready to go home councilmember ledigiu thank you very much for really really driving in the point that these people that we're all fighting for uh... are literally fighting for their lives housing is one of the most basic basic basic human needs next to water and food and when these people are in a point of crisis worrying about their housing It leads for a community that's not in a good place and not able to grow. As you saw from many different examples of many facets of life that we saw tonight, we saw the community of Andre Hicks, we saw the community of Pearl Pinson, we saw the community, there were other people here to speak on other things, but if you see what Vallejo is very prideful about and the members of Vallejo really take importantly, IS THAT WE CARE ABOUT OUR PEOPLE AND WE CARE ABOUT THE THINGS THAT WE CARE ABOUT REAL HARD. THOSE PEOPLE THAT YOU SAW IN CITY COUNCIL TODAY, NOBODY'S EVER SEEN THEM HERE BEFORE, BUT THEY CARED ENOUGH TO COME FOR THIS TODAY. NOBODY'S EVER SEEN ME BEFORE BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE TO SHOW UP TO THESE BECAUSE OF HOW MUCH IT BOILS MY BLOOD PRESSURE. I'LL BE QUITE FRANK WITH YOU. I WISH I COULD FIGHT THIS FIGHT MORE WITH YOU GUYS FACE TO FACE, BUT I'M GOING TO GO HOME AND CALL MY THERAPIST, YOU KNOW, WHICH YOU GUYS ALL, IF YOU DON'T HAVE ONE, GET ONE AND CALL THEM TOO BECAUSE GOD BLESS US. In any case, to drive home the last little 15, 20 seconds that I have to speak to you guys, I just want you to understand that what you're doing tonight and what you're doing every day and what you're not doing tonight and what you're doing every day trickles down. We need to be taking accountability. There is absolutely nobody that we can sit here and say, hey, this happened because of this, or this happened because of this person, and now we're at a point where everybody wants to go, Well, I didn't do it, someone else did, so I don't know, we just got a real problem. I'm not okay with that. I don't accept that as a member of the community. And I want you to know that this is not a threat, but considering the community that I have rallied behind me, I am more than happy to mobilize the people who care about stuff to make them care about this stuff that actually matters, if that's what it takes for us to make a difference. Because you guys have sparked a fire in me that you don't even understand. My last name is Stoyanovsky. If you want to look up the lawsuit pertaining to Kaiser from when my childhood was ruined by my father passing from ALS, you can go there first and you can talk about that. I understand my time is up. I appreciate your patience. I want you all to go home and think about what you are doing here tonight and what you are not doing here tonight for your community and why did you do this job if you're not going to help. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you to the Stavanovski family. Lena, who was here earlier, had to leave, who's been impacted by this housing authority. I will try to make this quick since I've spoken on this item earlier. I can't help but reflect on the words of our director about specifically the 24-hour phone period and 48-hour email turnaround, which is categorically false. I have several tenants who can speak to this, but I think it's critical to speak to the cumbersome process that is to even participate here. As Chop just spoke to how stressful and how this can like really induce high blood pressure, I want to acknowledge that. And our elder who hoped to be with us tonight, Lily Hurd, who is here, but felt sort of bypassed by process. It's very confusing. The SEPA HOUSES, THIS RELATES DIRECTLY TO THE EXPERIENCES THEY'VE HAD AS A LANDLORD RENTING TO SEVERAL SECTION 8 TENANTS IS SO IMPORTANT. SO WHAT I THINK IS REALLY IMPORTANT, I'LL PUT THIS BACK, BUT I TOOK THIS FROM OUR PACKET, WHICH I'M NOT SURE HOW PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO ACCESS SUCH A THICK PACKET. Any of you will actually get the chance to read that in its entirety. If you do speed reading, it must be a skill. But our community is not able to do that, especially with the time frames. But I hope you're able to look specifically at the SEPA reporting. And our commissioner just last week actually went through a lot of the numbers that are quite stark that I want to point us out to. A lot of unfulfilled... Zero completions with actuals projected. For example, allocations for permanent supportive housing, expected strategic plan, 0%. What do we have? We have the particularly important to us in renter protections, the TBRA, affordable housing, tenant-based rental assistance. Allocation, 18%, 0%. And a lot of these... These unanswered questions are left with just really vague, vague data here. I want to just point to also the fact that we have an allocation of over a million in the CDBG grants. Let's see, 291,000 of this has been expended during the year. Why? And again, if it's to the zero staffing, then that's a direct admission to the agency's inability to manage, which is why we suggested ad hoc committee, which we were pushed back, suggesting that it may violate HIPAA, which... is not the case and also that there's an existing process that that oversight exists we haven't heard of that process we haven't seen it in action and we see families being destroyed every day Alina couldn't stay here tonight but really wanted her story to be uplifted as they have a disabled child and they were told that they were making things up and that they would be threatened by prosecution and removal of Section 8. So this is so urgent. We hear about delayed deferrals, and really there's a lot of euphemism, there's a lot of language here that's just really covering up the really dark reality. It's sordid, it's painful, and we have to really face it forward. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anyone online? All right, I think we have clear direction on our next step. Let's go ahead and get our motion for this acceptance of this report.

Yes, Mayor. I move that we adopt a resolution approving the HUD required consolidated annual performance and evaluation report, CAPER, for fiscal year 2526, addressing affordable housing and community development needs in the city of Vallejo, with the understanding that we will have a standing agenda item of addressing our housing shortcoming.

That's not the rest of it. What's the other part in terms of working on the contract? Add it all in.

But I don't know that we can have that. I don't know that we can put that into the motion on this item.

I think if we leave it generally as a...

Okay, throw it in there then.

Okay, so with the housing shortcomings, what's the verbiage you would like to...

So our addition to your amendment would be that the city manager will begin to work on the contract within his current authority and then bring back the next phase as it relates to the additional dollars needed. And all of this would be scheduled in succession. So we would be working on this for September. So by the time we hit October, he has a complete process.

Yes.

All right, we can vote.

Motion carries unanimously with Council Member Palmyra's absent.

All right, we're moving on to item 8J, formally 8.2. This is adopter resolution approving and authorizing the response to the 2526 grand jury report regarding Vallejo 911, faster responses, uncertain future. I believe it was Council Member Letergy that pulled this item. Who pulled this item? Ah, Council Member Matias. I'll turn it over to you.

SO I TALKED ABOUT THIS EARLIER WHEN WE WERE GETTING THE PUBLIC SAFETY UPDATE, COUNCIL. I DON'T THERE'S A LINE IN THIS REPORT THAT SPEAKS TO THE ELIMINATION OF POSITIONS THAT I JUST DISAGREE WITH. IT'S NOT ACCURATE. WE CLEARLY GOT A RESPONSE FROM CITY STAFF TODAY. AND SO I WOULD JUST WANT US TO MOVE TO APPROVE THAT REPORT STRIKING OUT THAT SENTENCE THAT SPEAKS TO THE ELIMINATION OF POSITIONS.

That sounds good to me. Can I make one other suggestion, which is that there's a line at the bottom of... I don't even know what page. There's a section on flock safety automatic license plate readers, and there is a line that says to prevent any operational disruptions, the department is prioritizing efforts to stabilize and solidify our long-term vendor contract and funding for flock safety. I'd like to strike that because we have that as a pending item before a couple of our commissions coming back to council. So I'd like to strike that from the report as well. and it sounds like we're getting some nods. Let's check for public comment on this item. Anyone in person, you can just flag. Anyone online? ALL RIGHT, DO YOU WANT TO MAKE A MOTION?

YES, I MOVE THE ADOPTER RESOLUTION APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE RESPONSE TO THE 2025-2026 GRAND JURY REPORT REGARDING VALLEJO 911, FASTER RESPONSES, UNCERTAIN FUTURE, WITH THE ADDITION OF ELIMINATING THE LINE STRIKING OF ELIMINATING POSITIONS, AND I'LL GO AHEAD AND HAVE YOU READ

Yeah, so we're striking. This is really hard because the pages aren't numbered.

Which page of the report, if you don't mind? If you can just count from the report.

So under, on the second page in response to recommendation one, about, it looks like three-fourths of the way down, Council Member Matias, you can correct me if I'm wrong, there is a line that says, the little paragraph that says the city already has a budgetary shortfall of $31 million resulting in significant budgetary challenges with any further contracting. with any further contracting and resulting in 30 unfilled sworn positions eliminated. Is that the one you want? Let's just strike that whole paragraph. That doesn't even make sense. And then striking at the bottom of page four, striking the line to prevent any operational disruptions the department is prioritizing efforts to stabilize and solidify our long-term vendor contract and funding for flock safety.

And we'll vote.

Motion carries unanimously with Council Member Palmeiras absent.

Thank you very much. All right, we have one more that we absolutely have to get through tonight, which is number 8.3. Previously, item 8T, adopt a resolution approving and authorizing the city's response to the 2526 Marin County Grand Jury Report entitled NCE Marin Cleared Energy, a series of missteps highlight need for governance changes and authorizing city clerk to forward the response to the presiding officer. presiding judge of Marin County Superior Court and to the foreperson of the Marin County Civil Grand Jury. Council Member Matias, this was yours as well, so I'll turn it over to you.

Yeah, I mean, I don't know if you guys read that, but that was a pretty damning report, and we didn't even get to talk about it as a council. So right away I thought about, are we making a contribution to this board or this entity? Where's the report out from our appointed member? who isn't here and what responses are we making as a city because it called out all the jurisdictions and said we're all sort of culpable in whatever dysfunction is happening on that board and that affects rate payers it's also tied to service delivery so I don't think we should approve that unless the city attorney tells us there's some statutory deadline or something we We're going to miss until we really get to unpack what it means for the city of Vallejo for its residents and what changes are we going to make with the council to make sure we're not a part of the problem if there is a problem that we're contributing to here.

Yeah, I can say I was the one who I think I received this initially and forwarded it over. That's usually what happens. And the grand jury report. And if I recall, there is a deadline that we have to approve it now to get the response in. But I don't believe responding was mandatory for the city of Vallejo. But for the reasons you just described would be what I would imagine why the city manager felt it important to issue a response. And I do believe... One of the responses, because I skimmed it when I got it, and it was damning. I mean, it was rough. There are a couple of pieces here where the city committed to following up with our appointee and on our processes so we could potentially find some time to follow up. I don't know, city manager, your thoughts on how we can have a more in-depth conversation given the tight time frame when we have to get this thing submitted?

yeah it's this tight tight time frame um uh what's what are the questions what are the concerns i'm sorry i was out in the lobby i mean there's a lot in there my friend uh they're talking about folks not showing up um folks uh people not having the expertise necessary uh you know there's stuff about finances. We also make a financial contribution, I'm assuming as a city to that board. So like, that's a lot to unpack. And we didn't as a board get to talk about what that means. And I do feel like we need to have a conversation because I don't want to be contributing to that problem. It seems like it's systemic because they called out all the cities.

Well, I think that is there a deadline?

So this one is a little bit strange. As the mayor mentioned, I believe, if you look at the last page of the report before the appendices, the last two pages, there are mandatory required responders. We are not one of them. but we are an invited responder. So if you look down, the city was invited to respond to findings four and five and recommendations five and six, which is what the report in front of the council this evening does. It responds to those invited responses. Now, whether a late response will be considered or not, I can't speak to that. I'm sorry, say again.