City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, we'll start our meeting tonight with a roll call from our city clerk, Kathy Valdez.

The record should reflect that all members are present.

And seeing no public comment in the chamber, do we have any via Zoom? No comments via Zoom. We will now adjourn to closed session. An oral report of actions taken in closed session will be presented when the regular meeting commences at 5.30 p.m. All right, we're going to be back to order. We'll start again with a roll call from our city clerk, Kathy Valdez.

The records show that all members are present.

Our city attorney, Walter Chung, will bring us out of closed session.

The city council took no reportable action in closed session today.

Our deputy mayor, Dan O'Donnell, will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance tonight.

All rise, please move your hats. You may begin.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States.

All right, our city clerk, Kathy Valdez, has some procedural items to cover.

Thank you, Mayor. In accordance with the Brown Act, I'd like to announce as a result of convening simultaneous meetings, the members of the Buena Sanitation District will receive compensation of $147.75 for the district meeting pursuant to Buena Sanitation District Ordinance 2006-1. I would like to remind everyone that the VISTA Municipal Code requires members of the public to reserve order and decorum at the meeting and to conduct themselves in a courteous manner. The ordinance was adopted to allow for public input and to facilitate city business without disruption of the meeting. Applause is appropriate for items listed in the presentation portion of the agenda only. Students wishing to receive credit for attending this evening's meeting must stay for a minimum of one hour. However, we ask that you stay for the completion of item rather than leaving in the middle of a discussion. When you are ready to leave, you may ask one of the staff members at the back of the room to sign your paper. Thank you.

To speak on an item on tonight's agenda, please fill out a speaker slip with the number of the item you'd like to speak on and give it to the clerk, secretary, staff here at the dais. Speaker slips are available on the table just outside the council chambers. For members of the public participating via Zoom, you may use the raise your hand feature to indicate you'd like to speak or press star nine on your phone. We will announce when to raise your hand to indicate you'd like to speak and make a comment on the specific items being discussed. Speakers will have three minutes each to address the council this evening. Now we'll go to our city manager, John Connolly, for approval of tonight's agenda.

Thank you, Mayor.

No changes to this evening's agenda. Okay, we have three presentations this evening, so I'd like to invite my fellow council members to join me at the podium for those. All right, there it is. Commander Malin, would you join us up here? Congratulations on the promotion.

Thank you, Mayor. All right. I'll let you show this off.

present a proclamation in honor of our outgoing sheriff's captain who has now been promoted commander and uh... our proclamation reads as follows whereas commander john malan has served the san diego county deputy sheriff uh... served the sheriff's department with distinction since twenty twelve rising to the ranks of deputy sergeant lieutenant while demonstrating integrity and professionalism and unwavering commitment to public safety Commander Malin successfully embraced the department's most challenging assignments, including vital roles in the Special Enforcement Detail SWAT, Major Crimes Division Investigations, a supervisor for child abuse and sex assault investigations, and internal affairs sergeant. He brought his extensive experience to the Ramona substation as Lieutenant in July of 23, strengthening community relations and providing steadfast leadership to his personnel. From December 24th through August 26th, he commanded the Vista Sheriff's Station as Captain, serving in a highly visible, trusted role as a partner to Vista's residents, businesses, and officials while championing accountability and collaboration. His lifetime of service includes a distinguished background in the United States Navy as both an enlisted sailor and a commission officer, embodying a profound dedication to his country and duty. Commander Malin has paired his field leadership with academic excellence, earning an undergraduate degree from UC San Diego and a graduate degree from the University of San Diego. while further giving back as a board member for the San Diego Sheriff's Museum. In August, 2026, his exceptional career achieved another milestone with his promotion to commander, assigning him to lead in the Sheriff's Human Resources Bureau. Whereas the residents of the city of Vista and San Diego County are grateful to Commander Malin, as are all of us here at the city, for his dedicated service and leadership as Vista's captain, which has left a legacy of honor, courage, and compassion. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that we proudly recognize and honor Commander John Malin for his distinguished service, military dedication, and exceptional leadership as captain of the Vista Sheriff's Station. We congratulate him on his promotion to commander and extend our deepest appreciation for his continued commitment to the San Diego County Sheriff's Office. And we hereby proclaim Wednesday, August 26th, 2026, as Commander John Malin Day in the City of Vista.

Thank you, everyone. It never gets easy coming up here and speaking, but I've had the opportunity to serve in some absolutely incredible places on the sheriff's office. But I will tell you that being the captain here in Vista has absolutely been the highlight of my career. Never in my life could I have imagined that Sheriff Martinez or the city of Vista would trust me in this type of position, but thank you very much. I will tell you it's the highlight. simply because of the people. I absolutely love the residents of Vista. I absolutely love the city council. And I will tell you, although the city council doesn't always see eye to eye on a lot of things, they are up here because they genuinely care about the constituents in their district. And I can tell you that everyone in these districts can feel very good and sleep well at night knowing that these individuals are up here representing you. They work very hard and they care for you very much. I'll tell you that the city manager's office is best in the business. Absolutely. Best in the county. I'm actually shocked that the city manager has not been taken away and offered a very high paying job somewhere else. He would never leave, he would never leave. But the city manager's office, all of the directors, you have an absolute A team of individuals here working for you and making this city absolutely incredible. I've served here before as a line level supervisor and that's when I really got to know the community when I was out on the streets working with everybody, interacting with the public. And last but not least, the deputies. The deputies are what keeps things going for us. I mean, they are out there day and night, 365 days a year, responding to the absolute worst case scenarios in people's lives. And whether I'm sitting in the office listening to the radio, whether I get a text or a call in the middle of the night, or whether I come in in the morning and I read a report, I'm in absolute awe of the things that deputy sheriffs and the VISTA fire personnel deal with on a daily basis. And they do it for the residents because they love the residents. AND IT'S ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE THE THINGS THEY DO. SO THANK YOU TO EVERYONE, THANK YOU COUNCIL, THANK YOU CITY MANAGER, DEPUTIES, VISTA FIRE, I MEAN, YOU GUYS ARE DOING INCREDIBLE. I'm going to be replaced by an absolute rock star. It's never easy having someone who's better than you come in and take your job. It makes you feel a little bit small, but I can assure you that Captain Ledoux is going to do an excellent job. I've always looked up to him, and I really wouldn't have wanted anyone else but him to come and take this position. With that being said, thank you. I will never fully leave. As long as I am employed by the sheriff's office, I will always work to improve what's going on in Vista. I will always be there. Everyone knows you can always call me. You all have my cell phones. Even though I'm not assigned here, I'm always here for you guys. So thank you very much. Can we actually have everyone on the dais be able to come down for the picture?

That's everyone. Come on down.

He had a point in his house.

Well, again, a fond farewell and wishes for good things as you move on to your role as commander and had a chance to sit down with our new sheriff's captain. I know he's going to do a great job. We're looking forward to working with him. Thank you, Captain. Thank you, Commander. Okay, our next proclamation is one honoring local heroes Alex Landon and Chris Madero. Chris Madero. Would you join us, please?

Come on up, come on up.

Whereas the city of Vista proudly recognizes employees who demonstrate compassion, professionalism, and a commitment to serving others, our Public Works Department employees, Alex Landon and Chris Madero, recently went above and beyond in coming to the aid of a senior dog trapped in the reeds near the pond at the Buena Vista Park, as we call it here in Vista, the duck pond. Alex and Chris encountered the frightened and exhausted dog struggling to free itself in hot weather and immediately took action to help. With compassion, patience, and determination, Alex and Chris worked together to safely rescue the dog, demonstrating care and professionalism that reflects the highest standards of public service. When a community member witnessed their efforts, contacted the city to express appreciation for their efforts and their actions, noting their willingness to go above and beyond to help an animal in need, and noted that it was deserving of recognition indeed. Thank you to Alex and Chris's efforts. The rescue had the best possible outcome. The senior dog was safely reunited with its owner. Whereas acts of kindness and service such as this strengthen the connection between city employees and our community and demonstrate that public service extends beyond the duties of our job descriptions. Now therefore be it proclaimed by the mayor and the city council that we hereby recognize and commend and proclaim Alex Landon and Chris Madero as heroes for their compassion, dedication, and willingness to step forward when help was needed. Their actions exemplify the very best public service and reflect the care and commitment that city employees bring to the City of Vista and our community every day. The City of Vista extends its deepest gratitude and appreciation to Alex Landon and Chris Madero for embodying the very best of our community through their professionalism and selfless dedication.

Thank you, man.

Good evening, everyone. I just want to say thank you to the City of Vista for this proclamation. It means a lot. And I feel like anyone that was in our shoes would have done the same. And I think we were just there at the right place at the right time. So I hope this spreads positivity. And if someone ever needs help, just lend a hand. So thank you, guys.

Just want to reiterate what Alex said and say thank you to the City of Vista, Mayor, Council, and everybody that's been an example in my life here with the City of Vista. And as he said, continue to do the same and build this community and give back. Thank you.

Thank you.

Do we have more cameras?

Okay, our final proclamation is one honoring local hero, George Lopez. George, come forward, please.

Okay.

Whereas the City of Vista proudly recognizes individuals whose courage, selflessness, and commitment to serving others reflect the highest ideals of public service. Whereas the City of Vista Wave Water Park lifeguard, George Lopez, demonstrated extraordinary bravery and professionalism while off duty at Sunset Cliffs by responding to a life-threatening emergency involving an injured climber who struck his head on the rocks and fell into the ocean. After an off-duty member of the United States Coast Guard entered the water to initiate the rescue, George Lopez immediately followed as the second rescuer, drawing upon his extensive life-saving training and experience to assist in the rescue effort. Working alongside the Coast Guard member and fire rescue personnel, George Lopez helped safely extricate the injured victim from the water, enabling the individual to receive emergency medical care at a local hospital. This courageous act exemplifies the exceptional training, preparedness, and dedication of the City of Vista's Wave Water Park lifeguards, whose life-saving skills extend beyond the workplace and into our community whenever and wherever they are needed. Whereas George Lopez's willingness to act without hesitation, despite being off duty, reflects outstanding character, compassion, and an unwavering commitment to protecting the lives of others, bringing great pride and honor to the City of Vista. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the mayor and the city council of the city of Vista hereby recognize and commend George Lopez for his heroic actions, courage under pressure, and exemplary public service. The city of Vista extends its deepest gratitude and appreciation to George Lopez for embodying the very best of our community through his professionalism, selfless dedication, and commitment to preserving life. His actions serve as an inspiration to his fellow lifeguards, city employees, and all residents of Vista. Would you like to say it?

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has shown up for me. It feels very great for seeing all your faces. And thank you to the city of Vista for giving me this proclamation. I feel very at awe. I never would have thought I would be recognized for just doing the right thing. That day, as you heard, was not just me, but his name's Liam. He's a great guy. He led the Coast Guard. He's probably been shipped off. I wish he was here, too, because I was not the only one who saved that man. Thank you to the wave for giving me the confidence and the training to be confident to jump in that water, putting my life at risk. If I was not a good swimmer, I don't know if I'd be in there. So thank you so much for everyone that showed up and the city of Vista.

Do you have friends and family here? We have George's friends and family. Come on down. Come take a picture with us.

Yeah, yeah.

You made it. I ran. Dying. He's got a lot of friends.

As always, I want to say thank you to our city manager and our fire chief and our sheriff's leadership, our new sheriff's captain. We appreciate the opportunity to recognize heroic service when it happens in the community. So when you have firefighters, deputies, and employees that are deserving of those honors, please let us know and give us the opportunity as a community to honor them. Thank you for doing that.

Okay.

It'll bring us to our oral communications opportunity. Any member of the public may address the city council on agency-related matters not on the agenda by requesting to speak during this section of the agenda. If you're participating via Zoom, please use the raise your hand feature, press star nine now if you'd like to speak. The number of speakers that will be heard during this segment is limited to 10. Any remaining speakers will be heard under the second oral communications item. And let's see, we've got Steve Harvey, Joe Frishman, or Fishman, And Dina Fioras, if you heard your name called, would you go ahead and grab a seat in the front row, be ready to speak? And we'll hear from Steve Harvey first.

I'm Steve Harvey. I live in Green Valley Mobile Home Park, which is on the border of a project that the city of Oceanside is trying to use AB 130 and 131 to jam through. I want to thank you for your wisdom to not let them connect to your sewer system, particularly John and his work. I would ask you also to do what you can to keep them from connecting to the storm drain system. We have 28 coaches that line Buena Vista Creek, some of which are within five feet of that creek because of the continued erosion that's happened. I know it's not your project, and we've mounted a pretty sizable force to go against it, but a very big dollar developer's involved, and by not connecting to the sewer system, you're gonna add millions of dollars to this project. This project on Sunset and Skyhaven is designated for 192 apartments on a rural road, on geologically unsound ground, and in an area with seniors that require medical assistance. In order to build this project, they said it would take 23 months. When does a project ever come in on time? So lives are at stake. I thank you for your wisdom to not let them do that. And I'm hoping you will consider making sure they can't tie into your storm drain system. Thanks for your time.

Next, we'll hear from Joe Frischman.

Hello, my name is Joe Firstman. I live also in the park with Steve and I'm here just to address some of the geological issues. We're all pretty aware of the landslide issues that have occurred over in our area and they're in Sky Haven and Sunset Boulevards. Some of them are ancient, some of them are recent within the last three years. I'd like to also mention the fact that some things have not ever been looked into. We got an ancient volcano right in our backyard. People may or may not know that. And I placed an interesting question, and I did it to Google Gemini. And I said, can an ancient or extinct volcano have lava tubes that cause sinkholes or landslides? The answer came back, bold letters, yes, absolutely. Even if a volcano has been dormant or extinct for thousands or millions of years, its underlying lava tubes can persist and cause both sinkholes and landslides. So that could be a probable cause of what is going on in that area of Oceanside and Vista. We also have Lake Calavera, which is in that area, which is almost exactly level elevation-wise with our I know that that's a man-made lake. And due to that, I think that it's had an effect on the water tables in that area. and so forth. So that would cause them to rise and would also cause excess liquefaction of the ground in that area, especially if we had an earthquake. Another issue with the thing of lava tubes is human surface weight. Heavy machinery roads and building construction over a hidden, shallow, ancient lava tube can exceed the roof's weight threshold, triggering a sudden collapse. That's pretty much what I have to present to you today, but these are additional things that I think that has to be looked into by both the City of Oceanside and VISTA.

Thank you. Now we hear from Adina. Is it Fioras or Flores?

Flores, yeah, thank you for asking. Good evening, council. My name is Adina Flores. I'm actually the leading civil rights activist for Sonoma County, California. I just recently relocated to San Diego County. I'm glad that your sheriffs are here this evening because I do have a working alliance with law enforcement. I do push my rights to the limit and I'm frequently escorted out by law enforcement. So I will get us acquainted before I leave. That being said, I'm very concerned by your leadership at first glance. I was pulling statements of economic interest, and Councilwomen Contreras and Melendez own a publishing company together, so although former articles indicate they are in a relationship, I don't know how they could have a lack of Brown Act violations, especially when it comes to things like talking about sanctuary. I know that across the state of California, because I'm highly involved in politics, we have white liberals and token BIPOC puppets pushing for sanctuary. I'm highly against this because I am litigating, I'm the victim advocate for over 40 undocumented boys raped and trafficked at Boys and Girls Club. In Sonoma County, it is a trafficking hub, Sanctuary is because liberals want slave labor and they also want to traffic the undocumented. So I'm going to start looking into if that is the same thing here. I'm concerned referring back to the statements of economic interest for council members Contreras and Melendez because it appears that your council stipend is around $40,000 a year per council person. So that would mean collectively they're making $80,000 with no other income. I don't find that realistic in California. So oftentimes, liberals like to launder money through nonprofits. I work doing background investigations for PI firms. I'm also an investigative journalist. So I will be pulling everyone's Form 700s and make sure that we're not laundering money through fake nonprofits and then funding political campaigns because that seems to be happening statewide. God bless you guys, and I'm so excited to be in Sonoma County and San Diego County as well.

All right. Now we're going to hear on Zoom from Becky Rapp and then Judy Schroyer and then Peggy Walker. Becky Rapp.

Yes, good evening. My name is Becky Rapp, and tonight I'd like to bring to your attention a recent study that was published just days ago in JAMA Psychiatry by researchers from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The study analyzed more than 160,000 adults using data from 2021 through 2024. The researchers found that cannabis use disorder is increasing, while alcohol use disorder has declined. The study is critical because it addresses a very important misconception, and that is that marijuana is safer than alcohol. That comparison is being used to justify expanding marijuana access and products across the country. According to the study, in 2024, more than one in three men who used marijuana, that's 36%, had responses consistent with cannabis use disorder. Among women who used marijuana, it was more than one-fourth, at 27%. And for young adults, the numbers are even more alarming. The CDC is also clear when it identifies cannabis use disorder and warns about impairment and other health risks. Its own materials say cannabis can result in psychoactive effects. So when someone says marijuana is safer than alcohol, we should point out that this is not the standard we should use for public policy. We should not be choosing between two public health problems. If alcohol-related disorder is declining, why would we want to fill that space with increasing pot marijuana products? Council members, please follow the science, not the industry talking points. Marijuana use disorder is increasing, the severity is increasing, and our policies should reflect that reality. Thank you.

Next is Judy Stroyer, followed by Peggy Walker. Judy Stroyer.

Yes, can you hear me?

Yes.

All right, great. To your board and VISTA, thank you for allowing free speech. At a recent meeting in California, we have... The public is being shut down for saying things that board members don't like. And the problem is that we have State Bill 707 that went into effect to allow people with various viewpoints to express themselves. Um, some problems that we're having currently is that there's double standards in, um, free speech and some people determine, uh, that free speech means whatever feels comfortable to me versus, you know, some people's call things hate and want to hang, hang up on the phone and delete people's comments. Uh, the Supreme court's been really clear about hate speech. And they say that there's no restriction there. And your boards are in the Brown Act and the First Amendment. Bind your boards to allow for people to speak freely. One thing that I would like to propose, which is within your purview, is that you guys do a month for the protection of white people and national socialists. When we hear people bring up national socialist principles or defend white people, those groups are marginalized very quickly. They're called Nazis and white supremacists, and they're shut down and they're marginalized and hated. And that hate is commended. And we are anyone, you know, gets their virtue points by saying Nazi and using slurs against whites and white. white supremacists and Nazis and so on, these people also have rights. They have rights to be heard. And every time that they try to speak, they're silenced and marginalized with hateful words. And the word white supremacy, this whole idea of whites being overrepresented and doing some kind of replacement or something, You talk about gentrification and displacement. People should think about our demographics in our country in 1960 versus right now and think about who is actually being displaced and if that's being done organically or if it's being done to us on purpose. When we think about things like white supremacy, people seem to stand on a soapbox and come up with declarations that say you can't let white guys say anything that can offend somebody. But when we have these other groups, they come up and they just go on and on, even other white people, and they say how bad whites are and how they need to be held back with this program or another. There's different viewpoints. All of them need to be heard. But also the viewpoint of the whites and the national socialists, even if you guys want to call them Nazis and hateful or whatever, people think it's hateful to restrict free speech during three years of genocide. And people think it's hateful that your bodies sign oaths or swear under oath to uphold the First Amendment.

Okay, next we'll hear from Peggy Walker, followed by IOS. Peggy Walker.

Thank you. Good evening. My work aims to prevent use substance use, prevent the progression to dependence and prevent consequences associated with drug use. Because August is substance abuse prevention month, I've come with a request. As rates rise for underage marijuana use, related child poisonings, cannabis, hyperemesis syndrome, psychosis, addiction, early stroke and heart attack, violence, and suicide, I respectfully ask you to support legislation to cap THC potency in marijuana products. Other jurisdictions are doing this. It makes sense in light of the recent statement by our national office of drug policy, medical chief and a San Diego and Dr. Ronnie love. She has called marijuana the number 1 drug of addiction. Experts say marijuana is the hardest addiction to treat with fewer medications for recovery than for opioids and even a methamphetamine. High potency THC raises the risk of marijuana addiction. Through my youth substance use prevention work, I witnessed firsthand marijuana's devastating effects on young people. Kids are especially vulnerable to high potency THC due to ongoing brain development until age 26. Early use negatively impacts decision making, impulse control, emotions, and has lasting effects on brain structure, function, and behavior. Marijuana accounts for about half of admissions for youth age 12 to 17 into substance use treatment reflecting the fact, sadly, that Prop 64 has failed its promise to keep our kids safe. We don't want youth to access marijuana, but they do. THC caps could help lessen negative health impacts. Thank you.

Next, we'll hear from the caller identified as iOS.

Yes. Hi. Can you guys hear me?

Yes.

Perfect. Thank you so much. Good afternoon, council members. My name is Carlos Donato, and I'm speaking on behalf of the Third Hand Smoke Resource Center at San Diego State University. Thank you for the opportunity to speak today. The center focuses on educating communities and decision makers about the chemical residue left behind by tobacco, cannabis, and other forms of smoking and vaping, and the implications these residues may have for public health and the environment. While many people are familiar with the secondhand smoke, there is growing research on thirdhand smoke, which refers to the chemical residue that remains on surfaces and dust and within building materials after smoking or vaping has occurred. According to research summarized by our center, cannabis smoke and vapor can create a third hand smoke residue similar to that produced by tobacco products. Studies have found that THC and other chemicals from cannabis smoke and vapor can accumulate in indoor surfaces, collect in dust, and become absorbed into materials such as carpets, furniture, clothing, and building materials. Although exposure to cannabis-related third-hand smoke residue will not cause intoxication, these residues can contain some of the same toxic and cancer-causing chemicals that have been identified in tobacco smoke residue. In California, workplace health and safety standards emphasize the importance of protecting employees from harmful exposures Policies that reduce indoor smoke and vapor, including cannabis smoke, can help ensure that workers are not involuntarily exposed to potential hazardous residues as part of their daily job responsibilities. Strengthening local regulations that align with these protections can support safer working conditions and help employers meet their obligations to provide a healthy work environment. The center's research also shows that chemical residue from smoke accumulates on people's clothes, skin, hair, which they can carry home to their families. That is, workers that customers of cannabis lounges would transport toxic smoke chemicals home, where they will lead to exposure of a family member, their kids, their friends, or anyone who would never visit a cannabis lounge. The research also provides context for discussions regarding odor and neighborhood impacts. Smoke and vapor emissions do not simply disappear after use. They can settle onto the surfaces and remain in indoor environments. This can contribute to persistent odors and residue accumulation in spaces where smoking or vaping occurs. Thank you for the time, for the attention being given to this issue. We appreciate the opportunity to share our work and to be a resource to the community.

Next, we'll hear from Omar Asakal.

Hi, can you hear me?

Yes, I can.

All right. Good evening, mayor and members of council. My name is Amirat Chikan and my backyard directly above the unhosted short-term rental, STR, known on Airbnb as the backyard dream. If this property catches fire, my home catches fire. For years, I have filed reports with code enforcement regarding systematic safety and zoning violations at this STR. I even spoke directly with our local fire marshal and my concerns were completely ignored today. I'm entering direct photographic proof into the official public records. So the city can no longer claim ignorance. I sent an earlier email with the pictures. I don't think I can show them here, but I'm going to describe some of the violations. 1st violation is an immediate severe fire hazard against my property line. The owners operate an open flame grill directly under combustible would would overhang violating section 301.1.4 of the California fire code, which mandates a 10 foot clearance from a fire source. Instead of enforcing the state law, the city allowed the owner to screw a narrow stainless steel plate directly onto the wood ceiling as a makeshift shield. Metal is a thermal conductor, trapping extreme heat against timber causes paralysis, which chemically bakes the wood over time, lowers its auto-ignition point, and creates a hidden fire risk right above an open flame. The fire marshal's refusal to cite this is a blatant failure of public safety. The second violation the city is failing to enforce is its own short-term rental ordinance. Well, I cannot hold the listing, but the listing shows that this property can host 12 guests. On paper, this is a five-bedroom home. VISTA's ordinance strictly caps occupancy at two guests per bedroom plus one additional guest for the unit. The maximum legal limit for a five-bedroom home is 11 guests. They are bypassing city law on a public platform every week by using a pull-out sofa couch in a common living room as a makeshift extra sleeping zone. A common shared room cannot be counted as a legal bedroom to cheat the city occupancy caps. So as a summary, this is a formal documentation of a systematic enforcement failure on the city. By allowing an overcapacity commercial hotel to operate a code-defying fire hazard directly against my property line, the city is assuming massive civil liability. If this structure catches fire and destroys my home, the paper trail will prove the city was warned for years and choose to do nothing.

Our next caller on Zoom is Mr. and Mrs. Black, followed by Madison. That'll be our first 10 oral communication speakers. There are others, I think, on Zoom that want to be heard. We'll hear from those speakers at the end of our meeting. So our next speaker is Mr. and Mrs. Black.

Yes, hello. My name's Jamondre Black. And first off, I want to say that I agree with the lady that was speaking earlier about it's great that we're able to come to these city councils and talk with the SB 707. And I think that the Constitution in America is very good for all of us. And so basically my story is that My little brother, DeAndre, was killed in 2023 by gang violence. And I would just like the city to do something here about the black-on-black crime. I feel like it's getting out of control, and we really need more unity.

I recognize this voice as the person who was recognized to speak earlier. He's already had his three minutes. Please cut his microphone off.

I have not spoken yet. I have not spoken. You cannot infringe on my concentration.

This individual already spoke earlier. We recognize his voice. He's already had his opportunity to speak for three minutes. Next, we'll hear from Madison.

Hi, good evening, city council members. I'm speaking tonight on my concern about how normalized cannabis has become in our communities, and especially about the ways that marijuana products can reach children. This week, California lawmakers passed a be 2249 a bill specifically designed to crack down on cannabis packaging that appeals to children. The bill identifies cartoons unicorns and dragons child oriented celebrities and characters Andy and serial imagery and even bubble style lettering as examples of packaging that can attract young people. And I think it's important to ask why does the state need a bill this specific if the existing rules were already working? The answer is they aren't working well enough. The state auditor has confirmed what many parents have been saying. Cannabis products continue to be packaged and marketed in ways that are attractive to children. The bill's author also cited dramatically increased child cannabis poisonings with accidental exposures, sometimes requiring treatment by poison control. California is now trying to close loopholes and give regulators better tools to prevent these products from looking like something made for kids. But Vista should not wait until Sacramento acts or until another child is accidentally exposed. I urge this council to take every opportunity available to strengthen local cannabis oversight, protect children from normalization and accidental exposure, and make youth prevention a priority. Because when a product can be mistaken for candy, cereal, or something from a child's world, we have a responsibility to make sure children are protected from it. Thank you.

Okay, and again, to those who are waiting on Zoom to speak, you'll have your opportunity for real communication at the end of our meeting. This is going to bring us to our consent calendar this evening. The recommendations of the following consent calendar will be enacted in one motion unless an item is removed from the calendar. Any member of the public may remove an item by submitting a request to speak card to the clerk secretary by using the raise their hand feature on Zoom or by pressing star nine. Items removed from the consent calendar will be considered immediately following the adoption of the calendar. We have seven consent items this evening. Deputy Mayor O'Donnell.

Move to approve consent.

I'll second that. Council Member Contreras.

Am I able to just register my no vote on C6? So I just want that noted. I do not agree with the Monta Vista development over there. I just want to be consistent with the other votes that I've had. Thank you.

Very good. Okay, we have a motion, a second. Please cast your votes. Okay, that motion is passed with five in favor and noting that Council Member Contreras objected to item C6. That'll bring us to our first discussion item this evening. regarding Buena Vista Navigation Center renewal options. If any member of the public wishes to speak on this item, they may indicate so by using the raise your hand feature by pressing star nine or submitting a request to speak card at this time. Speakers will be called upon after the presentation. Our Housing and Homeless Services Division Manager, Jonathan Leung, will introduce the item.

Thank you and good evening, Mayor, City Council Members. This item solicits a discussion from the City Council regarding renewal options for the Buena Creek Navigation Center. Also with me tonight is management analyst, Catalina Langan, who will provide a portion of the staff presentation. On September 12th, 2023, the city council discussed the city's access to emergency shelter beds at existing North County shelters and directed staff to recommend a complimentary emergency shelter resource to fill unmet needs and provide additional shelter capacity. Shortly after on September 26th, 2023, the city council approved master leases and a request for proposals for the Buena Creek Navigation Center or BCNC, which was designed as a semi-congregate homelessness navigation center that accommodated couples and pets. On January 9th, 2024, the City Council approved an agreement with Retread Incorporated to provide BCNC operator services. On January 9th, 2025, the City Council approved a first amendment to the agreement with Retread to continue operator services for an additional year. And on January 27th, 2026, a second amendment was approved for a third year of BCNC services through December 31st, 2026. Because the city has exercised all available renewal terms in its agreement with retread and the original funding source will have exhausted at the end of the current term. Tonight, staff is recommending that the city council discuss options for continuation of BCNC operations beyond the current calendar year and provide direction to staff.

Okay, we have two members of the public that wish to be heard. We'll start with Andrea Weiss and then hear from Hannah. Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you concluded, forgive me. Your pause was long enough to make me think it was. Sorry about that.

The operating costs for the Buena Creek Navigation Center for calendar year 2027 are as follows. $528,000 for the master lease costs associated with 2148, 2162 to 64, and 2170 to 72 South Santa Fe. $1,811,792 for personnel costs including services coordination, administration costs, food services, client assistance funds, cleaning, insurance, vehicle costs, transportation, repairs and maintenance, classes and other expenses for a total of $2,339,792. From program inception through June, 2026, the BCNC has served 587 total clients and recorded 543 program exits. Overall, 57% of exits resulted in positive destinations. This includes 38% to permanent housing and 19% to temporary housing or other transitional settings that continued clients pathway toward long-term housing stability. Permanent housing outcomes included placements into market rate and subsidized rental housing, permanent reunification with family or friends, home ownership, and long-term care facilities. Temporary positive destinations included transitional housing, substance use disorder treatment programs, medical facilities, hotels, and temporary reunification with family or friends. Across all exits, the overall length of client stay was an average of 65 days. However, clients who exited to permanent housing had an average stay of 87 days, and clients who exited to any positive destination had an average stay of 83 days. This data shows that longer engagement in shelter and case management is associated with improved housing outcomes. Upcoming actions to support continued operations staff have submitted a request for additional state earmark funding through Senator Catherine Blakespeare's office and an application for 2026 continuum of care funding to support BCNC operations for an additional two years based on retreads to your budget for calendar year 2027 and 2028. However, on August 7th, 2026, a federal court vacated HUD's 2026 COC NOFO, to which the city applied, which means this particular application is no longer under consideration for funding. As of today, no funding awards have been announced, but are expected to be in the coming months. Additionally, the memorandum of understanding between the City of Encinitas and the City of Vista expires December 31st, 2026. Beyond December 31st, the City of Vista would utilize the full BCNC, increasing capacity to a total of 48 beds. As the city continues pursuing the acquisition and development of a permanent navigation center, staff recommend extending BCNC's operations for at least one additional year to ensure continuity of interim housing services. Staff recommend that the city council discuss the use of funds from the permanent navigation center capital account which currently maintains a balance of $6.35 million to fund one year of BCNC operator services, approximately $2.3 million, should the requested earmark and COC funding not be awarded. If directed to continue BCNC's operations beyond the current term, staff will return to recommend formal agreements to continue operations based on the funding options presented above, and if directed not to renew the BCNC beyond its current term, intakes at the BCNC will cease immediately, Because client stays are eligible for up to 120 days, this would allow for the program to wind down and have no remaining clients on site at the expiration of all service and lease agreements on December 31st, 2026. This concludes staff's presentation. We are prepared to receive council direction and are available to respond to any questions.

Okay, now we'll hear from members of the public. Andre Weiss and then Hannah Gailey. Good to see you.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, members of the City Council, city staff, and members of our community. My name is Andre Weiss, and I serve as Security Coordinator for Retread Housing Services at the Buena Creek Navigation Center. Thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. Before I worked at Buena Creek, I was someone who needed help myself. I personally experienced homelessness, addiction, and instability, and Green Oak Ranch became an important part of changing the direction of my life. At Green Oak Ranch, I found more than a recovery program. I found structure, accountability, encouragement, faith, and people who believed my past did not have to determine my future. Under the leadership of Hannah Gailey and others who invested in me, I learned to take responsibility, serve others, and turn some of the hardest experiences of my life into tools for helping somebody else. That journey eventually brought me to Retread and the Buena Creek Navigation Center. Today, I have the privilege of helping people who are facing circumstances I once faced. face myself. When someone comes to Buena Creek feeling defeated or believing that their situation will never change, I understand something about where they are coming from. More importantly, I know where they are today does not have to be where their story ends. Retread has continued the investment in me that began at Green Oak Ranch. I have been encouraged to pursue education, professional certifications, and specialized trainings, including becoming a certified Medi-Cal peer support specialist. Our staff members are also growing professionally and turning lived experience into meaningful service. Under the leadership of Hannah Gailey, Program Director Pete Haggard, and with the work of Nanette Steenstra and our entire team, we strive to treat every person entrusted to us with dignity. We help people pursue housing, employment, healthcare, benefits, treatment, and other resources. But sometimes the first thing someone needs is simply a person willing to listen and believe that change is possible. Personally, I thank God for the opportunity I've been given to serve others and to be part of this work. Green Oak Ranch has helped change the direction of my life, retread, helped me turn that changed life into service. The Buena Creek Navigation Center now gives me the opportunity to extend that hope to others. As you consider the future of this program, I respectfully ask you to remember the people behind the numbers. I am one of them. If given the opportunity to continue serving VISTA, I know Retread will continue doing so with integrity, competence, compassion, commitment, and love. Thank you for your time, your consideration, and for allowing me to serve the community of VISTA. Thanks, Andre. Next is Hannah Gailey.

Thank you to the entire city council. We have had the best time. In April of 2023, we filed for a new nonprofit. We did not know what we were gonna do with that nonprofit, so we started coming to city council meetings and heard about the BCNC and the potential for that. We learned everything we could about homelessness, I hired an incredible staff who had much more experience and knowledge than I did. And we... We cannot express what it has meant to serve the homeless in the city of Vista. We have successfully housed 166 Vista residents who were experiencing homelessness in permanent housing, and that has been incredible. 90% of our staff has lived experience in addiction and or homelessness, and that creates a level of empathy that we could not manufacture. And then most of our staff has had the opportunity to further their education. Andre is just one of them. Almost everyone on staff is enrolled in an AOD program, is using the Rising Scholars opportunities, and we pass that along to the residents at the BCNC as well. We would love to continue serving the city of Vista for many, many years to come in any capacity. And we hope that we get to continue next year. Thank you.

And Daniel Sturman. On Zoom.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can.

Hey, folks, how you doing? I just want to say, as a citizen of City Vista, I really appreciate the work that Retread's done there. Just want to highlight that their numbers are consistently above COC standards for homeless emergency shelters. Really great to see. It's great to see them publicly getting the community's support to help keep the BCNC looking nice and tidy there. And I think one of the most important things I'd like you to reflect upon is their ability to keep staff Um, you know, 1 of the things that most nonprofits struggle with is, is having the ability to have staff stick around for extended period of time. So it's really great to see the team there develop over the past couple of years doing the work they do. Thank you.

That's an excellent point and I'll second it. Almost the entire team I think is still intact and you got a great group of people and you've been doing a great job and we're very proud of the work that you've done. It's a great source of pride for all of us here on the council that we had a great idea that you've executed on And we're really grateful to you for that. Thank you to your entire team. We appreciate that.

I'll add quickly, too, if I may. Andre was recognized at the 2025 RTFH Conference as Intake Specialist of the Year. Yeah, which is great. I want to recognize the entire town. Excellent work.

I appreciate you being willing to share your story and use it to help others. Thank you. All of your colleagues that do the same thing. Okay, let's hear from Council Member Melendez.

Yes, thank you for that presentation. This has been an item that we have been closely tracking, right, because we know not owning the building means that we are coming to the end of a term with the Boynton Creek Navigation Center. I'm incredibly impressed by the success of this program. We obviously have an excellent group of people through retread that are providing services and I don't want that to stop. I think the biggest question that the council and the homelessness standing committee and now our recently formed homelessness commission have to contend with is what is the future home for this homeless services? And that includes sheltering people. We have taken a stand as a city where many other cities are Removing funding they are shutting down shelters at the City of Vista. We're not doing that. We understand that this is a humanitarian Need that is essential for life people need a place to sleep and we didn't just you know pile people into a shelter and call it a day. We move forward with a model that I advocated for from the very beginning where there would be personalized care, there would be privacy, there would be individualism, and there would be treatment that is effective and not going to result in the same recidivism that we've seen time and time again. I appreciate the one speaker who talked about the standards across the board and how the Boynton Creek Navigation Center and what has been delivered by retread far surpasses what we see from other programs. So, you know, as someone who wants to be a good administrator of these types of programs, I think that we have a win here and I want us to continue to see this, I want to see the continuance of this program. I know that this has been a passion of the entire council. You all know that this was, the reason why I ran for office is because I came from a background of homeless services and I was tired of being told that no, we can't have affordable housing, we can't have a shelter, so just know that it can be done, right? It's a matter of political will. And we have not allowed this discussion to be political. We have truly focused on what is best and what is going to be responding to that human need. But this issue has been contentious, right? There have been at times members of the public who have come and spoken against us creating a shelter. right, or services. We have explored other shelter options beyond this current site and we've gotten a lot of pushback, right? So anytime you want to try something new, people might see it as provocative, right, or see it as threatening. But the outcomes of this program is such great evidence to the contrary that we are actually doing something positive and good. So I would absolutely make a motion to further staff's recommendations and discuss the funding of 6.35 million for the continuation of another year. but i do need to pose to my council what are we going to do next because this is a project that we've been working on i've had several meetings myself and the mayor where we have investigated alternatives to this rental location and um there have been some barriers, right? And some of that has been those controversies and pushback from the public, which I've been transparent about and I expressed my disappointment about, right? I'm tired of the lies and the fear, right? This idea that if you build something for people experiencing homelessness, if you provide for services for people experiencing homelessness, that it's gonna bring in all sorts of bad people. That's not what that is, right? We're not... We're not providing services to bad people. We're providing services to people experiencing homelessness, and they've gotten into those circumstances for a whole host of reasons that many of us can really understand. So we do have some challenges to overcome. I appreciate staff working so diligently as well. Jonathan, you have been given a lot of direction and I wanna be really clear that this is not a staff inadequacy. We do not have an alternative site because the decision makers have not been able to come together really deliver that for you. So staff has been incredible on this process. They've done a lot of work, a lot of research, a lot of site visits, and still we've yet to come to a decision. So we're kind of kicking the can down the road and I don't like that. So I'm gonna contend to that with my counsel, but I really just want to say great job. This is incredible work. We cannot stop doing this work. It is so important. And yeah, I just hope that we can, I can get support from the Council to continue, at least for the short term. Thanks.

Council Member Contreras.

Yeah, I'm a huge second on the motion. I just wanna say that the work that you're doing is so deeply touching. It is so incredible because our family, our friends, our neighbors for a long time have needed help. And we finally have a partnership that feels like a partnership where we can be transparent with one another and where The folks that are doing the outreach that are helping folks get stable, each one of these positive exits is a mini miracle in itself because so many people have failed, so many systems have failed that individual And I can see why some folks just don't even wanna try anymore. But you all give them hope. You give them a reason to take that next step forward. And that's not easy work. And I wanna see it continue because this is a model that everybody should know about. Everybody should know about the Buena Creek Navigation Center. Everybody in the nation should know about the work that we're doing in this partnership and the hard work that you do 24-7. Because we know that folks need help every single hour of the day. And you're there. So it is... The least that I can do is to second the motion and make sure that we provide more funding to continue this service. And I am very committed to trying to figure out where we can put a permanent navigation center. I'm not so interested in trying to find a place where we're just warehousing people. That is not, the right way to approach a population that has experienced a lot of trauma. This approach that we have taken and that we have created together in this partnership is the way that we have success, that people can live a dignified life like they have always wanted to but have had so many missteps and false promises But when they reach the door of the Buena Creek Navigation Center, they know that it's not just a promise that will be broken. They know that you're there for them. And I thank you so much for that work. That's all I have to say. I look forward to many years of partnership and for us to continue to grow. and make sure that we are reaching everybody possible. And sometimes that means that we have to reach people multiple times over several years, and we gotta be okay with that. And I know that you all have that commitment to continue to have those discussions, because 20 denials on that 21st time that you ask, it might be that perfect time where they're just ready to say, I'm gonna give it a try with you all. So thank you for treating people with dignity. Thank you for respecting humanity. And thank you for sharing your own stories with us and folks that you're helping. So I just want to say thank you.

Deputy Mayor O'Donnell.

What's the runway before we hear back from the Senator's office? We expect before the end of the calendar year. So there's potential that we'll have that funding source prior to needing to actually exercise putting the money in. I do support it. I think the work and to the Council Member Melendez's point, You all have done a fantastic job trying to find an alternate site. I know that it's been challenging. We've been faced with our own challenges, especially with the discussions that we've had. But keep up the good work on that end because I know that we will find one. It's just a matter of time. The other question I have is, is there anybody that you're aware of in the region that even comes close to the standard that's been set by this navigation center?

I don't believe so. Like it was mentioned earlier during public comments, the COC standards, or I should say this program's exit rate far exceeds the COC standards. So objectively speaking, compared to what most of the region expects, we are performing at a much higher level.

I appreciate that. And to Hannah and your team, thank you for the work that you do. In the few times that I have been there, The amount of times in the conversations I had with not just staff, but the residents there, the hope, the positivity, the energy that exists, it all makes a difference. You've probably all heard the story about my aunt that lived on the streets on and off for 10 years, so I'm not going to tell it again. But it is to the point like multiple attempts to get her to get the help and services she needed. And finally it got through. And so the work that you do is incredible for this community. It is definitely needed. I wish that we could have a bigger facility. and build this one out. I wish that we could have a city-owned property so we can do this thing even better than what we're doing now. And I know that we will get there. It might be a little bit of a road ahead, but I know that we will get there. And hopefully you are all the partners that we choose because you have done and you have earned it. You have done a fantastic job and to see the success rates that come out of this and know that there is nobody else doing what you're doing there, like literally no one. So I just echo the same comments of this council, say thank you, I support it wholeheartedly, and I look forward to finding you a permanent location, but we'll continue to support this one until we do.

I support all the good things that were said. when we made homelessness our number one goal. I've repeatedly asked and the council has kept it as our number one goal. One of the things that was important to me was that we could look at every member of our community and tell them with an honest heart that we've provided a bed for everybody that was willing to say yes. And that's one of the things I talked to our sheriff's captain in my first meeting with him about earlier today. I ask them to come visit you. I think it's important for everybody in public safety and throughout our community to know what we're doing at the Navigation Center. I want everybody in Vista to know when they see people on our streets, because oftentimes the thought is nobody's doing anything. We are doing a lot, and we have a lot of real people who have benefited from our efforts to end homelessness. It's a big effort, and we're probably not going to get it done in the next month or year, but we're going to keep working to end it, because we have to, because it's the right thing to do. So I support this, and... I do want to, I would love to see that money that we set aside for permanent building. I would love to see it used for that purpose. I hate to cannibalize any of it for operations, but it's available for this purpose. So hopefully the money will come through from Senator Blakespeare. We would praise and appreciate her for being able to do that. I'd like to suggest that we maybe work with some of our friends in the charitable community. I think we should develop a solicitation to go to like the San Diego Foundation. And if we haven't at least asked them to come visit the center and make a contribution supporting our annual budget, You know, there's got to be a million or two million dollars of charitable money. You know, many wealthy individuals have family charitable trusts that require them to disperse a minimum of two percent of the balance every year. And they're looking for organizations to support. They have to be a qualified 501c3 organization. But I think it's time for us to partner with some organization to raise charitable funding to support our works, which are purely charitable. There's certainly a governmental purpose there, but they're also very charitable. So I think it would make sense for us to do that. So I'd like to ask council's direction for the city manager and our housing services director to pursue that. And Council Member Melendez.

Yes, Mayor, I would add that to my motion if the seconder would support that as well.

Thank you. Council Member Contreras.

Yeah, I think that's a fantastic idea. If you don't ask, you will never receive. So I'm 100% in favor of that amendment.

Very good. Thank you both. Okay, seeing no other requests to speak, thank you again for your good work, and we'll have a vote. Okay, that's passed unanimously, so we look forward to another year of your good efforts at REACH-RED and the BCNC. Thank you. Okay.

You can clap, it's fine.

Well, technically it's a violation of our ordinance that I'm required to call. But thank you. Okay. Our second discussion item is one regarding a street lighting assessment project update. If any member of the public wish to speak on this item, it may indicate so by using the raise your hand feature, pressing star nine, or submitting a request to speak card. Speakers will be called upon after the presentation. And our Management Analyst, London Adams, and Senior Engineer, Gabe Grew, will provide the staff report.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and members of the City Council. My name is London Adams, Management Analyst. With me up here, I have Gabe Grewy, Senior Engineer. Tonight, I will be providing an update on the Street Lighting Assessment Project, CIP number 8385.

Welcome, Gabe Grewy. I promise not to mess your name up next time. I understand you're new to our team.

Been here a little bit, but just recent promotion.

Very good. Well, welcome. And it's about a year now and you just recently promoted. Good. Thanks. Well, nice to get to meet you. Let's see. You have a presentation before we hear from this? Yes. Very good. It's all yours. Hit that green button in front, that red button in front of you and turn it green. Oh, you're going to do the...

Yes. I will be presenting tonight, Mayor. Yes.

I thought you were introducing him to do the- No worries, yes.

I will be presenting tonight.

There's usually a tag team thing going on here.

Yes, Gabe will be up here answering questions at the end of the presentation.

Okay, all yours.

For the pilot program, the city began this effort with a pilot program that was completed in March 2025. As part of the pilot, 12 solar streetlights were installed in a neighborhood west of North Melrose along Cocopah, Tatum, Spires, and Onley. The pilot allowed staff to evaluate the performance of solar lighting before expanding the program. Following the pilot program, council approved phase two on January 13th, 2026. Phase two included 97 additional solar streetlights allocations throughout the city. Engineering staff coordinated the construction and installation and phase two was completed this year in May, 2026. At the April 14th Council meeting, Council provided three primary directions to staff. First, Council directed staff to use the Community Safety Commission's point-based prioritization criteria when evaluating future solar streetlight locations. Second, Council directed staff to move the planned solar streetlights from Salina Court to East Drive. And third, council directed staff to develop a petition process that residents can use to both request streetlights and oppose streetlight installations. Staff has incorporated each of those directions into the work presented tonight. For phase three, staff reviewed city's current inventory of streetlight requests. We currently have 74 requested locations, and after evaluating those locations and determining the number of lights that would be needed at each location, staff identified 124 proposed streetlight locations. To determine which location should receive the highest priorities, staff used the point-based framework recommended by the Community Safety Commission. The criteria places the greatest weight on crime, with two points assigned to locations identified as having a high crime rate. One point is then assigned for each of the individual criteria shown here. A high collision area, no existing lighting, high pedestrian activity, no sidewalks, no crosswalk or stop signs, and whether the location serves as a route to public transportation or the city center. The purpose of the scoring system is to give staff a consistent and objective way to compare requests throughout the city. Rather than determining priority based only on when a request was received, the system has allowed us to focus available funding on locations demonstrating the greatest public safety need. Staff then scored and ranked the requested locations using those criteria to establish the phase three priority list. In addition to the prioritization process, staff developed the streetlight petition process in response to Council's April direction. The petition process gives residents a formal way to demonstrate neighborhood support, either for the installation of a streetlight or for opposition of a streetlight in their neighborhood. Turning to the project budget, approximately 1.3 million remains available for the project. The estimated construction costs for all 124 proposed solar streetlights is approximately 1.21 million. When we include a 15% allowance for overhead, soft costs, and contingency, the total planning level estimate increases to approximately 1.4 million. That is approximately $67,000 above the current available project budget. Based on the current estimates, staff anticipates that the existing budget can support approximately 121 solar streetlights. I do want to emphasize this is a planning level estimate. The final number of lights will depend on the final locations, design requirements, and procurement, and actual construction costs after the list returns once staff reviews the petitions that come back from residents. Staff's intent is to maximize the number of priority streetlights that can be installed within the existing project budget. Tonight's staff recommends that the city council receive the update on phase three of the street lighting assessment project and adopt city council resolution number 2026, approving city council policies 614, community petition process for street light installation. This includes staff's presentation and we are available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Now we have a speaker on Zoom labeled calling user. Zoom caller, can you hear us?

Hello, my name is Gordon Orbison, and regarding streetlights, we can't have any streetlights because I hate trannies, and gender ideology should not be taught in schools, and we should not be talking about this because DEI is a major freaking emergency, and we need to stop trannies. They be our women in sport. They creep on women in the bathroom they rape our women in county jails and this is what you're talking about god bless america god bless donald our eternal president donald trump and god bless israel and god bless text outy okay no idea what that person said uh deputy mayor o'donnell don't encourage him to call back um could you remind me the cost of each individual streetlight

Yeah, so each one's about, it depends on the type of street light that's installed, but the standard steel pole street light, the majority of them, that would be installed around 9,600 each.

What goes into the design phase?

By the way, we're going to close the opportunity for public comment on this item at this time.

Sorry.

Get that in there before it became an issue.

What does the design phase look like? I feel like, because these are all just, you put the concrete in the ground, they attach it and So I'm just curious if that's incorporated into the cost or is that an additional cost on top of the actual unit?

It's incorporated into the budget that was provided. It's a pretty short design phase. Pretty much the design is almost complete. Just placing locations on the maps.

All right. I appreciate that clarification because I'm like, what are we really designing on this? So good. Listen, I appreciate all the work that's gone into this. I know that we're This has been a fantastic program, by the way. I appreciate this council for bringing this forward and adopting it because I've heard very few complaints about this program. In fact, when I say few, I mean like maybe two in the entirety of it. But I'm going to move to accept staff recommendation on this. Keep up the great work. I don't believe I had any other questions beyond that. But yeah, I'll look forward to funding it further in the future.

Council Member Contreras.

Yeah, I'll go ahead and second the motion. This is a fantastic program and I'm really excited for the implementation of this phase. I'm gonna get to see a lot of lights in my district where they've been needed for a long time, especially because we continue to grow and get more dense and folks are, are walking to the store, you know, late at night. And this is going to be great. It's going to be great for Safe Routes to School in tandem with some of the other things that we're doing, especially when we get to winter and... it gets dark sooner. So fantastic. And my favorite thing is to be able to fire SDG&E. And so when we go solar, we get to say you're fired. So I'm totally about that. So thank you so much. I do appreciate my counsel for this program and for funding it, and please, to the public, we got this petition process, so if you want it, you know what to do, and if you don't want it, you know what to do. So thank you, everybody.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Please cast your votes. That motion is approved unanimously. Okay, our next discussion item is one regarding the commission appointment process. If any members of the public wish to speak on this item, they may indicate so by using the raise their hand feature by pressing star nine or submitting a request to speak card. Speakers will be called upon after the presentation. Council Member Contreras asked for this item to be placed on the agenda, so we'll ask her to introduce it.

Thank you so much. So... I brought this item to you all for discussion today, just simply because I know that the demands of these positions can be a lot, and sometimes it's difficult to get all the interviews done and to nominate someone. And so in case any member of the council who has the ability to nominate someone for a commission, and in this point looking at the Environmental Commission, I think if there's several months where we're not able to get to the point where someone is nominated, I do think that it should go to the council in some form so that the council can put forward a nomination. Now, I'm open to what that process looks like, but I do wanna address that. So, You know, I look forward to hearing from the rest of my colleagues to see what they think. So thank you so much.

Deputy Mayor O'Donnell. Do we need a motion tonight or just staff direction?

We just need staff direction. We'd bring this back.

So my direction would be for staff to come up with a policy or plan that is applicable to every member that sits on this dais when it comes to appointment procedures, that anybody who goes beyond 45 days without an appointment, it would then move to the next senior member of the council. So if that's the mayor or the deputy mayor succession down the line to make an appointment, that individual would then have seven days to make an appointment or 15. I'm open to the days. I'm just trying to throw ideas out there so we can move it expeditiously. And that would be, again, it would apply to every member of this council so that we don't have vacancies, but it would basically move down the line from senior position all the way down. So if Council Member Fox didn't appoint anybody, the mayor had the opportunity first. And then if the mayor doesn't appoint somebody, so on down the line, deputy mayor all the way down. That would be... my thought process on it. I'd love to hear from the council on this, but if that's sufficient, I don't think we need to spend an extremely long drawn out amount of time on this item number.

Council Member Melendez.

There we go.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor. I appreciate that suggestion. I think what you're describing, you know, after that initial amount of time, maybe it's 45 days, maybe it's 90 days, right? And then ultimately the decision goes to the next senior council member. You know, it'll continue to extend the decision making by, it could be, you know, even up to several weeks, several months, but at least there is a clear direction that the decision will be made eventually. And I think at the end of it, if there is no decision made, then it could come back to the council, right? So if there has been a delay from every single council member all the way to Council Member Fox, our most new member, then of course I would like to see it come as a public discussion. Because I think that's probably part of the challenge too, is that this is a decision, the interviews and all of that, they're happening behind closed doors. And so the public is kind of just waiting for an answer, but I think there does have to be at some point in the process where it becomes a public discussion, like why aren't we moving on this? I doubt that that would even come to pass because we want to get it done and maybe lighten the load together. So I would support that, so that's the direction I would give. The timelines and the amount of days, you know, I don't have a science on that. So let's see what staff comes up with. But I did have a question. For the Environmental Commission currently, how many people are in the application pool who are being considered for the position?

I believe we have five people. I'd have to go back and look at the list.

And is there just one vacancy at this time?

Well, yes, one was filled tonight, and then there's another that's been vacant.

There's one more, okay. I would ask, is it possible, maybe this is just an ask of Kathy or the city manager's office, we have a vacancy at Clean Energy Alliance Community Advisory Board for the VISTA station, and I think that an individual who is maybe not picked for the VISTA Environmental Commission would be a good candidate for CAC, the Community Advisory Commission for Clean Energy Alliance. So I would love to maybe do some outreach. If it's possible, could we have those? I know that the applications are public to everyone. So if potentially I could see those applications and Who's my alternate on CEA? Is that you? Yeah, so maybe even Council Member Fox could get those as well. And we can even do a little bit of outreach to see, hey, are one of those folks eligible? Would they like to apply for the Community Advisory Board with CEA? Just because they're both environmentally aligned. And then that would be one additional opportunity for someone. So just thought we could get some work done there as well. Thanks.

Janice Jones wanted to be heard on this item.

Donald, I think that's a great solution for filling that empty seat. I just wanted to emphasize from the perspective of a commissioner how important it is to have a full commission. With empty seats, it does affect the ability to form subcommittees and to ultimately make recommendations to you all. So I very much appreciate this solution and that's exactly what I was gonna ask for. So thank you very much.

Council Member Contreras.

Yeah, I just want to say thank you to my colleagues. I think the direction that we're giving to staff is great. And I'm assuming that this is going to only apply, is this applying to all commissions? Because it would only apply to where the full council is able to nominate, which is not all commissions at this time.

Yeah, it would apply to most of the commissions. The exceptions are the Investment Advisory Board and CVBID. And then actually we realized that the Homeless Commission and its formation actually dictate how that would be set up as well. So that would be slightly different. We'd have to change the code if we wanted to amend that one to mirror this.

Okay, fantastic. Yeah, and then if when this comes back to Council, if there could just be a description for all the different commissions and which ones we're able to overlay this on and which ones are not being considered. I think the last time that there was a change on the commissions was maybe like 2017 or something like that. before I think it was the mayor that did all the nominations or I can't remember, but I was just in the public at that time. But yes, that would be great just to have a full explanation of what we can do with this direction and what commissions lie outside of that direction. And other than that, thank you.

Actually, it was my initiative and Amanda Rigby's initiative that members of the council would be able to make appointments to the commissions before that. And that was, I don't know, six, seven, eight years. Actually, probably it was 12 years ago. It was probably my first year on the council. Before then, the mayor made all the appointments. My predecessor, the mayor, didn't care for that change.

I know, it was a 3-2 vote.

Yes, I believe it was.

Thank you for that.

Yeah, absolutely. It's worked out very well, and I think it's given each of the members of the council some involvement in the process, certainly has reduced some burden on the mayor's office. We appreciate that. Council Member Fox.

Since this is just giving direction, I just wanted to chime in and say that I think that that's a fully reasonable way of approaching it, and I also have no strong feelings on the numbers of days as long as there's a process.

Deputy Mayor O'Donnell.

Yeah, I just want to clarify to staff, I'm not set on 45 days. I'm just, that was just a number I'm throwing out there. So whatever you all feel is best applicable to make this work, however it's going to work, I just wanted to provide clarity on that. So appreciate support from the other council members.

Okay, so we don't need a formal motion on that. So we'll move on to discussion item number four regarding the movies in the park program expansion at Luz Duran Park. Any member of the public wish to speak on this item, they may indicate so by raising the raise your hand feature by pressing star nine or submitting a request to speak card here at the dais. Speakers will be called upon after the presentation. Council Member Contreras asked for this item to be placed in the agenda, so we'll ask her to introduce it.

Awesome. Kathy, are we able to put up the map from the agenda packet? I'm not sure if we're able to. In a few minutes. Oh, okay, cool. Yeah, so I wanted to bring this forward to you all for discussion. You know, we had never done a movie in the park at Luz Duran Park. And I worked with city staff to try to move that forward. Folks weren't sure how it was going to turn out. And it was awesome. I got to talk to all the families that were there. some comments just completely stood out to me. There was a family of, it was like a family of five, and I spoke with the husband, and he told me, you know what, this is so great, because we just get to break out of our routine. And a lot of folks were able to walk to Luz Duran, they brought their families, we got the popcorn, the kettle corn going, and As I've continued to talk to folks in the community, it keeps coming up. And they're like, hey, you know what? I wasn't able to make it, but are we going to have more? And so I've been promised that we're going to have at least one at Luz Duran moving forward. But I wanted to bring this to the council because... Once you can, for the public record, it'll go up there and it's also in this document, but you can take a look at this map and you can see there's just a huge discrepancy, especially in my area where Prior to the June 2026 movie at Luz Duran Park, we've only ever had two other movies, and that was in 2014 and 2015 at Sports Park. Whereas Bringle Terrace, I mean, it just has, you know, usually we have a lot going at Bringle Terrace, and then we have some at, you know, the Buena Vista ball fields. But for my folks in District 1, it's really hard for people to get over to Bringle Terrace or to Buena Vista. And they want to be able to have these experiences that the city is providing just closer to home. They wanna walk to the park, they wanna enjoy it with their families. And also, I've gotten a lot of commentary from the public about wanting to have the movies in the park while the kids are out of school. So I wanted to bring this to you all to see if you would be accommodating to having an additional movie. It's quite a low budget program that provides a lot of joy to the community. And so I'll just turn it over to you all to see what your comments are. Thank you.

That sounds like a great idea to me, Deputy Mayor O'Donnell.

Yeah, I agree. I don't know if we need direction to staff, but I 100% support this. I think that the more we can engage our communities in these type of manners is excellent to get engagement and get people out. So whatever you need from us, within reason, you do know this is going to be one less speed bump across the city, though, just so you know.

I do think we might want to look into the cost of owning the equipment because I was there when the folks failed to show up and they were coming from like Los Angeles. I think it's like $30,000 to buy one of these projectors. We might already have the, now really it's, you got staff time and I don't know, John's over here probably thinking that's not a great idea, Mayor. But I mean, you know. I don't know how many movies we'd have to do before it pays for itself, but if I were an old-time mayor, I'd buy it myself and inflate it and invite everybody as a perk of the mayor. Council Member Melendez, I think, was next. No, Deputy Mayor's next. No. Who's next?

Did you speak, Council Member Mullins?

Council Member Mullins, sorry about that.

Great discussion, of course, no-brainer. We gotta spread the love and provide equitable services throughout the city, absolutely. One question that I had is about how the service is funded. We get a grant from the county, is that correct?

Yeah, Leadwell, San Diego.

Okay, and... Are we guaranteed to have that next year? What's the status of that funding?

Margaret, can you come up and talk about the funding for this if it's grant funded or Rob, whoever's running the program?

Thank you.

Thank you. I think they pay for the whole thing.

I thought they were just a full-fledged sponsor. And so perhaps there's times where the person providing, a contractor providing the equipment has been late. But since the county is able to fund it, I'm wondering how much we can expand it. Thank you, County.

Good evening. Rob is the expert for this event, but I do want to touch upon the fact that it is a cost for staff. It is a recreation community services as well as public works. And when we do a movie at Luz Duran, we also have to clean. It's a synthetic turf field. So that also has to be cleaned. So it's an additional cleaning cost. But I'll allow Rob to elaborate on the county funding.

Thank you, Council. It's not necessarily a grant. It is subsidized by the county. The subsidy depends on the sponsorship level, so over the years that level has dwindled down. I believe this year it's about $500 per movie that is subsidized by the county.

Okay, that is very little. It would be great to see the entire thing laid out. I appreciate Margaret, you sharing the perspective of what some of the costs are at these different venues. Maybe we can also look at the Vista Sports Park. They might have, do they have a grass area, a full grass area? Is that all synthetic turf as well?

I'll let Rob elaborate. We have hosted it there in the past.

Correct, yes. There is the baseball fields, which we have done the movie in the park there. The large pony field would accommodate that need.

Okay. I was not aware of the additional cleaning consideration, so I appreciate that. But I think that we can, you know, whether it's just looking at the lineup of movies that we have, in our summer season and making sure that some of them occur at Luz Duran or maybe there's additional funds that we can put towards a movie at Luz Duran, I definitely support that and I'm happy to see what resources are needed with the department in order to get that done, thank you.

Do you know what they charge us for each movie? Do you know what they charge us, what the cost is to have them do the movies, the vendor?

So the movie screen company, I believe it's about $1,800 currently. And then the movie itself is a secondary vendor. We typically get that from the company called Swank. They're the ones who license the movie. And that ranges, depending on how recent the movie is, could be $600 to $900.

We pay based on what we project the audience to be?

Correct.

Okay. Council Member Contreras.

Yeah, and just to, in the agenda report, the approximate cost is $5,300, which it also says it includes rental costs for portable restrooms, but in some of these locations we don't have that need. Or for hand washing stations, because we have a you know, a restroom with the ability to wash your hands. So I think it could just like, it varies depending on the location. And one of the things too, for me, I mean, I think this is such a great community experience that if we want to in the future take a look at how we can get it to all parts of Vista, I would be totally down to have that discussion because I just know so many people. I mean, we all see that a lot of folks go to watch a movie, and it's just a great free event for the family. I've never heard anybody complain. And actually, it was really funny at Luz Duran's, In my district, we have folks that like to have live music playing and whatnot, and so it was really awesome because... One of the parties just waited until the movie Encanto was done. And then that's when the band started. So there was a lot of community collaboration. And I've just heard from folks after that they were like, oh, I'm so bummed I didn't get to go because we weren't in town. And I can't wait for the next one. So the work that we're doing up here is important and for such a low cost to provide so much community joy, I would love to see this kind of spread out through the city a little bit more. And so I appreciate the the support that you're giving for a second showing to happen at Luz Duran. But like I said, I'm totally open to in the future talking about how to expand this program even more and even take a look at if, you know, Mayor, what you suggested would be financially prudent for us. And I just don't know what the costs looks like, but that I think it would be good to investigate that. So thank you all.

Council Member Fox.

Thank you. Yeah, I mean, as a marketing person, I know that there is some value in keeping it at the same place so it's easy to market the continuity of it, but there's also value in bringing it to the people where they're at. So I could see reasons for both. But I'm supportive of that, of having an additional one at Luz Duran. It seems like it went off really well and was popular. So if there's a desire, if there's people asking for it and it's popular in an area, then I don't see why... It doesn't seem an outrageous ask, but also I do want to be obviously cognizant of staff time as well. So, you know, this seems like there's, you could do infinite of these if, you know, but we also have to be careful. So please let us know if it ever becomes a burden that, you know, if one more is doable, but 10 more is not, please let us know that because I don't want to be... you know, putting too much on you guys and, you know, where it has, we have to be increasing staff number count and everything like that to do the movies at the park. So just keep us up to date with that and make sure that, that you let us know if there's, if we're going a little crazy up here. So that's about it. Thanks.

We will. Thank you.

Now we still have a few pieces of business, unfortunately. Thank you very much. Okay, do we, we got enough direction on that? Very good. Okay, that'll bring us back to oral communications. Now's the opportunity for oral communications. Those who didn't speak on the first oral communication time tonight, each speaker given three minutes tonight matters not on the agenda. Do you have any requests to speak? Seeing none, we'll close the opportunity for public comment at this time. If there, let's see, and then we'll go to remarks. Any from the city clerk's office?

City Attorney, City Manager. I just want to welcome our new Sheriff's Captain, David Ledoux. You got to meet him earlier this evening. He's been with the Sheriff's Department since 2005. And in those 21 years, he served as Sergeant of the Vista Patrol Station from 2018 to 2020. He's currently with Major Crimes. And so we'd like to really welcome him to Vista and give him a warm welcome. Also want to acknowledge Captain Malin and his service to the department. He's been a fantastic captain for us and I'll really miss him. Thank you, Mayor. Indeed. Council Member Fox.

I'd just like to second everything that the city manager said. You know, it's been working. We've been working with Captain Malin was pretty much starting right as I was starting. So he's pretty much I got to work with voice for probably about a month. And so it's the only sheriff's captain I've really gotten to know. But yeah. So thank him for all of his hard work, and I wish him the well in his next role. Other than that, it's Taco Tuesday, so make sure you go out and enjoy some wonderful fresh tacos. And I love my wife very much.

Thank you very much. Council Member Melendez.

Oh my goodness, I just popped off my mic. Technical difficulties over here. So sorry. Thank you, everyone. We are fully back in session, aren't we? Thank you so much for all the comments tonight. I don't have much to report. Just appreciate all of your hard work.

Council Member Contreras.

Yeah, I don't have too much to report either because all the commissions I'm on are not in session right now. So looking to get back into SANDAG and NCTD. But I will tell you that I'm really happy that council, if you didn't see it last meeting, we actually accepted on consent calendar MOU with NCTD. And you all know I'm working very, very hard to try and get $600 million to a billion dollars in funding to do a grade separation at Vista Village, which means separating the sprinter line and the freight line from the ground and probably lifting it up so that way we don't have so much congestion there and it ends up becoming a quiet zone, which I think a lot of people would really appreciate. So I'm just really hoping that we can continue to move forward. We are the only jurisdiction on the Sprinter line that already has a study complete. We need to go to a second study I've been advocating to try and get funding for that so that way we can continue to be super competitive and try to help everybody out with the intense and ridiculous congestion that we have at Vista Village. It's just terrible there. I've been stuck for ten minutes at a time and it just feels like you're never going to be able to go. Thank you for the work, council members, all our discussions, and I hope everybody in Vista has a really good night.

Extend my sincere congratulations to Commander Malin. It has been an honor to work with you these past 18 months. We are sorry to see you go, but Captain Ledoux, I've heard nothing. I don't think you're here, so I don't know why I'm looking in the back for you. I've heard nothing but good things from everybody, so I really look forward to growing our relationship. You've already heard from me a couple of times this week, so I appreciate your expedient response to... to my request. I don't have any board meetings either. I haven't seen a wastewater tomorrow, so I have nothing to report. I do wanna thank staff. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback on the sidewalks on sunset. It is very active and engaged, which is tremendous. It's exactly what we knew that they would be there for. So I'm looking forward. I think that project's gonna be complete in the next week or two this month. Yeah, perfect. I normally don't share a lot of stories from my personal life, but I'm just going to tell you all it is no joke in swimming pools. We had swimming lessons with my three-year-old son this past weekend, and while I was standing in the pool with him, while he was a foot and a half away from me, my direction got distracted by our one-year-old son, who I did not want to slip into the pool. Within that short few-second window, my three-year-old had slipped under the water. And thank God it was only for a few seconds, but it scared the Scared to death. It scared me to death. We'll just say that. I was going to swear there for a second, but I won't. But for real, I know the fire department always talks about it, like pool safety, it can happen in a second. Honest to God, you've got to keep a vigilant eye on your children at all times in the pool. And it was a very scary lesson to learn, but it will never be repeated. So thank God. Caleb's OK? Thank you. I appreciate that. And then beyond that, as I always say, thank you to my lovely, beautiful wife, Allie, for allowing me to serve in this capacity. I should be home a little bit early tonight. And then to all of the speakers, or most of the speakers, I should say, thank you for participating in our community. It is what drives us up here. And you all have a great Tuesday evening.

Thank you to my wife, Shauna, for allowing me to serve all these years, and thank you to the people of Vista for giving me the honor of serving as your mayor. The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the region through Friday night. Residents are encouraged to take precaution, watch for signs of heat-related illness. We have two designated cool zones, the Gloria McClellan Senior Center and the, actually, it's the Adult Activity Center. Yes, we can't call them seniors anymore. They don't like that. uh... and the vista library which are available for residents seeking relief from the heat for more information visit this that i'd cover just come on down to city hall and check out the library the city is renovating Four bocce ball courts at Ringel Terrace Park. The courts are closed yesterday and are expecting to reopen during the first week of October. Improvements include new wood siding around each court and new playing services made with oyster shell material. Reopening information will be posted on the city's website and social media channels. Mr. Conley, do we ever have a bocce ball for bocce beginners? Is that something we do? Yeah? I think we should have probably a volunteer, or maybe somebody's not a volunteer, but we should have somebody do like a class and maybe two or three times a year, a social.

Oh, good. Cool. Can we do a city staff bocce ball tournament, like the golf tournament we do?

That's a great idea. All right. Thanks, everybody. We're adjourned.

All right.